Cold Hardy Pomegranate Cultivars

[JoshHolbrook]

Alan,


NYC is zone 7b - ocean and concrete keep it pretty mild. You moving there or getting poms from there?

[alanmercieca]

I am going to be sending pom cuttings to NYC for a certain organization to root/plant. If things go well I might send pom cuttings to other organizations in NYC.

It might depend on what part of NYC, I was told last June by someone in Brooklyn, that Brooklyn is about 6b, maybe it's really 7a. Last winter for a very short time it went down to 4 degrees at LaGuardia Airport (7a), In January it was warmer in Brooklyn that same winter, by the sounds of it I am guessing 7b. NYC has many different micro-climates, some parts of it have little no to micro-climate, the more densely populated the warmer it is. Pomegranate bushes will be planted in different parts of NYC. Some warmer parts and some colder parts.

I just noticed something, LaGuardia Airport actually has milder winters than where I live does, their coldest years VS where I live, the coldest that we have seen is 3 degrees, them 4 degrees during the same time period.

[PomegranateKings]

Hi -

I am in NYC (Brooklyn) and have been dreaming of and trying to grow pomegranates outside here for years. After failure and much waiting, I finally succeeded, thank G-d, after moving to a different neighborhood a few years ago where a new friend gave me a spot in his yard to plant a Salavatski plant (of a few years of age, that I had been keeping in a container) in the ground.

Subsequently I have tried to share the good news with others, along with plants grown from the hardy cultivar.

More info and photos at https://www.instagram.com/pomegranatekings/

Any progress on your project?

Any other NYC area growers here?

[greenfig]

That is great, congrats!
I can’t imagine growing poms successfully in your zone, I hardly can make them produce without hiccups in my z 10a There are so many critters that like them , from bugs and beetles to nasty two-legged vermin!

[alanmercieca]

That is great, congrats!
I can’t imagine growing poms successfully in your zone, I hardly can make them produce without hiccups in my z 10a There are so many critters that like them , from bugs and beetles to nasty two-legged vermin!

Yes although a lot of things in NYC don't even know what pomegranates are. Even where I live it's mainly the leaves that get eaten, it's more the disease and the cold here in the part of North Carolina that I am in. Hopefully it stays that way. Well I would not mind the diseases vanishing. Not going to get my hopes up though, LOL. Yet the diseases here don't hit bad every year. Although shothole borers do attack one of them here every now and then. Something else NYC does not have.

NYC is less cold in the winter than here in a way, yes at average it's colder than here, yet they rarely have freezes in April, and I don't think they ever have any in May unlike some parts of the South. The coldest recorded temperature that I have been able to find for central park is 2 degrees Fahrenheit, and the airport 4 degrees Fahrenheit, here gets down to 3 degrees Fahrenheit. Plus the micro-climates in NYC are warmer than that. Here it's more the April frosts that do damage to our pomegranates, not so much the actual cold, plus I don't block the northern wind, nor are the pomegnrate plants near the house to get the warmth. There is so much tar, concrete, brick and steel in NYC that the plants can get heat from, especially on the southern side of a building.

[alanmercieca]

Hi -

I am in NYC (Brooklyn) and have been dreaming of and trying to grow pomegranates outside here for years. After failure and much waiting, I finally succeeded, thank G-d, after moving to a different neighborhood a few years ago where a new friend gave me a spot in his yard to plant a Salavatski plant (of a few years of age, that I had been keeping in a container) in the ground.

That is great!

Well all the pomegranate varieties provided to the project so far, they were rooted not long ago, so they are certainly not planted yet. I estimate that there are 20 something to 30 something 'somewhat recently rooted Salavatski' cuttings in NYC that I arranged for the project to get. I never got an actual count, yet it was as much cuttings as the owner of the tree could trim the tree, he did that for the project. It's great to read that the variety has already produced in NYC. In the other neighborhood was it on the south side of a building? Was it close to a building?

I am finding whatever varieties I think might have a chance at producing for the project in NYC. The project will likely wind up having at least 30 something different varieties to trial in NYC. It should get very interesting. The bushes for the project will be planted in many different locations throughout NYC. Later I will tell you more about the project in private.

The only people I know of with surviving pomegranate bushes in the ground in NYC, they have not produced for them, they have wound up with ornamental varieties, regardless if they can produce or not. @PomegranateKings

[alanmercieca]

Any progress on your project?

Please check your 'Private messages' on here, I wrote you a message on here 2 weeks ago. @PomegranateKings

[pombazaar]

Nikitskyi Chernyi from Nikitsky Botanical Gardens in Crimea, Ukraine is currently the most cold hardy pomegranate cultivar that is known with no freeze back at -30C / -22F.

[alanmercieca]

You spell the name of that pomegranate cultivator differently than I have seen it spelled, are you sure that it's not spelled 'Nikitskyi Chernyi'?

[pombazaar]

I double checked and you are correct. I've edited my previous post. Thanks for keeping me honest

By the way, "chernyi" means early black.