Hi Bamboo

I had a pomegranate in Arizona, the weather hot and dry gave tons of fruit and took the winter chills without me covering it up.

The fruit was picked ripe and the ones that I did not eat, went to the fridge or friends.

I have now a seedless variety that is doing very well as a plant, no fruit yet and did not get covered either and that side of the house got a lot of wind.

If you like pomegranate you can either buy them bare root or potted. Try pomegranate vinegar for salads is healthy and tasty, I also like pomegranate syrup pour over ice water and the seeds are very good on salad or guacamole.

The link I am including is from zone 9a, maybe you like something there.

Silvia

Here is a link that might be useful: pomegranate

Silvia,

So we can grow them here with no protection?? What about the humidity and do they fruit well here?

From your link:

"Soil Preparation and Planting
Pomegranates prefer alkaline soil (pH 6.5 to 7.0 or higher). If you are in doubt about the acidity
of your soil, take a soil sample to the Cooperative Extension Agent in your county for a soil test. Adjust
soil pH as necessary.
Dig a planting hole approximately twice as big as the pot and twice as deep. Enrich the planting
hole with peat moss, compost or pine bark mixed with soil dug from the hole (50:50 mix). Remove the
plant from the pot, gently loosen the root ball and place in the planting hole. The pomegranate should be
planted at or slightly above the same level at which it grew in its pot. Fill the planting hole with the
mix of soil and organic matter; gently tamp it in".

They say they prefer alkaline soil yet tell you to use a 50/50 mix of peat or pine bark? That to me does not make much sense as both are strong acidifiers.

Do you happen to know the variety that is commonly sold in the stores such as Publix?

Bamboo - I did not read the site, maybe that is why they do well in Arizona, the humidity here I don't know, remember I am fairly new here.

The wonderful variety I think is sold commercially and that is the variety that I had. But the best tasting pomegranates that I had were from Israel and you know the weather there.

I bought my pomegranate bare root from Laurel in California, check those varieties if you order from them you are right on time. I planted bare root in a pot with mostly pine bark fines, the same mix that I use for veggies and I let it get bigger for about a year. I planted with a very big root ball and did better than the other fruit trees including the citrus. I am going to take a picture so you can see how healthy it looks.

Silvia

Here is a link that might be useful: wonderful pomegranate

Here the pictures, pomegranate is in the middle, next is a calamondin and cherry of the rio grande, notice how small they are compared to the pom. Still no fruit yet, in Arizona I had fruit the first year planted, also it was a full size tree and I had clay soil.

Silvia

Here is a link that might be useful: pomegranates

Bamboo,

I grow mine without protection, 3rd year, so far so good.
I bought my trees from a grower in South Carolina. I think she called it a 'Russian Giant Pomegranate'

Lou

I have a few planted, this year had one fruit form - first year. The plants get huge! beautiful foliage and very lovely flowers, too.

I do not think cold is a problem. Humidity is.

Still, worth trying.

Thanks all,

Not sure where I got the idea we were too cold for them. I have a lot of room so pom plants will be headed this way....just when you think you are done putting in things....now I have chestnuts to plant spots or and poms, I think a hickory or 3 is going to meet it's maker.

Lou,

To be clear..you grow your poms unprotected and OUTSIDE or in pots in your screened room?

Bamboo,

They have been outside in pots sitting on cement blocks as I haven't got the yard settled yet as to where I want to plant them in the ground. I am still leveling the top of this hill to make a level front yard. I did drag them inside the screen-greenhouse last Jan when the temp went into the teens here. Being in pots I wasn't sure they would make it. The rest of the time they were outdoors. The ones I bought she said were found growing wild in Georgia so she named them 'Russian Giant Pomegranate'.

Lou
This below was taken from her ad;

This rare pomegranate variety was discovered growing in central Georgia, USA. Fruits of the Giant Russian are huge and can grow as big as small grapefruits! The tree makes a beautiful ornamental with brilliant orange flowers that cover the tree in spring. Hardy from zone 7 south and possibly zone 6 with winter protection.

Lou,

Did it say what they tasted like? I know some of the poms are sour. I have research to do on the poms..I do like a project:)

Bamboo,

The very few fruit it made this year was not normal as they turned yellow and had black dots all over it and not red (probably from bug bites). They never ripened up red so I haven't eaten them. We always buy store poms so I cannot remember if last year the ones I grew were sweet or sour (my memory sucks). This has been a very odd year for a lot of things I grow. My fig trees that make beautiful yummy figs year after year made two crops (spring & fall) of grape size hard woody figs this year. My mangoes were a bit fibrous this year too. The avocados cast their fruit this spring. My lychee trees froze in Jan and died back and didn't make any fruit, so all in all it has been a crappy year for me on many of my fruiting trees.

Lou

Lou,

It has been a odd year. After losing a couple lemon trees last winter and even the bamboos were beaten down by the cold, at least some of them. Now I have a couple hundred full size blueberries, still green but full size......a very odd year indeed. But if the amount of blueberry bloom buds that are now swollen is any indication (and it is) the spring BB harvest will be huge.

I am sitting here trying to find an online source for Wonderful cuttings, rooter or not but it is proving difficult. After seeing what a nice hedge they make I am considering putting in a couple hundred feet of them.

This link will answer many of your questions.
Many other links about pomegranates on this site.
Best to check UF first when it comes to Florida gardening facts.

Here is a link that might be useful: The Pomegranate

Bamboo,
This is a link to a Fl nursery that sells Pomegranate, it's a bit of a drive north from here, but they have local pickup to save shipping if you are picking up a hedgerow of Poms.
They say the Russian is the sweetest Pom they have.

Lou

Here is a link that might be useful: Medart Fl, Nursery

My mom has a tree (no idea as to cultivar) that gets basically no special care, other than keeping the rats away. She lives on Boca Ciega Bay, so the 'soil' is mostly shell & sand. Her tree bears plenty of fruits. My dad planted 2 well over 20 years ago, but 1 died.

Here's a link to comprehensive info on pomegranates. Scroll down for info on ripening - it says they're supposed to get sweeter in storage.....

Here is a link that might be useful: Fruit Facts - pomegranate

Thanks all for the info.

Lou,

Silvia posted the link to that site but at $40 a pop I would need 25 of them and that is getting pricey.....my wife already thinks my plant addiction is grounds to have me committed. I guess I will just buy a couple and start propagating them. I was hoping I could find a vendor online that simply sold cuttings, rooted or not but so far have not found anyone. Grouper fished today so will look more tomorrow.

Bamboo,

Did you want me to start a few cuttings from my Wonderful and Russian Pom tree/bush? They should make fruit for you in 3 years. Unfortunately I only have one of each Pom bush so I can't take very many cuttings from them without making my bushes look raggedy because they have been previously trimmed, but It would give you a start. As they grow for you, the trimmings you cut to form them up can also be started by you.

Lou

Lou,

That would be awesome....I thought you just had the Russian variety? Will take as many as you want to spare but don't hurt your bushes on my account. I am trying to find online someone that sells Purple Seed or Spanish Ruby poms which I hear grow very well here in Florida but having very little luck. Like you I tend to favor the more varieties the better philosophy. If I find some will start those for you as well and of course load you up on some vacuum sealed fresh grouper:)

Bamboo,

I thought I only had the Russian pom, but when I looked at the tags, it was one of each Russian & Wonderful. I guess only the name 'Russian' stuck in my craw.
OK, I'll read up on how best to propagate them and get some started.

Lou

Great, thanks Lou.

If you would like to have a pome variety that has been a proven producer, you want to consider the Vietnamese pomegranate. This is the only variety that I can get to fruit and eat. This is also true for other members of the Tropical Fruit Club that I belong to. 'Wonderful' will grow nicely but the fruits will split open before ripening. Pomes take the heat and cold very well. It's the humidity and heavy rains that ruin the fruits.

The Vietnamese pome is very different from regular pomes. It doesn't loose its leaves in the winter. Regular pomes are propagated by cuttings but the Vietnamese pome branches will not root. They are started by seeds.

BAMBOO RABBIT - I have extra seeds that I saved and some seedlings that are very small. They took a long time to germinate. They are too small to mail right now. If you would like some seeds now I could mail you some or you can wait for a "sure thing."

The fruit ripens yellow and pale pink, not red like 'Wonderful'.

Christine

Christine,

Thank you for the very generous offer, I have no problem waiting. How is the taste of the Vietnamese pomegranate? Is the growth rate, size and habit the same? I had also read that Purple Seed and Spanish Ruby varieties fruit well in Florida, but have not been able to find any of either for sale. The spot that is planned for the poms will be a hedge and is roughly 200 feet so I hope to try a few varieties. It does surprise me how difficult some of the varieties are to find. If you would like to drop me a email please do it is bamboo_rabbitAThotmail.com I have a few questions:)

Pomegranates are hardy down to about 10 degrees F. I got mine from Edible Landscaping. I have the Sweet and the Russian. The Sweet produced six fruits this year. They are about tennis ball size, yellow skinned, and have the pink pips like the ones shown above. The favor is much better than that of the Wonderful variety that you get in the grocery. The Russian is huge but hasn't flowered yet.

I got the one quart size, which grew to about 8 feet tall the first year. I had to transplant them because there wasn't enough room for such big shrubs where I first planted them. The Sweet fruited the second year after tranplanting.

Here is a link that might be useful: Edible Landscaping

Do they need full sun? Or will they do ok in some shade?

Thanks,

Veronica

The one that fruited for me this year is under an oak. It objects to this by leaning away from the tree, but it fruited. The other is a little farther from the same tree and gets intermittent sun. It is huge. Partial shade is fine.