I had a few Hydranar X Goulosha that were sweeter, but they were still on the acidic/sour side flavorwise which makes me think they are best for juicing/processing where you might add some sweetener. The seeds were always on the harder side as well. That said, I may never have picked them at exactly the right time since I had so few poms and so many squirrels I was always afraid the squirrels would get them all before I’d get a taste.
I gave the tree away with my other poms ultimately, since I just don’t have the space to keep plants that aren’t providing enough fruit for the space and energy they take up. If @PomGranny cracks the code for growing them without getting the rots I could give them a try again, but it was just too painful watching 90% or more slowly rot back from the calyx.
It was a nice plant that seemed to grow with more of a central stem than the multi-stemmed growth that seemed to develop naturally with the other poms I had… It was always container grown and kept in my detached, unheated garage in winter with figs and other potted fruit, so I can’t say how it would have done in the ground here. I think it is worth experimenting with if you are trying other varieties. It did seem to be one of the varieties less likely to get the rot than others.
Only one year I have had a serious case of rotting fruit here so far.
I had bought cuttings of ‘Hyrdanar X Goulosha’ right before I replied to you on here. Yet not for where I live, I have started a project that fig varieties, and that pomegranate varieties will be test grown in NYC. Luckily they have way less fungal disease problems there VS where I live vs where you live and verses where Karen lives. I am not worried at the thought of the fruit being acidic ‘if that winds up being the case’. The people caring for the plants help to feed starving children and I am sure that they’d do something neat with acidic pomegranates like make pomegranate molasses, or pies, and so on.
I believe they had gone to light pink, but maybe they would have continued to darken if I left it on the tree longer. Sounds like you got the cuttings for a cool project. I’d love to hear how they do for you.
I am going to try and show what’s going on with the project the best that I can, yet the project is getting much bigger than I thought it could ‘already’ and we have only begun with the protect it’s self, more and more people are helping with it. More and more varieties are getting in to the project. Plants are being grown in more and more places in the city.
As far as the 'Hydranar X Goulosha’ variety it’s self that would be much easier. When it’s just one variety to keep people updated on.
@PomGranny, my Salavatski fruit were very tasty and sweet - as good as the best pomegranates I’ve ever bought in the grocery store. The only differences are that the Salavatski seeds are harder and the rind/peel is a bit more substantial. There were fewer arils in a Salavatski fruit when compared to a Wonderful fruit of comparable size, but the Salavatsi arils were also larger. I think the thickness of the Salavatski rind probably also resulted in fewer arils when compared to the typical grocery store pomegranate. But on the whole, I was very pleased with the quality.
Kaj-acik-anor is very similar, but the two fruit I had this year were slightly smaller than the Salavatski and had a more reddish exterior. In terms of flavor and seed hardness, they were indistinguishable.
I like the fruit from ‘Salavatski’ way more than any Wonderful pomegranates that I have had. I have also noticed that the ‘Salavatski’ fruit in your photos don’t look as full as the fruit on mine where. Maybe your bush will have better fruit as it ages.
@alanmercieca and @ncdabbler
Yes! I forgot that we had one small Salavatski - hanging very low on the bush. It was looking like it was thinking about cracking - so I picked it. It was great! Small but tasted amazing! About the size of an average orange. The skin on it never looked like the ones in the pics. I was expecting more green. ?
It depends on the climate ‘which can vary in the same spot every year’, how much sun the fruit gets hit by, what part of the fruiting season, sunburn, and how ripe/over ripe it is, those things effect what the skin color/appearance is like. For us there is little if any green, it varies a lot.
I may not live in the Md-Atlantic, yet here are photos of some ‘Salavatski’ fruit that were picked from our ‘Salavatski’ bush last year, the darker ones where the ones in the cooler part of the fruiting season
Hi! Please can you tell me what’s the best pomegranate in terms of size, sweetness and dark red flesh color of this varieties:
Acco 128, Ariana, Desertnyi, Horse Tooth, Medovyi Vasha, Valenciana and Vkusnyi.
And besides this varieties what’s the best pomegranate variety?
Thank’s!
When it comes to the arils Medovyi Vasha, and Ariana are the two darkest. The fruit size of both of those are about the same medium to large.
I don’t think that any of us know for sure, which the very best variety is yet. We are all too new to growing them, and some will do best in a colder climate and others best in a hotter climate.
Yes, Desertnyi’s fruit is medium to large, it is sweet to very sweet, the seeds are very soft, what makes it unlike ‘Medovyi Vasha’ is that it has an orange flavor which makes it a tiny bit tart despite all the sweetness, I think that the orange flavor is supposed to be like orange zest.
Granada has hard seeds, if you don’t mind that then It’s a great variety, my online friend said this about it “They are tart, but with quite a lot of sweetness as well. Very flavorful. Even when not completely ripe.”
The fruit are medium to large. And the arils are dark. The fruit have the same taste as the ‘wonderful’ variety only much sweeter.
Sogdiana is said to be low production, not sure how true that is, I can find very little information on it, and I don’t grow it.
It’s all a matter of opinion - when considering ‘which is the best’.
I can’t give mine - about these choices, because I don’t grow any of these you mentioned . . . maybe others on the forum have.
My favorites - so far - are Hotuni Zigar, Granada, Afganski, Purple Heart, and maybe Salavatski. (We only had one Salavatski fruit so far, so it’s hard to say for sure.) I like Nikitski Ranni, too . . . but mine were a little too sweet for me, this year. And I prefer them a bit tangy!
Ariana and Desertnyi both sound better to me than Medovyi Vasha, yet climate and other things effect flavor and fruit quality. Then each person has personal favorites. Sirenevyi sounds delicious, I have not tried it. Azadi has light arils.
