Growing Pomegranates

[Guest guest]

Growing Pomegranates - August 29, 2001

Jeff Schalau, County Director, Agent, Agriculture & Natural Resources

Arizona Cooperative Extension, Yavapai County

 

 

 

Pomegranates are easy to grow, have beautiful flowers, and are well suited to

our desert environment. They are native to southeastern Europe and Asia and have

been cultivated in ancient Egypt, Babylonia, India, and Iran. The Spanish

brought them to Mexico, California, and Arizona in the 16th century. Although

pomegranates have not attained the popularity of other fruits, they are worthy

of a place in your backyard garden.

 

Pomegranates (Punica granatum) grow on woody plants that more closely resemble

shrubs than trees. Mature plants are usually 6 to 12 feet in height and can

easily be trained to a tree form or espaliered against a wall or fence.

Pomegranate plants are deciduous, have small oval leaves, and are somewhat

thorny. They require full sun, tolerate our alkaline soils, summer heat, and

winter lows to 10 degrees F. They are somewhat drought tolerant, but should be

irrigated similar to other fruit trees for optimum fruit quality.

 

Mature fruits are 2 to 5 inches in diameter, have purple to reddish skin (some

varieties are pink), which contain hundreds of seeds. The fruits resemble apples

but are actually berries and ripen between August and September. Inside the

tough outer skin are seeds, each surrounded by a membrane that encloses a juicy

pulp: this is the edible portion of the plant. They can be eaten fresh. The

juice is somewhat tart and the seed has a slight nutty flavor. Pomegranates are

often juiced and can be used to make jelly.

 

Plants are available from nurseries usually in five-gallon containers.

" Wonderful " is the best fruiting variety for our area. There are also flowering

varieties available but these produce small, inedible fruit. Pomegranates can be

grown from seed, but should be propagated from cuttings to ensure fruit quality

and characteristics. To propagate from cuttings, remove shoots 6 to 8 inches

long that are the diameter of a pencil or larger. Cuttings should be taken in

February or March and placed vertically in soil with the top, dormant bud

exposed. Dusting with rooting hormone, such as Rootone, on the cut end will

enhance root formation.

 

As stated above, pomegranates have a shrubby growth form. This is because they

produce many suckers from the root and crown area. To encourage a tree-like

form, select one trunk and remove suckers on a regular basis. Three to five

scaffold branches should be selected starting about 10 inches above the soil

level and spaced 4 to 6 inches apart along the trunk. As the tree takes shape,

select 2 or 3 shoots per scaffold branch. Annual pruning consists of removing

dead wood and crossing/interfering branches. Remove suckers as they appear.

 

Pomegranate trees are self-fruitful, so a second tree is unnecessary for fruit

production. Severe fruit drop during the plant's juvenile period (3-5 years) is

not uncommon. Mature trees seem to set and hold fruit better than younger trees.

Fruit drop is aggravated by practices favoring leafy growth such as

over-fertilization and excess watering.

 

Once established, applying nitrogen fertilizer can enhance fruit quality and

plant vigor. Young trees should receive about two pounds of 8-8-8 or similar

analysis fertilizer in November and March. Mature trees can use twice this

amount applied at the same times.

 

Pomegranates are somewhat resistant to Texas Root Rot (Phymatotrichum

omnivorum), which is present in the Verde Valley. So, if you have experienced

losses due to this disease, you may be inspired to try pomegranates.

 

Pomegranates have uses other than food. For instance, a red dye can be extracted

from the flowers, a yellow dye from the skin of the fruit, and a black dye from

the roots. The wood is also very hard, close-grained, durable, and has been used

for building agricultural implements.

 

The plant also contains several alkaloids and tannins in the bark and roots and

has been used medicinally for more than 3,000 years. For instance, they are

purported to paralyze tapeworms so that they can be purged from the body. As

with any folk remedy, I would not ingest any plant part other than the fruit

without first consulting a doctor. Finally, an acknowledgement: many thanks to

my Pima County Cooperative Extension colleague, John Begeman, for the much of

the horticultural information presented in this column.

 

The University of Arizona Cooperative Extension has publications and information

on gardening and pest control. If you have other gardening questions, call the

Master Gardener line in the Cottonwood office at 646-9113 or E-mail us at

mgardener and be sure to include your address and phone number. Find

past Backyard Gardener columns or submit column ideas at the Backyard Gardener

web site: http://ag.arizona.edu/yavapai/anr/hort/byg/.

 

 

" Those who want the Government to regulate matters of the mind and spirit

are like men who are so afraid of being murdered

that they commit suicide to avoid assassination. "

President Harry S. Truman