Shrub · Lythraceae
Pomegranate
Punica granatum
Give it full sun and a steady drink, and your pomegranate will thank you with ruby fruit every fall.
Full sun
Every 7–10 days
150–210 days
USDA 7–10
Overview
The pomegranate has been cared for around the Mediterranean and the Middle East for thousands of years, so you are growing a plant with plenty of forgiveness built in. It gives back twice over, with warm red-orange flowers through summer and fruit packed with ruby arils come fall. Left to itself it grows into a many-trunked shrub, and if you would rather train it to a few clean stems, that is welcome too.
Once it settles in, this shrub asks for very little, so try not to worry. A sunny spot, soil that drains, and a good soak every week or so through the dry stretches will keep it content. It stands up to drought and even a fair bit of cold, with the hardy kinds coming through Zone 7, though it does like a long warm season to ripen a full crop.
If two things ever trip you up, they will be splitting fruit and a crowd of suckers, and the good news is both are easy to stay ahead of. Keep your watering even and snip the suckers as they rise, and your pomegranate will stay lovely and giving for many years to come.
Care
The short version: settle it into full sun and well-drained soil, water it deeply every 7 to 10 days and keep that moisture even while the fruit ripens, give it a light prune in late winter, and pull the suckers as they appear.
Light
Your pomegranate wants full sun, at least 6 hours of direct light each day, to bloom and fruit its best. A little partial shade is fine, but do keep in mind that a shadier home means fewer flowers, and fewer flowers means less fruit to look forward to.
Water
Once it is established, this is a drought tolerant plant, so you can relax a little. Still, even watering pays off: give it a deep soak every 7 to 10 days when the rain stays away, and keep that moisture steady through late summer and fall, since sudden swings are what crack the ripening fruit.
Soil
It feels most at home in well-drained loamy soil, though it is easygoing about soil type as long as the ground does not stay soggy. Aim for a pH somewhere between 5.5 and 7.0, and avoid heavy, wet earth that lingers around the roots.
Temperature
This is a tough plant that copes with a broad range, from about 10°F to 104°F (-12°C to 40°C). A hard freeze can knock it back to the ground, but do not lose heart, and a long, hot summer is exactly what it needs to sweeten the fruit.
Humidity
Pomegranates are happiest on the dry side, around 20% to 50% humidity. Muggy, damp air is the thing to watch, since it invites the anthracnose that spoils fruit in humid places.
Feeding
Feed with a balanced 10-10-10 fertilizer across spring and summer, using about 1 pound per 3 feet of plant height and splitting it between March and July. That gentle seasonal feeding is all a settled plant needs to keep fruiting happily.
Pruning
Reach for the pruners in late winter, before the new growth wakes up. Take out the suckers, dead wood, and any crossing branches, and keep your cuts on the light side, because fruit forms on 2 to 3 year old wood and heavy pruning quietly costs you a harvest.
Repotting
Only the container-grown dwarf types need this, about every 2 to 3 years. Repot when you notice roots winding around the pot, water rushing straight through, or growth that has stalled. Mature plants in the ground never need it, so that is one less thing to fuss over.
Size & spacing
A full-size pomegranate reaches 12 to 20 feet (3.7 to 6 m) tall and spreads 8 to 20 feet (2.4 to 6 m), so give it a generous patch to settle into. If space is tight, a dwarf cultivar stays much smaller and is happy in a pot or a cozy corner.
When to plant
Pomegranates like a long, warm run of weather, so there is no rush. Set your plant out in spring once the last frost is behind you, enjoy the flowers from late spring through fall, and gather the fruit from August into October, roughly 6 to 7 months after bloom.
Northern hemisphere
Southern hemisphere
Typical months for a temperate climate: start earlier in warm zones, later where spring frosts linger.
- Plant: spring after the last frost
- Harvest: blooms late spring through fall; fruit harvested August to October, about 6 to 7 months after bloom
Hardiness
USDA hardiness zones: 7–10
Temperature: down to -18°C
Troubleshooting
Most hiccups show up on the fruit or down around the base, and they are almost always fixable. Spot the early signs, make a small tweak to how you water or prune, and you will have it back on track. Find your symptom below and act before it spreads.
Sunken rotten spots on fruit in muggy weather
Those dark, caving lesions are anthracnose, a fungus that loves warm, wet air and rots the fruit before it ever ripens. It is the biggest reason pomegranates have a hard time in humid regions. Open the plant up so air moves through it, keep water off the fruit, gather and destroy anything infected, and lean on resistant cultivars where the summers stay sticky.
Fix:
- Improve air circulation and avoid overhead wetting
- Remove and destroy infected fruit
- Choose disease-resistant cultivars in humid regions
Ripening fruit splitting open
Do not take a split pomegranate personally, because it is a moisture-swing problem and not a disease. When a dry spell is broken by heavy rain or a deep soak, the fruit swells faster than its rind can stretch and the skin gives way. Hold the soil at an even moisture from late summer through fall, spread 2 to 3 inches of mulch to buffer things, and taper the watering off slowly as the fruit ripens rather than cutting it all at once.
Fix:
- Maintain consistent, even soil moisture through late summer and fall
- Apply a 2 to 3 in organic mulch layer to buffer moisture
- Reduce irrigation gradually as fruit matures rather than abruptly
Shy flowering and dropping young fruit
A bashful pomegranate usually comes down to too much shade or simple youth. Sitting in partial shade it flowers poorly, and a plant younger than three years has not settled in enough to hold a real crop yet. Move it into full sun with 6+ hours of light, resist the heavy pruning that strips away fruiting wood, and give it until around year three before you judge it, and it will come good.
Fix:
- Site in full sun (6+ hours direct light)
- Be patient; better fruiting typically begins around year three
- Avoid heavy pruning that removes fruiting wood
A crowd of suckers around the base
Pomegranates naturally send up suckers from the roots and crown, and if you leave them be a neat shrub soon turns into a tangle. Just snip them off at the base whenever they show up. It helps to decide early whether you want a few clean trunks or a fuller multi-stem shrub, then prune toward that picture.
Fix:
- Remove suckers regularly at the base
- Train to a few main trunks or allow as a multi-stem shrub
Toxicity
Here is the reassuring part: the piece you eat is the safe piece. The arils and juice are wholesome for people, while the bitter rind, bark, and roots carry tannins that can leave a cat or dog with an upset tummy if they get into the peel or wolf down a lot of fruit. Just keep the scraps and peels where pets and grazing animals cannot reach.
Toxic to
Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds
Safe for
People
Cats Mild
A few arils will not do any harm, but the rind and that tannin-heavy pith can leave a cat queasy. Keep an eye out for vomiting or loose stools if it gnaws the peel or eats a lot of fruit.
Dogs Mild
Dogs manage the sweet arils just fine, though the tannins in the rind tend to stir up vomiting or diarrhea when they eat a lot. The seeds and tough peel can also choke a small dog or get stuck in the gut, so mind those.
Horses Caution
There is no record of a pomegranate poisoning a horse, but it is kindest to keep the bitter, tannin-rich rind and bark out of reach, since a big mouthful could turn the stomach.
Rabbits Caution
The fruit is not poisonous, yet the tannins and sugar do not sit well in a rabbit's gut. Skip the rind altogether and let the arils be a rare little treat at most.
Livestock Caution
Goats, sheep, and cattle are not truly poisoned by pomegranate, but the astringent rind and bark can bring on loose stools or a dull appetite if they browse it heavily.
Birds Caution
Plenty of birds enjoy the ripe arils with no bother at all. The rind is where the tannins hide, so offer only clean fruit and leave the peel out of it.
People Fruit safe
For people the juicy arils and their juice are a healthy treat, whether eaten fresh or pressed. The rind and bark are bitter and astringent and simply are not meant for eating.
Keep peels and large amounts of fruit away from cats and dogs; a few arils are not toxic but the rind and tannins are the irritating parts.
Helpline numbers
United States
ASPCA Animal Poison Control: (888) 426-4435 (fee applies)
Poison Control: (800) 222-1222
Canada
Poison Centres: 1-844-764-7669
Varieties
Pomegranates range from a towering shrub right down to a knee-high dwarf, so there is one to suit almost any space. These are the kinds you are most likely to come across and enjoy growing.
Wonderful
The best known pomegranate in the trade, loved for big, deep red fruit brimming with juicy arils, and the yardstick nearly every other variety gets held up against.
Nana
A little dwarf that stops at just 2 to 3 feet, which makes it the easy pick for a pot or a small corner of the garden.
Salavatski (Russian series)
A cold-hardy choice said to hang on down to about Zone 6, opening the door to gardens colder than most pomegranates will tolerate.
State Fair
A neat, well-behaved cultivar of around 5 feet that fruits dependably with smaller pomegranates, perfect when you are short on room.
How to propagate
Making more pomegranates is easier than you might expect, and the route you choose decides whether you get a faithful copy of the parent or a bit of a surprise.
Stem cuttingsEasy
Winter (dormant season, January to February) · Roots in one growing season; 1 to 2 years in nursery rows before transplanting
Cuttings are your surest path to a plant exactly like the parent. During dormancy, take pencil-thick hardwood pieces about 8 to 10 inches long, dip the bases in rooting hormone, and slide them halfway into a moist soilless mix. They will root over a single growing season, then rest a year or two in nursery rows before they are ready to move into place.
SeedModerate
Spring · Germinates in a few weeks; several years to first fruit
Growing from seed is possible, but it rarely hands you the plant you pictured. Sow in spring and the seeds sprout within a few weeks, yet the seedlings come up variable, seldom match the parent cultivar, and keep you waiting several years for that first fruit.
LayeringModerate
Spring to summer · One growing season to root before separating
Layering suits the patient gardener. Bend a low, bendy branch down to the ground, pin it in place from spring through summer, and it will root right where it sits over one growing season. Once it has roots, cut it free from the parent and move your new plant.
Myths
Pomegranates are poisonous to dogs and cats.
Take a breath: pomegranate is not on the ASPCA's toxic list, and Pet Poison Helpline calls it a mild irritant rather than a real poison. The upset comes from the tannin-rich rind and from a pet overeating, which can bring on vomiting or loose stools. A few arils will not hurt them; it is the peel you want to keep out of reach.
You need two pomegranates to get any fruit.
Not so, and this one is a relief for small gardens. Pomegranates are self-pollinating, so a single plant will fruit happily on its own with no partner nearby. A second shrub might lift the yield a touch, but it is never something you have to provide.