I wouldn’t go so far as to say that I have experience with mature pomegranate trees as I’ve only been growing them for about six or seven years. I have not experienced anything like that leaf curling on any of my pomegranates, but I would suspect some sort of tiny sap sucking insect when the leaves are in development stage. On other species with similar leaf deformity causing bugs I’ve noticed that removing growing tips including and above affected leaves can sometimes significantly reduce the issue since the bugs seem to be constantly migrating to the youngest tender growing tips as the shoots elongate. Removing the tips forces dormant buds lower on the stems to start pushing growth and often these buds aren’t already infected with the bugs since they are primarily breeding where the growth was already active.
I’m hoping it’s some kind of insect. That would be the best case scenario.
That’s a pretty cool process to remove the leaf tips. So do you remove the tip of every injured leaf?
How have the pomegranates been for you so far? I’ve been getting a few fruit over the last two years on one dwarf. The others so far have set fruit that begins to swell before dropping just before dormancy. I got a couple Haku-botan last spring and those are supposed to be consistently good producers in the PNW.
Thanks for the tip! Very cool.
I don’t remove leaf tips, I remove the whole stem tips to remove the growing point along with the attached leaves (in full, not just part of the leaf). The damage is happening early in the development of the leaf so the actively growing tip is where there seems to be the most bug activity (at least in cases where it’s the little critters causing the damage).
I have never gotten any flowers on my in ground pomegranates, but just noticed yesterday a bud is forming on a much younger pomegranate which is still in a pot so age doesn’t seem to be the factor given that I have the same variety in ground also… I never water my in ground poms though and they love water so I think eventually once their roots spread far enough to ensure adequate water through the summer they will probably really take off and start blooming/fruiting.
Aphids are the bug that like the young leaves. Leaf Hopper for the fruits. That’s the 2 main bugs for the Prom in my area.
I’ll probably also apply a dormant oil during the winter. I do that for most my other fruit trees already.
It’s mites.
Hi, No, I have never seen anything like that on my trees. But, then I have only been growing them five or six years. I would agree with you that it looks suspiciously like some type of insect damage. It reminds me of persimmon leaves when they have been attacked by psyllids. I’m sorry I can’t help you with anything definite.
That’s helps. The consensus with everyone that has responded is some kind of insect damage. Since we are so close to leaf drop I’ll just wait for another month or so and spray it with horticultural oil a few times during the dormant season. I had something similar with my espalier plum a couple of years ago. Turned out to be plum aphids and spraying dormant oil eradicated them. Hopefully I’ll have the same success with the pomegranate.
My leaves look the same. The Aphids likes young leaves that grow on the tips. So, when the leaves harden, you get curl leaves after the Aphids are done with their job and left.
I’ll be spraying dormant oil later this fall.
How does Sverkhranniy taste? I’m trying to find a cold hardy, self-fertile variety that’s soft-seeded and balanced toward the sweet side of the spectrum.
Here’s my Nikitskii ranni aka ‘Crimson Sky’ growing in Western Oregon, ripe Oct. 10th. This is the 3rd year in the ground, first significant harvest this year. It’s very tart, but tasty, and the seeds are super hard. Not a substantial amount of juice even in the largest fruits, so it’s sort of an edible novelty. It’s a really attractive bush and the flowers and fruit are pretty enough to earn a spot in the landscaping even without the bonus of edible fruit.
As it relates to the title of this thread, although it fruits in a relatively cool area, I don’t know the min. temp this one can handle as I think 10F or 15F is the coldest it’s seen in its short life.
I’m in zone 7A in SE Pennsylvania. I planted an R-26 (Afganski?) pommegranate in spring 2021, next to my garage. It was a tiny little twig in a 4" pot when I planted it, and now it’s about 4’-5’ high with one pomegranate! This picture is from September 6, so the fruit is maybe tennis ball sized now, but it’s still fairly green. What are the odds that it will actually ripen?
I am not much warmer and poms always ripen for me if I wait until the first hard frost to pick. I don’t have R-26 but all the ones I had ripened. This year I have a couple Salavatski hanging which always ripen up well. Thats the only pom variety I have left now, many died back last winter and I took them out.
I grow Salavatski in zone 6 Central New Jersey. I have a bunch outside in 10 gallon pots and some inside a High Tunnel in 26 gallon pots. The difference in quality is extreme. Both produce baseball size fruits but the high tunnel ones are very sweet. I think this variety has such a long season to ripen that ones grown outside never really ripen even though they may crack. Long term, I think it best to grow naturally sweeter varieties outside and tart varieties in the greenhouse. Anyone else have thoughts on this?
I have seen this before and assumed it was too much fertilizer because it cleared up the following season after the fertilizer dilluted.
Interesting. Thanks for offering your two cents. I still think I’ll hit it with some dormant oil just in case it’s some kind of mite. I’ll never know exactly, though I really don’t care all that much as long as it goes away. I have 8 pomegranate trees of 6 different cultivars and the Favorite is the only one that had these wonky leaves towards the end of the season.
On a more exciting note my dwarf pomegranate from Japan produced its largest fruit to date. It’s been getting hit with lows around 30 for the past two nights and looks happy as a clam and still lush with green foliage. Very few leaves have even turned compared to the other cultivars.
What type are you growing and where? Zone?
Here are the dwarf pomegranate fruit pics:
How well do the fruits hold up in freezing weather at night?
I harvested a bunch today just because a bad cold streak is coming. Most were ready anyway. I’m in zone 6 and grow in pots. It limits amount of fruit but still enjoy some. I was amused today at how different these fruits can be. I like the range of colors in the seed.
Salavatski is actually sweet if ripened properly! This softball sized fruit is more sweet than tart, big arils and soft seeds when grown in a zone 6 high tunnel. Picked November 1, 2023. To contrast my outside grown Salavatskis are much more sour and hard seeded.
Nice size! Mine are mostly tart but a few produce more sweet than tart like Al Sirin Nor. Parfianka has very soft seeds so I’m a little spoiled there. Everything is hard compared to that one. Since I protect them in the winter I’m not limited to cold hardy types only.