I think it was 2011 that I planted my first pomegranate, a Salavatski, and I’ve gotten about 3-5 more varieties, some of which are still in pots, but so far I’ve selected all of my pomegranates based entirely on reports of cold hardiness, figuring I should begin by finding varieties that can survive before considering other traits. The Salavatski has survived, but it died back to the ground with the hardest winters – I’m officially 7b now, but I’ve had more 7a winters lately than anything else – so my thoughts are turning now more to trying to grow pomegranates in pots. I could grow them in 25 gallon pots and winter them in an unheated building where I’ve had excellent success wintering things like pomegranates. So my question is: what varieties should I consider? Will any pomegranate variety grow as well as any other in a pot? Are there other traits that make some varieties better suited to the Southeast (besides cold hardiness)? Susceptibility to premature cracking or disease issues or ripening times or anything else? What about productivity and taste? I’ve eaten so few pomegranates in my life that I couldn’t begin to say anything about the different taste types, but generally speaking (with other fruits) I enjoy a full range of sweet to sour fruits. I’ve read about hard and soft seeded types. Softer seeds sounds nice, especially if hard is as hard as something like a mollypop or a hackberry. How hard is a hard seeded pomegranate? Thanks for any advice!
I recently acquired a Red Silk with the intention of keeping it in pot culture. It has been overwintering in my basement.
Red Silk is reported as a naturally dwarfed cultivar and therefore better suited to pot culture.
@zendog Were you trialing a bunch of pomegranates in the DC area? Do you (or anyone else) have any further recommendations or advice as far as growing pomegranates in pots in the Southeast?
Hi Cousin,
I am indeed trialing a bunch of poms just outside of DC and about the only thing I can say for sure is that having them in pots and protecting in winter is really the way to go if you want any hope of significant success. Even though the general hardiness is about the same as figs, they leaf out much earlier and the swollen buds are easily killed by late freezes. So they might survive the same low temps as figs mid winter, but get zapped in a spring frost that leaves a fig okay.
But I am finding the biggest issue is the fruits getting a fungus/rot from the blossom side and never making it to ripening. So even though my in-ground Salavatski set some fruit last year, they were a mess before they hit the tennis ball size and I just tossed them out. Same thing on Parfianka and Desertnyi which are in 20 gallon fabric pots. I’m hoping it was an issue of the timing of rain, etc., but it may just be the east coast humidity. It was probably a couple dozen fruit I saw set and then eventually turn bad. Maybe I should have just pulled any off at the first signs of an issue, or maybe I should have sprayed something. If I had more space I would keep each them further apart so they don’t spread the issue easily, but they’re all growing in my driveway.
I also have a smaller Sambar that I’ll be moving to a bigger pot to try to get it to fruit, as well as a Vkusnyi, and Kara Bala Mirusal that I hope to see poms form this year. The other challenge is that although I can get fruit off a first year fig cutting sometimes, poms take longer to be fruitful so it is more or a process to see what will work… if anything.
If I was going to start again, I might just limit my test to Parfianka, Desertnyi, Sambar and Vkusnyi - all of which are medium soft to soft seeds. Red Silk also sounds very good. But to be honest, if I knew then what I know now, I’d probably put the effort into things like figs that work great here. I’ve never heard anybody on the east coast rave about a pomegranate they’ve grown and I’ve seen a lot of pretty good poms in stores locally, including a great deal at Costco last year that had 10 Red Silk poms for $12.99. I’ve spent at least 10 times that on my pom efforts and haven’t gotten a single edible fruit.
I hope someone else will jump in and tell us all about there success so I can hope for better days with my pom project.
Zen,
Thanks for the update. Sorry to hear about your disease issue. My potted Red Silk still has not awoken from winter dormancy. It looks dead, but shows green at the scratch test. Today is the first really hot day we’ve had in a long time. Maybe the coming warmth will finally wake it up (or deliver its final death blow).
I wonder what your disease is. Hopefully someone can offer a diagnosis and a cure. Mike McConkey of Edible Landscaping Nursery in Afton, VA can get his poms to fruit free of disease. How does he do it?
HydranarXGoulosha is supposed to be a dwarf variety that @Drew51 told me about. If you hurry they still have a few in stock!
Hey the best time to plant a tree is six years ago. The next best time is right now!