Cold-Hardy Pomegranates in Zone 6

General Fruit Growing
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Has anyone had any luck with cold hardy pomegranates, and if so, where did you get them? Several websites say that pomegranates can go all the way down to zone 6 and even bear fruit in the first year, but reading online, I’ve found mixed reviews. I would absolutely love to have a tree or even a hedge of pomegranates where I am, but obviously would want them to fruit. I’ve also considered growing them in large containers. What is everyone’s thoughts/experience?

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I don’t think there’s many pomegranates that can survive below 0°f. But with how they are deciduous they should be able to be bred for colder weather in my opinion.
I wish I had a huge amount of seeds from the hardy ones to mass plant for trying to get it more cold hardy.

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There are very few varieties that could survive zone 6b, let alone fruit there.

I would not grow any pomegranate variety in the ground in zone 6b without protection, and without some sort of heating source for the coldest nights, not even ‘Nikitskyi Chernyi’, which is said to fruit after ‘-22 degrees Fahrenheit’, without dieback. Because there would still be low production without those protections, and if a ‘Nikitskyi Chernyi’ pomegranate bush is not big enough, not old enough, and not healthy enough, then it’s not at it’s most cold hardy. ‘Nikitskyi Chernyi’ is the only variety that I know of that might do well every year without those protections, although as far as I can tell that one is not in the USA.

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That would be amazing even if there was one that could take to -10°f available here in the us.

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Sadly I am thinking that one might be too late a cropper for zone 6a/6b, or maybe even for zone 7a. Only time will tell.

I know of two more that may be cold hardy enough, yet way less is known about those two. Although those two are taking very long to crop. Maybe they are too late in the aforementioned zones, to get ripe fruit.

There is also rumors that there are some other varieties that are about that cold hardy which are being kept away from most people intentionally. Yet that is just a rumor as far as I know.

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