December 1, 2021 Story of a pomegranate

Hi gardeners

Pomegranate inside

I was motivated to write a short blog this week by the harvesting of a pomegranate fruit from my pomegranate plant. I have to share pictures with someone. I know it’s been a while since I have posted but things have been a little rough here at home. My mother passed away last month, and my husband is beginning treatment for cancer. I hope you missed my articles but understand that there are times in our lives when some things need more attention than others.

Gardening keeps me going though, and as things improve here, I expect I will be once again motivated to share more garden stories and advice. So here’s my pomegranate story and I hope you like it.

 A couple of years ago I bought a tiny seedling of a pomegranate plant from Logee’s nursery.  It was a dwarf variety and said to do well in pots. I like unusual plants and the thought of an edible plant other than my Meyer lemon was intriguing.

Pomegranate is not hardy in Michigan of course and this plant has been a houseplant for roughly half of each year since I got it.  I put it outside after danger of frost has passed. It goes in light shade first, then is moved into full sun. When it comes back inside in the fall it’s put in a south facing window, with a grow light also near it in the depths of Michigan’s dark winter days.

Pomegranate makes a nice houseplant. It’s evergreen inside, with small oval leaves and wiry red-brown stems. It flowers on and off through winter if the light is good. There is some dropping of leaves when it’s brought inside but the plant quickly replaces them. They don’t have many insect or disease problems indoors.

Pomegranates are hardy to zone 8 and are sometimes grown as landscape plants in southern states. Outside pomegranates will lose their leaves in fall and go through a short dormant period.  Where they are hardy outside some types of pomegranates can make small trees. Usually however, pomegranates have a bushy shape. They tend to sucker at the base. Some have thorny branches.

Pomegranates like the drier areas of zone 8-9 since they are native to the Mid-East. They don’t flower or fruit well in the more humid areas of the south. They like sandy, well-draining soils and are drought tolerant once established. However regular watering is more likely to produce flowers and fruit. Outside they can get 15-20 feet high.

Pomegranate growing in pot outside

My pomegranate plant bloomed the first year I planted it. It has pretty orange -red flowers with a tubular shaped calyx that sports a puff of crepe paper like petals on the end. Mine blooms sporadically all year, with a heavier bloom in late spring and again in late summer. There are varieties of pomegranate that have yellow or white flowers and there are varieties with double flowers.

If you are lucky as I was this year, your pomegranate plant can produce fruit for you. Fruits range from about 2 inches to 5 inches across. Houseplants will produce small fruits, but they are equally edible as larger outside grown fruits.  Houseplants usually have fewer fruits also.

 A single plant can self-pollinate and produce fruit, but it needs help to do so. Bees like the flowers and so do hummingbirds, with hummers more likely to pollinate the flowers successfully. You can also help by moving pollen from one flower to another with a small paintbrush. If hummers are scarce in your area hand pollination is probably more reliable and of course you’ll have to do this if the plant is inside. Having two different cultivars for cross pollination will produce more fruit.

Pomegranate flower

There are many cultivars of pomegranate.  Mine was described as “Nana” in the Logee catalog and is a dwarf cultivar. ‘State Fair’ is another good dwarf variety.  My pomegranate has a bushy habit without any pruning. The now 3-year-old plant is about 2 feet high.  It’s in a 10-inch pot with an all-purpose planting medium. I fertilize it with a houseplant fertilizer twice a month from March through October.  I let it dry slightly between watering.

 If you do want to prune pomegranate, do it in the fall as it blooms and fruits on new wood. A light pruning in fall will stimulate new growth but heavy pruning tends to delay flowering. Flowering can also be reduced by inadequate light, especially inside.

You could grow pomegranate from the seeds of store-bought fruit, but the plants resulting from that won’t be good houseplants, if that’s your goal. Also, pomegranate like many fruits, doesn’t grow true from seed.  For a house or patio plant buy a seedling from a nursery that is from a dwarf type plant.  You can root cuttings from last years growth in the fall, with root hormone, in potting medium. Cuttings won’t start in water.

My pomegranate fruit in September

I was surprised to see a fruit developing on my plant this summer. It must have been pollinated by a bee or hummer. Fruit begins as a swelling of the calyx. The flower petals shrivel up but remain attached for some time. The little lump slowly grows for several months, producing a lot of big seeds inside, each surrounded by a juicy bit of pulp called an aril, that many people love the taste of.

Unfortunately for me I picked my small fruit too soon. The color of the fruit varies by variety.  Mine had started a dark reddish color but then got lighter and I thought when it began turning darker again it was probably ripe.  It wasn’t.  The seeds were white and the aril pale pink. The taste was quite sour.  But I now know to leave the fruit longer.  I first noticed the fruit in August, and it was picked the first of December, so the ripening period is long.

Unfortunately I picked the fruit too soon 

If you like houseplants that are a little different, or unusual patio plants that can be brought inside in winter, you may want to try growing a pomegranate.  Growing edibles indoors is also fun. But even if you don’t get fruit the pretty flowers on the plant can liven up indoor landscapes.

 

“From December to March, there are for many of us three gardens – the garden outdoors, the garden of pots and bowls in the house, and the garden of the mind’s eye.”

– Katherine S. White

 

 

Kim Willis

 

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Contact me at williskim151@gmail.com