Having A Field Day

A small but dedicated band of growers is working to make pomegranates a commercial crop in Florida. I'm just a dooryard hobbyist, but I'm doing my small part by learning about this unique and fascinating fruit, growing eight of the more than one hundred varieties being tested in the rigors of Florida, and hanging out from time to time with the Florida Pomegranate Association.

In late July, the Association had a “field day” at Green Sea Farm, the Zolfo Springs nursery and pomegranate farm of Cindy Weinstein. MRFC members will remember Cindy's very informative presentation to our club in June, 2015. I wasn't about to miss the opportunity to see the Farm.

The beautiful summer morning found the two dozen or so participants gathered under an open tent in the middle of a field of several hundred pomegranate trees. Just about every variety being tested is there, growing under uniform conditions.

Among the attendees was MRFC member and popular club speaker Andy Firk, seen here in the meeting tent checking out the handouts and fruit samples.

Several speakers gave brief presentations. Here are some of my notes, in no particular order:

---Poms typically take four years to begin fruiting. Almost all varieties are deciduous, and need a period of six weeks of winter dormancy. The soft-seeded varieties tend to be best for eating, while the hard-seeded toothbreakers are superior for production of juice, pomegranate oil, and tannins.

---The main challenge for commercial-scale production is fungus, but Cindy is also having some problems with the black pin-hole beetle. It attacks the small branches of the tree. Like the ambrosia beetle that is plaguing avocado trees in some areas, it bores and deposits fungus, though it is not fatal unless the infestation is major. Cindy is still investigating the best control methods. She now does all her major pruning in late winter to avoid attracting and spreading the pest.

---Until the necessary fungicides are labeled for use on pomegranates, the fruit can legally be sold in Florida only as animal feed. The good news is that research in the past couple of years has found very effective fungicides and application schedules for Florida, and two of the fungicides are now in the approval process, so commercially viable operation is now in sight.

---The industry can't depend just on chemical solutions to fungus and pest control, since these won't last. An integrated approach will be necessary, using resistant varieties, best practices in sanitation to prevent disease proliferation, and rotation of chemical applications.

After the talks, Cindy led us on a field tour telling about many of the varieties. A large shade house protected thousands of 1-gallon pomegranate trees, and I bought five baby Azadi poms to bring back to friends in Sarasota. Green Sea Farms also ships pomegranate trees. To the left are the Azadi, Desertnyi, and Medovyi Vasha that Cindy shipped to me in 2014. Even with a transplanting last fall, they have grown well with no fungus or pest problems so far--- though we'll have to wait and see how things go once they begin fruiting.

Andy has posted an excellent collection of photos of the field day event. This one shows Cindy guiding the pomegranate tour. The tall fellow in the Tropical Fruit Society of Sarasota shirt looks somewhat like me, 'cept I'm not that old or skinny.