@PomGranny
Those are looking good ! !
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POMGRANNY , I am envious of your poms. I have just 4!! I have similar growth on my Ranni. Japanese beetles feasted on my young pluot tree (stopped its growth completely in August) but barely touched my poms. After moving my Wonderful out of the pot it grew fairly well. Almost 2 feet of growth vs 6 " from 2 I left potted. Great job:sunglasses:
I am encouraged by your comments. We dont see temps below 10 degrees often. I have disease and fungal problems in my space but poms not affected so far. Fingers crossed! !! Guy told my Wonderful fruits in Atlanta but I ve read different from a few sources. I hope he was being accurate and not just overly optimistic.
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Great pictures and info! 
It’s interesting how all the different varieties grow differently.
Has the fungus affected the inside or just the outside of the fruit?
I’m planning to not prune mine at all or very little too, like you mentioned. I didn’t prune my Wonderful pomegranate this past year, and it had lots of new growth. I pruned it before that, and it seemed to die back to the ground every year.
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Steve, the fungus shows up as black spots on the outside . . . and possibly separate (?) is some kind of ‘rot’. I sprayed with copper, but it didn’t seem to help. If anyone knows what to do about this - please let me know. I’ve cut down anything surrounding the plant that might block airflow. And . . . that is why I tried thinning out the shrub. But all it did was cut way down on the fruit production. Fungus was not improved over last year. I’m stumped.
I’ll post pics. Bad year for my pomegranate fruit! Only a few reached full size. Most were stopped in their tracks - and have these nasty areas on them.
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This is the ‘tree’ that is plagued by this black spot stuff. It is probably 15 years old. Maybe 20. I believe it is a Grenada. The Wonderful, beside it, used to fruit . . . but it died back in the winter of 2017. Just gaining height back . . . so maybe next year it will fruit again.
This is the Grenada that the fruit in my previous pics are from.
This is my old Wonderful - in its new form - after a die back.
And this one is a mystery variety, that has never done much of anything. It died back a few times. I call it ‘Broken Wrist Pomegranate’ . . . because I tripped while planting it, and broke my wrist. 
Maybe that is why it has never even bloomed! Cursed!
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Pomgranny I had similar issue recently with pom rot and posted. I’m thinking copper or immunox next year but haven’t had a chance to try to research more what may be a good spray.
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Hi Pooya. Thanks for responding. I sprayed with copper . . . even removed most of the mulch and sprayed the ground. But, probably not enough times. I will look into the Immunox next year.
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I’ve had this same issue from the beginning. I notice that the stink bugs like the fruit, and so I’m guessing that the holes from the stink bug bites allow the rot to enter. I will try surround next year and see if it helps.
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I think the humidity and prevalence of spores or other sources of this rot are the biggest issue growing poms in the Mid Atlantic. I don’t know if the susceptibility ranges by variety at all.
I have a semi-dwarf from the USDA GRIN, Hyrdanar X Goulosha, which is in a 3-gallon pot and I regularly get 1-2 poms from it that are about 3-inches in diameter. Not quite at the pom Wonderful size, but much bigger than any other dwarfs. It was supposedly created to make production and harvesting better. The plant probably sets a half dozen or more each year, but the others get the rot and I pull them since I seem to be able to get a few without rot from this plant each year so I don’t want the rotting ones to infect others. I’m not sure if it helps, but that’s what I do. Previously I’ve harvested too early, but this year I let them hang and I’m pretty sure they were ripe. The Arils stay mostly white even thought it is a nice crimson on the outside of the fruit. But the seeds are hard and it is still fairly sour, even though it is a nice overall taste. I would think this is better for processing and juicing, maybe with some added sweetening. This is my most successful escaping the rot, but I don’t know if it is because it is a smaller, more open plant and in a container, or the variety.
I have a big Salavatski planted out near the sidewalk, which sets at least a dozen fruit a year, but they almost always rot. I’ve gotten a few worth harvesting, but have picked those too early. There is actually a couple hanging now that are rot-free, but they set much later, so maybe it was past when the rot was more prevalent. We have had a very dry late summer into fall. Unfortunately those couple perfect probably won’t have enough time to ripen.
I have a Desertnyi and Parfianka in large containers, and they have a similar good set/high rot growth each season. This year I did get my first Parfianka that didn’t get completely rotted before ripening and I was able to get a good amount of arils to taste. Delicious! So maybe I’ll give them another year of hope. Anyone with a spray plan that actually works please let us all know.
Here is the Parfianka I ate yesterday and a few of the arils left in the bowl before they were all eaten. You can see all the peck marks on the Parfianka, which makes me think the birds knew it was ripe as well.
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Yep, Zendog . . . that is what mine look like. It’s like ‘blossom end rot’ in Pomegranates!
And the black spot -has to be a fungal thing. Next year I am going to try to spray continuously. It’s so aggravating to not have fruit. Past years have proved to be much better - on my Grenada and my Wonderful. The Wonderful has died back a couple of times . . . but always rallies. No Wonderful fruit this year, though.
I am hopeful . . . that the plants out in the field - with much better space and airflow - may avoid the fungal problem. Perhaps some varieties better than others? I have a Parfianka out there. But, no fruit yet. Too young. Yours looks great.
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I wonder how bagging the fruit would work.?
Too late for this year, but maybe next?
Since they are bushes , and less fruit than say a big apple tree,may be appropriate ? Just a thought .
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Would bagging keep a fungus out? I guess I could try that. I only have about 30 fruits, tops, in a good year.
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I had intended to try that this year, but it fell off the bottom of the list of garden chores. Since the rot always starts at the calyx or right beside it, I was hoping that using a ziplock with just the bottom cut off would keep rain off the fruit if that was how the rot started. I was going to try this instead of the cuts in the corners since I was hoping it would provide more airflow than the bags I put on apples and pears. And since there isn’t really a lot of bug issues with them, I thought the bags would be just like little rain coats. I just don’t know if I wait to allow them to get pollinated, maybe spores are already present, but I think it is an idea worth testing. Next year I’ll be more diligent! - I say every year.
At one point, @Matt_in_Maryland had read something about it being the same fungus as the grey mold on strawberries. I do have a lot of strawberries around, but I think many others here don’t have them near their poms and still have the issue. I was thinking of bringing some by the extension office and seeing if there was a way to get them tested. If we knew what the mold/fungus/mildew was, figuring out a treatment would probably be easier. Maybe some PhD candidate is looking for a great project on successfully growing pomegranates in the Mid Atlantic for their dissertation.
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THIS is a great idea. I think I might drop one of my poms off at the Extension Service, here in Chesapeake - and see what they come up with.
Also - I noticed that my fungus ‘arrived’ the same year that a nasty black fungus started invading our crepe myrtle tree, nearby. And I always wondered if it was the same fungus - in a bit of a different form - on my pomegranates. ?
We cut the crepe myrtle down this year - because we got tired of the ‘black mess’ all over our fence - and because it was killing the tree. Those trees are very messy, even in their non-fungal state! Maybe next year - without that tree - my poms will respond to the spraying, better.
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Congrats on making progress everyone in your part of the country! Looking good.
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We could make a million-bizillion bucks if we could come up with a Mid-Atlantic Pomegranate - that would withstand all the humidity! 
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That you could!
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Here is my Salavatski by the curb. It is probably 8 feet tall now and a sprawling menace to all who date to pass on the sidewalk.
Here are the two fruits that formed late in the season and are still very clean, but probably won’t have time to ripen. I actually see a spot of the mold/rot starting on the blossom end of the small one.
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I believe the most common rot on pomegranate is caused by;
Colletotrichum gloeosporioides: An Anthracnose
So can google ; " Pomagranate Anthracnose "
It has hundreds ( or more )host plants .
Is both saprophytic and parasitic .
Over winters on leafs and stems , and as a saprophyte on organic material.
So it’s about everywhere.!
Needs 68-86degrees F. And free water for spore germination.
on Poms it infects the leafs , stems , flowers ,and fruit.
Early season sprays , would be important . To prevent spread to the fruit.
Bagging may eliminate most of the free water on the fruit.
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Let’s do it!
I bet that seedlings from the more rot resistant varieties could create a variety really resistant to rot.
We can dream right?!
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