We are such novices. Averages Joes that have no idea what we are doing. I found this forum on a search for advice and since I have been overwhelmed with the knowledge here. My husband and I don’t know what we don’t know…
Several years ago my DH bought a coupe of pomegranate trees from Walmart (!!!). We don’t know what kind of poms they are, we didn’t even know there were varieties (!!!). We planted and a year or two later one of them beautifully bloomed and bore a fruit. Anxious to try it we picked it before ripened completely and it was a bit tart to say the least but we did have a fruit. Since then they have not fruited. We had two blooms this year that fell off. In the mean time trees in the area have grown and they now get very little sun so we think that might be the problem. We think it might help to move these trees/shrubs to another area. We have had our first really cold weather and think that they will go dormant soon. They have been pruned to about 6 feet. Still have leaves at present but I think those will go soon. Advice? Will it help to move them? If so do we trim them back a lot more? Full sun or will they actually tolerate some shade? We have a lot of space but our soil is clay loam over clay and areas of deeper soil are harder to come by. Zone 8a in East Texas.
from what i’ve observed, walmart only sells the variety ‘wonderful’ at least here in vegas,
i would rather move them when they are leafless. It wouldn’t hurt if they have lost plenty leaves, but if still verdant, probably safer to wait. And yes full sun!
Moving a pomegranate tree seems like a lot of trouble. I would just take some cuttings and then plant them out in the proper location, then remove the old tree(s).
Here are some pom cuttings I took a few years ago:
What Raf said The best way to transplant would be to do some root pruning right now, then transplant in spring/late spring, while the bushes are still dormant, but chances of freezes are less. This should significantly lessen the transplant shock for your tree. Here is a really good link explaining how to root-prune and transplant. I also recommend pruning the long branches back now, and prune for shape and remove any badly crossing branches while the plants are dormant (not mentioned in this article, but this is the time to do some pruning, and tip pruning will encourage flowering in the 1st three years. After that, just prune out dead branches, and prune for shape/height).:
Re-site them in full sun, with some afternoon shade (if your sun is really hot, some afternoon sun is welcomed). Keep them watered, if needed. Once you start to see them leaf out in the spring, you can apply a 12-12-12 fertilizer to the root zone out to the drip line (edge of the canopy). They should recover and should flower again for you. And yes, probably almost certainly ‘Wonderful’ cultivar, which is an average pom cultivar, taste-wise, but a very dependable cultivar, growth-wise. It is a reliable cultivar in your zone, which has freezes. Hard-seeded cultivars like ‘Wonderful’ tend to do better with colder winter temps than soft-seeded cultivars.
Fantastic article. I’ve printed it to work by and I think we could probably manage the root prune and then transplant in the spring. Last winter we had berries and asparagus not go completely dormant and until this week we had no cold weather. It did hit 25 here this week and I’m hoping that will start the process. Thanks for the pruning tips.
Katy
Nice to have a good guess at what we have. I do think I remember seeing those trees this last year at “Wally”. I do hope we have enough winter to make everything go dormant this year. It does look like the 25 degree mark this last week have made the leaves start turning.
Katy
Most pomegranate varieties have very similar blooms, not much difference in that department. In taste, however, Wonderful is significantly inferior to many higher-quality cultivars.
you’re right, they have similar flowers. Should add that the blooms should be single and not double/carnation like-- to somehow help isolate lol. It is just that it is easily the most common so likely that this is what walmart carries.
there are definitely better-tasting pomeg’s, but wonderful is not too bad.
I would never disparage the ‘Wonderful’ pom. The pom of my youth and the pom that launched the huge pom industry. It is excellent here in my local and is considered the gold standard for poms with regard to size, production, taste, seed hardness, availability, ornamental value and vigor. So when someone names a pom variety they will inevitably map it back to ‘Wonderful’ as a point of reference on one or two benchmarks, but will usually fail to consider all of the above criteria. ‘Wonderful’ is the five tool baseball player of the pom world.
I have my 4 poms planted in my front yard. My Wonderful variety is usually taken by passers by because the fruit is is bright red and what people see in the supermarket. They won’t take my uglier looking (but better tasting) varieties fortunately. They all taste good but Wonderful is my least favorite.
I’m with Kevin. ‘Wonderful’ is a very dependable, very vigorous cultivar, but the fruit to me is just average. It is more tart than I prefer, and it has yard seeds, but if you like a bit of a bite to your fruit, then you’ll like it. I think there are far better and sweeter cultivars, especially with some of the great soft seeded cultivars out now, but not everyone can grow them, as they are more sensitive to cold temps. ‘Wonderful’ will bear fruit for everyone, and it is a good enough cultivar to grow in my yard. In fact, my last pom sitting on my counter is a ‘Wonderful’. I will say - I saw a basket of ‘Sweet’ poms at my local fruit stand, grown by someone around here, so going to run back tomorrow and pick up a bunch. Fruit isn’t nearly as pretty and spectacular looking as ‘Wonderful’, but ‘Sweet’ is a delicious cultivar. Mine didn’t bear this year, so hoping for next year!
That “Top 100” list is a best seller list, not a best tasting list. Somewhere on the internet there is a chart for the Wolfskill Orchard rating pomegranates by taste. If people have only had Wonderful at the store than they will be surprised by one ripe from the bush it is far superior; still below my others like Sharp Velvet, Sweet & Desertnyi
Yes, popularity is another criterion to the gold standard. Taste is completely subjective (and highly variable based on climate), whereas popularity is quantifiable.
I agree move them to get more sun. When I trimmed down some trees that were blocking sunlight to my trees they doubled in size in a year. They finally bloomed as well. Next year I think they will make pretty good finally.
i agree. And more pertinently, the OP admits she bought her pomegranate from walmart and(despite the ho-hum provenance) has high hopes for it. If it is the variety wonderful, then probably apt to at least see the cup half full instead of half empty. The variety is, at the least, a decent-tasting cultivar , on top of generally being a reliable and heavy producer.
Safe to say it has it has its fair share of good attributes going for it.
I would say that Wonderful has a very good taste and is very productive and adapted to that California mediterranean environment.
If you live in a more humid environment like the Southeast or a place like Arizona or New Mexico with wider temperature swings, then you might do better with another variety.
The best way to transplant would be to do some root pruning right now, then transplant in spring/late spring, while the bushes are still dormant, but chances of freezes are less. This should significantly lessen the transplant shock for your tree. Here is a really good link explaining how to root-prune and transplant. I also recommend pruning the long branches back now, and prune for shape and remove any badly crossing branches while the plants are dormant (not mentioned in this article, but this is the time to do some pruning, and tip pruning will encourage flowering in the 1st three years. After that, just prune out dead branches, and prune for shape/height).:
