Fruiting Behavior

[Eykca]

Can I throw a purely speculative idea out there? Earlier this year I posted about leaf curl in pomegranates and it became obvious that nobody (no matter how deep the google searches) seems to know what exactly does this. I've planted 2 nectarines and a nectaplum in the past couple years and peach curl is a well researched issue. The key to peach curl is spraying the tree with a copper fungicide immediately following the tree dropping its leaves in the fall. Perhaps issues like your blotchy fruit and leaf curl can be dealt with by treating the trees in the fall after leaf drop, because the consensus seems to be that once these issues arise, there is nothing that can be done. UC Davis made it clear, once a peach/nectarine shows peach curl, there is nothing that can be done, removing leaves does nothing. Just a thought.

[greenfig]

Interesting thought.
How persistent is the peach leaf curl?

The pom that was covered in twisty leaves last year, has none today. Maybe they will appear later on but as of now, it is a beautiful tree. Is it common for the peaches as well?

[Blake]

I was just skimming a UC Davis doc titled Pomegranate Production in Afghanistan' http://www.ucanr.org/sites/kingscounty/files/19305.pdf

The passage below (page 22 of the linked doc) notes wavy leaf margins due to zinc deficiency. Could this be the curl some folks are seeing in their own plants? (I have not noticed this curling on my own...yet.)

Zinc deficiency symptoms are most obvious in spring; trees may have delayed opening of flower and leaf buds. Leaves are smaller, often have chlorotic (yellow) areas between the veins, and have a “wavy” leaf margin. Sometimes internodes are shortened. Later in the season, subsequent growth hides these symptoms.

[greenfig]

Good find, thank you.
The Zn reference I found is this one:

Zinc deficiency symptoms are most obvious in spring; trees may have delayed opening of flower and leaf buds. Leaves are smaller, often have chlorotic (yellow) areas between the veins, and have a “wavy” leaf margin. Sometimes internodes are shortened. Later in the season, subsequent growth hides these symptoms. Zinc deficiency is most common in rapidly growing young trees or in areas with alkaline soils, but may also appear in mid summer in mature trees. Soil applications are expensive and inefficient. Zinc is not well- absorbed through the roots and is fairly immobile in the plant. Zinc deficiency is best overcome by foliar sprays of basic zinc sulfate (neutral zinc, 52%) or by 14% chelated zinc. Application can be made at any time in the growing season, but may result in some leaf ‘burn’. Application after harvest and before the dormant season is best, generally, as a single foliar spray of a solution containing 1-2.2 kg of elemental Zn per hectare.

The leaf curl I had last year was looking differently though. Maybe it is still a Zn deficiency, the description as having a "wavy" leaf margin is not exactly complete since the leaves are also twisted , thinner as usual and thickened.

[pogrmman]

This zinc idea is interesting! My soil and water is quite alkaline and I know they have to spray the pecans here with Zn. I do get “wavy” leaves on in-ground pomegranates, but I also get “curly” leaves that have an almost sort of crinkled appearance. I wonder if I’m getting both Zn issues and something along the lines of a fungus.

I think it might be a good idea to try a fungicide spray late winter. The only thing is, my biggest pomegranate might be a bit hard to treat due to its size! It’s quite the monster plant. I also can’t help but wonder if it wouldn’t help the spotting on my fruit. Peaches overwinter flower buds that turn into fruit. Pomegranates, from my observations, only seem to overwinter a handful of male flowers if they overwinter any flowerbuds. Maybe a fungicide application in April sometime would help?

[alanmercieca]

"Cold Hardy Russian Red" for example, is most likely Salavatski but could be Afganski. You simply don't know what you're getting at the end of the day.

I am not sure if "Cold Hardy Russian Red" is the same as "Russian Red" yet aliases for 'Afganski' are
01) 'Aperonskii'
02) 'Asperonsky'
03) 'Aperonsky'
04) 'Russian Red'
05) 'Russian 26'
06) 'DPUN 71'

[pombazaar]

Cold Hardy Russian Red is 100% Salavatski. I did some more searching recently and am confident in this. These are terrible names because they're so generic and easily confused among Russian cultivars.

Regarding the names for Afganski...I believe the first 3 you listed above are incorrect. GRIN has Apseronski listed as DPUN 72 which is the correct name and spelling. It's a different cultivar than Afganski.

[alanmercieca]

After the post I made earlier I learned that nurseries In Europe have been selling 'Afganski' under a name corruption of 'Apseronski', and then people spell the name wrong making it more confusing. So in a way I was half right about that.

As far as 'Russian Red' I was told that it's 'Afganski' by a pomegranate collector, yet you are right I think.

[pombazaar]

Yep! That's exactly what I noticed too.

Russian Red seems to be Afganski while Cold Hardy Russian Red seems to always be Salavatski. It's super confusing lol

[greenfig]

Wow, that’s totally messed up !

I also found that the taste description is also not always close to what I have. Desertnyi has “citrus “ in the online flavor. Anyone who tries it , doesn’t taste citrus.
And I have a true Desertnyi for sure