Finding the right pollinator for "Ferragnes" almond

Question

I have two "Ferragnes" almonds, but "Ferragnes" is, like most almond cultivars, not self-fertile. It needs another almond cultivar that flowers at approximately same time, and perhaps there are some additional requirements.

Another practical (and limiting) problem is availability of cultivars at nurseries.

Now, I found the following data:

• "Texas" almond is a good pollinator for "Marcone" almond.
• "Texas" almond is a good pollinator for "Ferragnes" almond.

does that mean that:

• "Marcone" almond is a good pollinator for "Ferragnes" almond.

?

(Needless to say, "Marcone" is available in my area, but "Texas" is not.)

Answer 1

There are a couple of factors to consider: time of bloom and compatibility. For time of bloom we need the male and female flowers open at the same time, or the likelihood of pollen transfer is low. For compatibility the essential factor is that the pollen characteristics cannot be too alike. For a detailed discussion see the PDF by Joseph H Connell "Pollination of Almonds: Practices and Problems" in HortTechnology (Jan-March 2000).

From this Greek source we see that Ferragnes is an older variety that blooms late in the season. So you would just need to match up the donor tree from a late blooming group. You would only need one donor tree for your two receivers, so you might explore blooming periods with your local suppliers. As for compatibility, unless you can find an authoritative source of information the alternative would be to choose something that is different. Ferragnes is of French origin, so anything that is North American which can trace its lineage back to something not European might be a good bet as long as it blooms late.