Pomagranates

[Dick Adams]

Does anyone have any experience with pomagranates? I want to try growing them hydroponically.

Dick

[JNJ]

That would prove interesting. Pomegranates grow on shrubs that reach 6 to

15 feet in height and, as I understand it, seeds tend to come from inedible varieties. They're native to central Asia -- middle east especially, I believe. Some have speculated that the forbidden fruit was actually a pomegranate rather than a Braeburn. :P

I'd have to wonder how you could grow them hydroponically -- I wouldn't suspect they are very conducive to such conditions, especially with their mature size, but perhaps they would do ok in a greenhouse. I did a quick search on "pomegranate hydroponic" though and came up with a bunch of hits. You misspelled it above so that might be why you didn't find any -- hit Yahoo and try a search with "pomegranate hydroponic" and I'll wager you'll find something worthwhile.

James

[Tom J]

My experience is that they produce fruit consistently starting at around 6 to

10 years old, and at a height of 8 to 12 feet and a limb spread of 6 to 12 feet.

Do you really want to spend that much energy??

Tom J who has a pomegranate cluster in the lawn

[Lilly]

Tom, might I ask what zone you're in? I have a pom tree (more like a bush, really) that I got when I lived in Southern California. Since moving to the Pacific Northwest, zone 7 or 8, it hasn't flowered once, which I assume is because it's too cold for it here. I was thinking of pruning the heck out of it come winter, and just making it an indoor tree from now on. Any ideas? Thanks! ~Lilly

Trees are the Earth's endless effort to speak to the listening heavens.

-Rabindranath Tagore-

[Tom J]

I'm in the Atlanta, GA area and we do have some cold winters. About every 15 to 20 years they get killed back to near the ground, but because of the established root system, it usually only takes about 3 years for them to fruit again. I have blooms most years and the set fruit an average of 2 out of 3 years.

Tom J

[V_coerulea]

I live in zone8 in SC and our pomegranates do just fine. Since zone 7-8 simply indicates a minimum temp for hardiness, it really says nothing about the amount of heat over a given period of time. It's very possible that your region simply does not provide the amount of sunny days and/or heat necessary for flower initiation in pomegranates. Indoor growh might work if heat is the contributing factor. Since they're so easy here, I've never really checked to see if photoperiod or season length is in any way responsible. Check it out and let us all know. Gary