Pomegranates - no or low chill varieties?

General Fruit Growing
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I currently have Wonderful, Purple Heart, and Parfianka. It is too soon to have had fruit so can anyone tell me if these or any others are no or low chill? I am in zone 12b. The only info I’ve found is directed towards cold hardiness. One site mentioned keeping roots cooler to help simulate low temps, that is the extent of it. They are all in pots.

Citrus is another matter. Already a lemon and lime here, possibly Eureka and a Bearss? I added a Cara Cara, Ruby Red grapefruit, and Golden Nugget mandarin. For mangos I have started several seedling which I will graft to named varieties that are anthracnose resistant. My yard is a typical lot size and everything is oriented to 8+ hours of sun.

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I’m not sure, but I don’t think chill is a problem for pomegranates. If you are in a humid area, you may need to be more concerned about leaf spot diseases. If you are in Texas, sunburn and fungal issues in the fruit are major problems.
Whisky barrel size pot?

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Thanks for your response. I am in West Maui in a convergence zone. I haven’t gotten up to a large barrel yet. I hope you’re right about chill hours being a non issue for the pomegranates.

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Let me contact a friend in the Valley. It’s where Texas’s citrus industry is located. It doesn’t freeze, but it does have cold periods. Does West Maui have any cold periods or is it the same temperature all the time?
I know there is an orchards in El Paso. He has no problems with chill but eh, that is still at least 500 chill hours.
They flower in Houston, but fungal diseases usually get the fruit.

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Coincidentally, I just returned from a trip to Oahu to visit grandkids. I’m introducing them to gardening, so we often visit local nurseries. Sometimes I buy them a tree. . . .

During the latest trip, the proprietor of one nearby nursery was adamant that red pomegranates have a chill requirement. She didn’t use that term exactly, but she said pointedly “it’s not cold enough here.” She recommended instead a “white pomegranate.” Technically it is pinkish, with pink seeds. Reportedly very sweet.

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@Vault22dweller - the low temps here are in the 60’s. The citrus should be fine but may not lose the greenish skin tones.

@jrd51 - I will try to “trick” the roots somehow. People that live in the higher elevations here would do ok I guess but less success with citrus. There are a few apple and euro plum varieties that do ok up there.

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According to DWN, their varieties require 100-200 chill hours.

So if you have like a cold week a year you’re probably fine.

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Can you add a white pom to hedge your bets?

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I consulted our fruit specialist, and he said you should be fine regarding the chill hours. The soft-seeded ones might work better. In that case, I will recommend Vkusanyi. It’s soft seeded.

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10

I’m 10b and do not get more than 50 hours of chill a year, if that. My pomegranates fruited nicely and I haven’t had any problems with them.

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I’m not sure if a somebody who posts here maintains it, but this site has a pretty good aggregation of info on various cultivars: Pomegranate Varieties Doesn’t cover chill hours, but seed hardness and flavor/sweetness/sourness info.

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I am in z10b of SoCal. We have never had any frosts and my poms are producing and growing nicely. I have ~10 varieties including Parfianka you mentioned.

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The “chill requirement” has nothing to do with frost. I’m no expert but from memory I think something like 45 F qualifies.

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Periods of 32-45F are generally counted as chill hours. Below freezing usually isn’t.

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Pomegranates definitely need chill, or something to imitate dormancy requirements. Wet, cold, wind something along those lines, I’d imagine in a truly tropical environment pomegranates will not fruit.