Post by alexintx on Jun 4, 2019 15:34:30 GMT -5
I love pomegranates: they taste great, they are easy to propagate, and they vie with figs as the easiest fruit to grow around here. Both ornamentals and fruiting types are common landscaping plants. While there’s sometimes issues from our high-ish humidity, it’s not usually too bad.
I’ve currently got 3 different pomegranates. The first is a double-flowered ornamental variety that’s been sold to me twice as ‘Wonderful’ (the most common fruiting variety here). It is great plant with many, many gorgeous flowers, but it doesn’t usually set any fruit :/ Evidently, one grower in the area has their stock mis-labeled. It and a bunch of cuttings are still in pots, and they’re in serious, serious need of transplant: the mother plant has a root over an inch thick coming out of the pot bottom! I’ve had this one longest, though we’d gotten rid of it for a while before getting it again. The flowers are past their prime because the spring bloom is just ending now, but this shows how pretty they are.
8 or 9 years ago, we re-landscaped and planted a pomegranate. It languished under a big red oak for years until hurricane Harvey knocked it over due to saturated soil and wind. The next year, it flowered profusely and set some fruit (which got knocked off before ripening). It’s presumably ‘Wonderful’, and the tree is quite large. Last winter, I literally pruned out 3 or 4 bundles of wood so big my arms barely went around them (my wingspan isn’t about 6’4”). The tree is so vigorous it looks like it wasn't pruned at all. It’s easily 15-20’ tall. It hasn’t set many fruit so far, but I’m hoping we do get some this year.
You can see how this one has single flowers that aren’t as attractive as the ornamental variety (this flower is ratty and doesn’t look good because the current flush is ending, but was the most accessible):
I used some of the prunings to take cuttings. They got virtually zero care and sat far from my indoor lights, and dried out nearly completely multiple times. Although about 12/14 rooted, only 3 survived this poor treatment, including a stem 1” thick that I did just as a test to see if it’d work. These things root stupid easily.
Last, but not least, is my newest pomegranate. It’s a semi-dwarf fruiting variety that is supposedly quite good called ‘Red Silk’. I haven’t tried it yet, but we need to take out a red oak being the other fruiting pomegranate (the bed is too small), and it’s the perfect spot for this pomegranate.
Who else grows pomegranates? I’d love to hear some tips! I’ve wondered about pruning and keeping them controlled. I’ve noticed that they seem to bear on both spurs and new growth. They do produce many, many, many trunks and sucker quite vigorously from the base.
I’ve currently got 3 different pomegranates. The first is a double-flowered ornamental variety that’s been sold to me twice as ‘Wonderful’ (the most common fruiting variety here). It is great plant with many, many gorgeous flowers, but it doesn’t usually set any fruit :/ Evidently, one grower in the area has their stock mis-labeled. It and a bunch of cuttings are still in pots, and they’re in serious, serious need of transplant: the mother plant has a root over an inch thick coming out of the pot bottom! I’ve had this one longest, though we’d gotten rid of it for a while before getting it again. The flowers are past their prime because the spring bloom is just ending now, but this shows how pretty they are.
8 or 9 years ago, we re-landscaped and planted a pomegranate. It languished under a big red oak for years until hurricane Harvey knocked it over due to saturated soil and wind. The next year, it flowered profusely and set some fruit (which got knocked off before ripening). It’s presumably ‘Wonderful’, and the tree is quite large. Last winter, I literally pruned out 3 or 4 bundles of wood so big my arms barely went around them (my wingspan isn’t about 6’4”). The tree is so vigorous it looks like it wasn't pruned at all. It’s easily 15-20’ tall. It hasn’t set many fruit so far, but I’m hoping we do get some this year.
You can see how this one has single flowers that aren’t as attractive as the ornamental variety (this flower is ratty and doesn’t look good because the current flush is ending, but was the most accessible):
I used some of the prunings to take cuttings. They got virtually zero care and sat far from my indoor lights, and dried out nearly completely multiple times. Although about 12/14 rooted, only 3 survived this poor treatment, including a stem 1” thick that I did just as a test to see if it’d work. These things root stupid easily.
Last, but not least, is my newest pomegranate. It’s a semi-dwarf fruiting variety that is supposedly quite good called ‘Red Silk’. I haven’t tried it yet, but we need to take out a red oak being the other fruiting pomegranate (the bed is too small), and it’s the perfect spot for this pomegranate.
Who else grows pomegranates? I’d love to hear some tips! I’ve wondered about pruning and keeping them controlled. I’ve noticed that they seem to bear on both spurs and new growth. They do produce many, many, many trunks and sucker quite vigorously from the base.