I was just visiting a nursery and there were two small bushes labeled Dwarf Pomegranate and both had several dry fruit still hanging. I pulled one off and of course it is full of seeds. Anyone know if these seeds are a possibility for propagation? I didn’t know there was a dwarf pomegranate. I guess the long answer would be stick them in dirt but just wondering if anyone here has a shorter answer…
Katy
True dwarf pomegranate is a separate species whose seeds will produce the same species. It is considered an ornamental plant.
yes there’s a good chance they will sprout. The term ‘dwarf’ may be a misnomer though, which may pertain to size of tree, which could be influenced by growing conditions, especially if grown from cuttings and in full sun, or may also pertain to size of fruits. When grown from seed, many species may not be true to type due to pollination, and even if true-to-type with ‘dwarf genes’, a seed-grown pomegranate may not exhibit dwarf habits. Trees grown from seed generally start more vigorously compared to cuttings(in part due to strong taproots), but will often take much longer to bear fruit compared to cuttings, because they start as juveniles in a hurry to form a trunk. Trees from cuttings(or even as tiny ‘young’ buds as grafts) have pretty much the same age and ‘seasoning’ as the tree it came from, and will fruit sooner, but not as fast-growing, since these only have adventitious roots. Many pomegs are actually dwarfish by nature having been grown from cuttings. ‘Bearing at a young age’ nurseries always say, but this is because the stem cutting is practically as old as the mother tree it serially came from. Decades or perhaps centuries ago.
below is one of the ‘long answers’ that could pose a problem for me if i were to do it, the impatient oldie that i am, lol
also shows our human-centric tendencies when we think of trees’ ages and lifespans. Original poster says 6 years is a long wait, and it is-- for us humans
conversely at the other extreme of human-centric views, many will say that if pomeg cuttings have been propagated as clones for many decades or several centuries(outliving several human generations), then one could conclude they are immortal(barring presence of diseases/pests).
http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/1462513/why-dont-pomegranates-grown-from-seed-seem-to-fruit
Pomegranate will grow as a tree when trained. Otherwise its natural form is a multitrunk shrub.
I really don’t need a dwarf pomegranate…especially one that I will have to wait years to fruit. 
but there is just something about finding potential growth in the palm of my hand. I have two poms that I just moved into sunlight that are years old and did fruit once upon a time but have been overshadowed by trees that outgrew them. When I trimmed them up for a move I stuck a few cuttings into a pot and there are small leaves forming on four of these cuttings. Now I have a hundred or so seeds that I guess I should just toss. Will I? Prob not… it’s like opening a package to see what you get!
Thanks for the input guys!
Katy
I’m wondering if those were in “Monrovia” pots; i.e., the Monrovia cultivar Punica granatum ‘Nana’ ?
Monrovia is usually very accurate in their use of biological names, so this would not be a hybrid or separate species.
This cultivar also exists in the NCGR Davis collection as a donated accession from PI 599529 and not available for scion wood.
These plants were in the ground in a sort of display garden at the side. The place had very few plants out and their “winter hours” sign was still out. They were planted side by side and were both only about 2-3 foot tall and they were shaded by a much taller plant that I did not pay attention to but I’m sure it was a tree of some sort. There were probably 10-15 fruits total. Some were very small and some larger. The larger fruit were a bit bigger than a golf ball and leathery dry.
growing from seed seems to be a long time only if you don’t have other trees that are already bearing fruits, and/or you only have a small yard.
would be excruciating ‘torture’ for someone with just a patio(and no other fruit trees) to anticipate fruits from seedlings in a pot, compared to buying a fruit-ready pomegranate planted as a mature cutting.
Since you already have trees that are fruiting and have a sizeable piece of land, waiting on seedlings shouldn’t ‘hurt’ much, if at all, since the mature trees you already have will keep you busy meanwhile.
the wait might be much longer from seed, but the practice could produce novelties!
… can be gratifying if you choose berries that fruit in 1-2 years after germination 
Yes you are right and yes I am blessed with space. I am always amazed at what others do to utilize every inch of land they have for growing. Because I have always had the space I have been taught neither the frugality with nature nor the resourcefulness that I see in many of these forum members postings. I have started many more projects than I ordinarily would have begun as I have been encouraged by what others are doing. I think though there is some personal need that is shared by people that like to grow things just because they can. I’m not sure if this is by nature or nurture as I feel a strong bond with my parents working and using the land but I have not genetically passed that trait to my sons. I digress but that is to say that something inside me hates to see seeds not given a fighting chance…that is unless they are goat weed or nut grass, etc. 
you really are, and just as excited as you filling it up with fruit trees
you could probably blame steve jobs, bill gates, harley-davidson, and elon musk for this ,and not your genetics 
boys tend to delve on techno stuff/computer games/fast cars and bikes, and wait until they are in their 50’s to start realizing that gardening/orcharding are just as ‘exhilirating’ as risking hip fractures on a yamaha. Just kidding…
but yes, have literally seen men “age”, who never really talked to me about gardening just a few years back, and now engaging and curious about starting a garden— as their hair got a bit more salt and peppery. More than fifty shades of gray, in fact 
And find it quite intriguing as some of them are >ten years my senior.
had a bad case of progeria, so started getting senile when i was five.
have met just a few folks here who planted from seed and reaped the ‘fruits’ of their labor(and of their perseverance). And the self-serving person that i am, i happen to be a beneficiary of one of them, having obtained bud wood… so will be reaping the fruits of his labor too. We earthlings only live to our 70’s, so had he not planted seeds and taken a chance with the que sera sera, the chances of me experiencing that cultivar is infinitesimal, if not zero…
you could be a multi-billionaire, but you still have to sow seeds and wait for a new cultivar to be created…
If nobody has that kind of patience and optimism, there won’t be new cultivars, and pretty much rely on a desirable bud sport developing somewhere, or held hostage waiting for zaiger or monsanto to patent something new and pay for it big time.
with open pollination and planting seeds, you don’t need a laboratory
I’ve always found Zaiger’s products to be reasonably priced.
you’re right, zaiger is reasonable. Monsanto’s may be a bit more indenturing.
Speaking of planting seeds…I have just put 6 more sprouted seeds into soil. 4 of them are honey jar. I have only had a total of 3 rootstock sprout which I understand is unusual. If all these grow I will have 6 honey jar and 3 rootstock.
Will these honey jar have to be grafted onto a rootstock in the future?
One of the HJ is already branching…???
you don’t need to, but it may end up being the rootstock themselves if the fruits are no bueno…
there’s also a chance some may not be as hardy to waterlogging or ‘cold feet’ as regular rootstock, so grafting to a spinosa seedling may confer some type of insurance.
of course it will still be a while, perhaps three years or more. And even if any might fruit early, you’d still have to give the young trees a few more years to fruit as the fruits typically won’t attain prime condition until the trees have matured enough.