Punica granatum
pomegranate
Common names: pomegranate tree, grenadine
At a glance
- Light
- Full sun
- Hardiness
- Cold damage below −12 °C
- Harvest
- Oct–Nov
- Spacing
- 300 cm, rows 350 cm
- Water need
- Low
Photo: H. Zell · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source
This description was machine-translated.
Description
The pomegranate is a deciduous shrub with fiery orange‑red funnel flowers in summer and leathery fruits filled with juicy, sweet‑tart seed beads. In mild wine‑growing climates it can ripen fully, but in most DACH regions it remains a container plant whose fruits only mature fully during long, warm summers. Hardier varieties can survive light frosts in a protected position, but young plants should be wintered in frost‑free conditions.
Care instructions
Plant the pomegranate after mid‑May (week 20) in full sun and warmth, preferably against a south wall that stores heat. Water deeply, allowing the soil to dry out between waterings. Fertilize moderately from April to August. Winter it in a cool spot at 0 to 8 °C, where it can remain dormant and dark. Prune in spring (March, week 12) to remove excess growth before it starts to shoot.
The care notes were machine-translated from German.
Garden year
HarvestOct–Nov
Soil & site
Soil pH
Soil type
sandy, loamy, well-drained, lime-loving
Give the pomegranate a very free-draining, sandy-loam soil in full sun. Waterlogging is the greatest danger and quickly leads to root rot. It tolerates lime and copes well with neutral to slightly alkaline soils, so it is not an acid-lover. In a container, choose a free-draining, humus-rich mix with a generous drainage layer.
Feeding
Medium feeder
Months
Mar–Aug
In spring (March/April), work ripe compost and horn shavings shallowly into the root zone. From May to August, during growth and flowering, supply it regularly with organic material, without too much emphasis on nitrogen: too much nitrogen drives leaves at the expense of flowers and fruit. From the end of August, stop feeding so that the shoots ripen and the plant prepares for winter.
Overwintering
From October, bring a container pomegranate into a bright or dark, frost-free winter spot (cellar, garage) at a few degrees above zero, water only sparingly and do not let the soil dry out completely. It may go back outside after the Ice Saints in mid-May at the earliest; only in mild wine-growing areas can plants rooted for several years succeed outdoors, with a thick mulch layer of leaves and brushwood and fleece around the crown.
Propagation
Methods
- Cuttings
- Layering
- From seed
Cuttings (preferred method): In late March or early April, cut semi-ripe side shoots from the previous year, about 10 to 15 cm long, just below a leaf node. Remove the lower leaves and insert the shoots 5 to 7 cm deep into a moist, free-draining mix of sand and seed compost. Keep it evenly, lightly moist and put the pots somewhere warm and bright, but out of direct midday sun; a plastic bag or lid placed over them keeps the humidity high. After about 6 to 8 weeks the first roots have usually formed; as soon as new leaves appear, you can pot on into more nutrient-rich compost. Hardwood cuttings from the winter pruning (January to February, finger-thick, leafless shoots about 20 cm long) are also possible and root reliably in spring.
Layering (air layering): Choose a strong branch that is 2 to 3 years old. Ring the bark over a width of about 3 to 4 cm, moisten the spot and wrap it in moist coir or moss, which you bind airtight with plastic film. After a few weeks roots form at that spot; you can then cut the layer off directly below the rooting and pot it up. This method is especially suited to older plants, where cuttings are harder to establish.
Sowing: Rinse the seeds from fresh fruit clean and soak them for about 12 to 24 hours in room-temperature water. Sow from February to March and press the seeds only lightly onto moist seed compost; pomegranate seeds need light to germinate and are covered only very thinly. A film or lid keeps the moisture in; above 20 °C germination takes about 3 to 6 weeks. Note: plants raised from seed often flower and fruit only after many years (up to 10) and do not necessarily match the mother plant (not true to type). For ornamental forms or for experimenting, sowing is still appealing.
Companion planting
Companion planting is partly traditional gardening lore. Where the reason is known, it is given.
For your garden
Grow pomegranate yourself
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