Pomegranate Tree From Seed

[Hunter_3]

I have grown 16 pomegranate trees to about 13 inches from seed. I was wondering how long I need to wait until I start working on a couple of them. I'm also not sure how to keep them small without chopping their tops off. Is there a way? Thanks!

 

[Poink88]

They grow fast (but thickens slowly for me) so it will be impossible to keep them small w/o chopping. They backbud well so if that is your concern, don't. Good luck!

 

[Hunter_3]

They grow fast (but thickens slowly for me) so it will be impossible to keep them small w/o chopping. They backbud well so if that is your concern, don't. Good luck!

Thank you. How tall do you think they should be before I chop? And how much should I chop?

 

[Poink88]

Thank you. How tall do you think they should be before I chop? And how much should I chop?

It depends on what your goals are. You can wire it and give it some character w/o pruning if you are after taller trees. You can trim it down to the first node (though risky) if you want also.

I always watch the tree and chop when it is starting to grow. They usually have a rest period and I wait that "time" out, once they start moving, I chop. In my yard (here in TX), another growth time should come in a few weeks and still have enough time for the new growth to harden before fall/winter.

If you are not sure (in your area), safest is wait for spring.

 

[Hunter_3]

It depends on what your goals are. You can wire it and give it some character w/o pruning if you are after taller trees. You can trim it down to the first node (though risky) if you want also.

I always watch the tree and chop when it is starting to grow. They usually have a rest period and I wait that "time" out, once they start moving, I chop. In my yard (here in TX), another growth time should come in a few weeks and still have enough time for the new growth to harden before fall/winter.

If you are not sure (in your area), safest is wait for spring.

Yeah. It seems like they would grow most of the year in my greenhouse and house. I live in Missouri and our winters are pretty harsh, so I can't leave them outside. I'd like to have them look full grown, but small. Kind of shrubby almost. They haven't put any branches out yet, so maybe if I made a cut, they would start pushing them out?

 

[Neli]

Yeah. It seems like they would grow most of the year in my greenhouse and house. I live in Missouri and our winters are pretty harsh, so I can't leave them outside. I'd like to have them look full grown, but small. Kind of shrubby almost. They haven't put any branches out yet, so maybe if I made a cut, they would start pushing them out?

Yes they will back bud if you chop them.

 

[sorce]

Hey Hunter,

Leo from NE Illinois did an excellent write up on them on another forum. He has had one for I think 30 years from seed. In a pot, never got too thick.

Do you put them outside in summer?

I have 2 in a medium size (pt) sour cream container. I started them in winter. Outside since over 50 degrees, they both have been branching, and are less than 16 inches high, about pencil thick. Though i have wired some bend in them.

I haven't pruned the apical bud. Just one of every two side shoots down low to keep from bulging and inverse taper.

In a loose mix of random aquarium rocks, pine nuggets, and probly some dirt. I water once or twice a day. Fertilize often with liquid 10-10-10.

Leo lets his frost to go dormant. Then in for protection. I may do the same.

Found a pic, ill try to attach. Sorry. Its a cottage cheese container!

Good luck with yours!

Sorce

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Yep, actually this year makes it 40 years, started with a little cutting in 1974. Yikes, I was young and skinny then. I'm not now.

In a pot for 40 years, it is still only slightly over 1 inch in trunk diameter, about 14 inches tall.

It is the tree I made all the beginner mistakes on. One big mistake was not understanding how to use escape branches to thicken trunks. That is why after 40 years it is so thin. It could have been any size I wanted, even in a pot, if I had understood the technique while the tree was young.

Since you are in Missouri, you will have to keep it in a pot. I only leave mine out to get a light frost, just enough to knock the leaves off. Then I put it in a cold cellar, 32-40F for the winter. Usually by late January it shows signs of wanting to grow. I hold it in the well house, cold, until spring. But if you have a greenhouse, leave it out to a light frost or two, then put it in the greenhouse. It will sit dormant for a while, then wake up with a nice flush of shoots. If you can spare the space, let it become a shrub, with roots to fill a one gallon to 3 gallon pot. While it is young, chop it low and let it branch out and bush out. It can tolerate being chopped as low as a couple inches above the soil. Let a low branch and one branch higher up toward the crown escape, grow long. Prune the rest short as per your thoughts to design. Let the escape branches go for 2 or 3 years, until they are 3 to 5 or more feet long. This will thicken the trunk. Then cut them off flush to the trunk, pick another low branch and let that go. Repeat as needed. You seldom see photos of this technique in use, because while all the better artists use it, they seldom take pictures because it looks ridiculous. There is plenty written about it, search this sight or "the other sites" for "sacrifice branches" or "escape branches"

You can have a pomegranate with any thickness you desire for the trunk.

I think pomegranate is a great tree for the novice and the expert. It survives accidental total dehydration, neglect, wrong season repotting, and all manner of abuse. The only thing it really does not like is deep shade and temperatures below 25 F. If it looses it leaves due to drying out or other insult - don't use it as kindling, let it sit for at least 3 months, sometimes they will come back from what seemed like certain death. I had one come back to life after being totally dehydrated for over a week - and I mean totally bone dry. Normally that is certain death for many trees. It took a while, but all of a sudden, there was life.

They ramify well. Have neat flowers and fruit. Have fun with it. And cuttings root easily, you can always make more. Make a spare to two. Go wild.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Looking at the photo of my tree it certainly doesn't look like much - but as I said, it preserved all the effects of all the mistakes I made. But that skinny little trunk has a lot of character - wonderful scars and a nice aged look to it.

By the way, wood older than 10 years usually does not bud back, so chop it back hard a few times now while it is still young, to get the low branches you will need to choose from when it is full an bushy and time to finally style it.

As you can tell from my comments, I now think the best tactic is not not style young material until you have grown out a bunch of branches, and have developed the desired thickness you want for the trunk. Once you impose a style on a tree, the trunk will not thicken much at all. If I only understood that 40 years ago.

 

[sorce]

I started an airlayer on mine for s&g.

Nothing yet. Not expecting it to take though.

Cuttings in spring!

 

[JoeR]

Yep, actually this year makes it 40 years, started with a little cutting in 1974. Yikes, I was young and skinny then. I'm not now.

In a pot for 40 years, it is still only slightly over 1 inch in trunk diameter, about 14 inches tall.

It is the tree I made all the beginner mistakes on. One big mistake was not understanding how to use escape branches to thicken trunks. That is why after 40 years it is so thin. It could have been any size I wanted, even in a pot, if I had understood the technique while the tree was young.

Since you are in Missouri, you will have to keep it in a pot. I only leave mine out to get a light frost, just enough to knock the leaves off. Then I put it in a cold cellar, 32-40F for the winter. Usually by late January it shows signs of wanting to grow. I hold it in the well house, cold, until spring. But if you have a greenhouse, leave it out to a light frost or two, then put it in the greenhouse. It will sit dormant for a while, then wake up with a nice flush of shoots. If you can spare the space, let it become a shrub, with roots to fill a one gallon to 3 gallon pot. While it is young, chop it low and let it branch out and bush out. It can tolerate being chopped as low as a couple inches above the soil. Let a low branch and one branch higher up toward the crown escape, grow long. Prune the rest short as per your thoughts to design. Let the escape branches go for 2 or 3 years, until they are 3 to 5 or more feet long. This will thicken the trunk. Then cut them off flush to the trunk, pick another low branch and let that go. Repeat as needed. You seldom see photos of this technique in use, because while all the better artists use it, they seldom take pictures because it looks ridiculous. There is plenty written about it, search this sight or "the other sites" for "sacrifice branches" or "escape branches"

You can have a pomegranate with any thickness you desire for the trunk.

I think pomegranate is a great tree for the novice and the expert. It survives accidental total dehydration, neglect, wrong season repotting, and all manner of abuse. The only thing it really does not like is deep shade and temperatures below 25 F. If it looses it leaves due to drying out or other insult - don't use it as kindling, let it sit for at least 3 months, sometimes they will come back from what seemed like certain death. I had one come back to life after being totally dehydrated for over a week - and I mean totally bone dry. Normally that is certain death for many trees. It took a while, but all of a sudden, there was life.

They ramify well. Have neat flowers and fruit. Have fun with it. And cuttings root easily, you can always make more. Make a spare to two. Go wild.

Nice pom! I cannot tell if this is a dwarf one or a full size one?


Awesome either way