Hi I am in the Fredericksburg\Stafford VA area and I placed a post starting a home orchard and received a number of responses however reading this post I am starting to wonder whether I can grow all the fruit I have listed on my post…apples,pears,plums,peaches etc. I about ready to plant the trees I wonder if I should reconsider and limit what I should plant?
Dave, it really depends on your commitment as well as the degree of problems you will have, and that is something hard to judge in advance. If you want to put a similar commitment as you do for your tomatoes and peppers, stick to easier things like blueberries. If you are really keen on it and are willing to put plenty of time in to learn, monitor, and spray, and are prepared for some significant setbacks along the way as you learn, then hang in with the more challenging fruits.
2 Likes
This new variety might be worth a try: http://www.lecooke.com/Images/Fruits_&_Nuts/Pomegranates/Texas-Hardy-Pomegranate(RGB).pdf
I am skeptical that someone suddenly discovered a Pom that makes worthwhile fruit but that is hardy to at least a zone less than any other pom… but LE Cooke aren’t new at this either.
Scott, Thanks. I do feel committed, realize it will be a time commitment and I also know that I have a lot to learn… just got a little concerned. I appreciate the words of advice. This is a great site. I am going to move forward and it is good to know that I can come here and ask questions to seek help. Thanks again.
Hi Scott! I have always grown ‘in ground’. I think that I needed to find the right spot in my yard. I was trying to keep them buffered from the North, so I would put them near a South-facing wall. They were never too close to the wall . . . but it must have been too hot? Because once I chose a spot out in the middle of the yard, they started to do well.
I’ll bet I’ve planted a half-dozen or more Pomegranate shrubs over the past 30 years! And I’ve only had success with the last 2. They are about 8 years old now. One is a Granada and the other a Wonderful. I bought them before I knew just how many other terrific varieties there are!
So . . . anyway - I think that my winters must not be too harsh for them. - with average temps of 35-45 degrees, but dipping down into the teens now and then. I tried to see where you are writing from - but couldn’t determine your location. ?
Take a look at the Alabama Pomegranate Association’s Facebook page. So much great info on there about growing Poms. (I just discovered the page today!)
Recently I placed anI order for 10 new plants - all different varieties. Some from Rolling River and some from Fruits and Exotics. I’m excited about seeing how they will do. We are going to create a little orchard - leaving 10’ between the trees. Some of the plants arrived yesterday - (I thought they were coming in the spring!) I have ordered some cool 5 gal ‘aeration pots’ to plant them in, so they can winter-over in my garage. Hope that works. I put a lot of $ into them . . . and don’t want to lose them.
I’m getting off-topic. You mentioned ‘die-back’. I have had some of that. But - new shoots always come up. Do you think you may have the plant ‘buried’ too deep? I have a small Wonderful that has experienced year after year of dieback. This summer may have given it enough strong growth so that it finally gets going for good! But, I’ve considered moving some of the soil and mulch away from the base of the ‘trunks’. It seems to be planted (or settled) lower that my other 2.
1 Like
Dave from Fredricksburg - Hi. I am further south (and east) than you - and I know that to get good harvests here - one has to spray and really tend to the fruit trees. There is a very successful Peach orchard not far from us. And I know people who can grow a few pie apples . . . and pears do OK - but all have to be sprayed on a schedule. We tried and tried - and I finally gave up on the apples/cherries/peaches&nectarines. Plums do fairly well for other folks . . . but never for us.
I would think that you would have better luck in Fredricksburg.? I’d go ahead and give it a try. Just consider, at the very least, a dormant oil bath for ‘everybody’. ?
Sometimes there is no rhyme or reason as to why one person can grow fruit - and another just cannot. Soils are so different. Even within one yard! Well-drained is the biggest key, I think. And we have pockets of clay, here and there. Sometimes I feel like I need a huge machine with a bucket attachment, in order to get a big enough planting hole with enough amendments - to have success!
Good Luck . . . and let us know how things turn out.
1 Like
Irby . . . I know this will sound NUTS . . . but we had awful Japanese Beetles, year after year . . .
UNTIL some guy dumped some ‘Aflec’ ducks on our property. We kept them - made a little pen for them so that they are safe at night.
Meet ‘Moe, Larry & Curly’.
4 Likes
That’s funny! But, I agree whole-heartedly. Stone Fruits ARE for masochists! 
I mentioned this in another post . . . but there are hundreds of other varieties than the few that we have been used to seeing here in the states! Many are coming from Russia, Iran . . . and other places that have been cultivating Pomegranates for literally thousands of years! Now, many of the extension services are working with these countries and dedicated individuals - to test some of these varieties - and offer them to home gardeners like ‘us’.
The Pom Wonderful people have glutted the market with their fruit - but some folks are trying hard to make inroads with new and better varieties. All taste different - look different - have different qualities . . . some are juicers, some for eating fresh, some tart, some sweet. I find it fascinating, because I’ve loved eating pomegranates my entire life! To me, it’s so exciting not to have to buy them at Costco anymore! And mine taste better!
Check out the enormous list of varieties that are being tested. They are listed in a post on this site:
https://www.facebook.com/alabamapomegranateassociation/
Thanks for the encouragement. I plan to take some photos. I hope to keep everyone updated. Thanks again.
Hi Kiki, it sounds like you are at least 10 degrees warmer than I am. We get down to the low single digits - I am north of Baltimore. I think I am just a bit too cold for reliable poms.
From my limited experience with varieties the only thing I have noticed so far is all the soft-seeded ones have failed and all of the hard-seeded ones generally are OK. I get different dieback different years but over several years have not found a clear “winner”.
If they grow in Russia . . . I’ll bet you can find a really cold-tolerant variety. I’ve been looking at the different varieties and noting which I’d like to try to find, in the future. If I come across some that like the cold . . . I’ll let you know.
Just happened upon this description of one that I ordered from JustFruitsAndExotics (very nice folks!) Might be worth a try in Baltimore. Especially if you could plant it in a southern exposure location - shielded from the north
Kaj Acik Anor - Very cold hardy variety giving heavy crops of long keeping large round fruits that are high in sugar with nice acid balance. Green with red blush wit red arils with a sweet/tart. This Uzbek-Tadzhik variety makes a large vigorous plant. It was one of the more successful “Russian” varieties(aka R9) at the Ponder Farm planting conducted by the University of Georgia in the 1970’s. Name means Pomegranate of Brave Acik. Anor is pomegranate in Uzbek. Kaj can be translated as Brave. Acik is men’s name.
Also - Nikitski-ranni-Cold Hardy Pomegranates This one is on back-order at JustFruits&Exotics… I’m hoping they get more in . . . I really wanted to try it.
Nikitski-ranni (aka Russian number 19) Found to be one of the more successful “Russian” varieties, at the University of Georgia’s Ponder Farm. Nikitski-ranni is rated as one of the best tasting pomegranates grown in the humid south. The large light pink fruit are up to 6 inches in size, with deep red arils. The fruit resists cracking and has a wonderful sweet/tart balance of flavor. Ripening season begins in early mid September and lasts through mid October. Self-fertile. Zones 7-10A.
I have Nikitski Ranni, but it is too young for me to offer much of a report on how it does in the mid Atlantic. This coming winter will be its second and it hasn’t started to produce any fruit yet.
1 Like
Kiki, I have tried both of the ones you mention - all of my poms are the hardy varieties from Russia or Iran, except for a few soft-seeded ones that are dead.
Kaj Acik Anor has been one of my more successful ones, I had the least dieback on it two years ago. It is in a stand with five other varieties and is over twice as tall now for that reason.
Nikistki Ranni has not done as well, it died back more. But it also got munched by deer.
This statement is exactly why I think that calling these varieties “Russian” is terribly misleading. There is no place in Russia that is warm enough to grow pomegranates. All these varieties are from former Soviet republics in Central Asia: Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Transcaucasia: Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan. The climate in these countries is completely different than in Russia.
1 Like
The part of Russia on the Black Sea between Georgia and the Crimean Peninsula (as well as much of the Crimean Peninsula itself, if you want to count that as Russia) is growing zone 7, I believe.
Yes, a small region on the Black Sea coast in Russia (in the Sochi - Adler area) is Zone 7. However, as far as I know, even there every third or fourth winter is harsh enough to kill unprotected pomegranates. If you want to augment my words “no place in Russia…” by adding “…except a twenty miles long strip of coast near Tuapse”, I’m ok with it. 
Anyway, no varieties of pomegranates originate from that area.
Only the southern coast of Crimea is Zone 7 (it’s protected by mountains on the north and hence has a special micro-climate; the tiny strip of land near Yalta, where the Nikitski botanical garden is located, is even Zone 8 according to some maps). Northern part of the peninsula is Zone 6.
No, I don’t. According to the position of the U.S. government, it’s Ukraine.
.
The Nikitski botanical gardens is where the Soviets tried to breed various cold hardy varieties of fruits, including two well known here:
Nikita’s Gift Persimmon: https://onegreenworld.com/product/nikitas-gift-2/
and
Nikitski Ranni pomegranate (also sold as Crimson Sky or R19) : https://www.justfruitsandexotics.com/JFE/product/niktiski-ranni-pomegranate/
I have actually been to these gardens.
1 Like