How to Plant and Grow Pomegranates

Though they're one of the pricier fruits in the produce isle, pomegranates are actually easy and inexpensive to grow at home. If you live in USDA Zones 6-11, there’s at least one type of pomegranate for your area that will produce fruit comparable to what you'd buy at the store, with large berries filled with hundreds of juicy seeds that have a tart flavor.

But it’s not just about the fruit. Pomegranates are such attractive flowering shrubs that they’re often grown solely as ornamentals or for landscaping. Some produce beautiful flowers for months. Others produce smaller, decorative berries (great for wreaths and flower arrangements). Dwarf options extend their use to smaller spots, pots, hedges, and even bonsai. 

Because they usually don’t require much care, pomegranates are ideal for beginners and hands-off gardeners. But you should select the variety carefully. Their cold-hardiness, plant size, fruit, and flowers vary dramatically. If you’re gardening in Zones 5 and lower, they make easy- to moderate-care potted plants that need to come indoors from mid-fall to mid-spring. A handful of evergreen pomegranates may even flower through winter in a warm, bright window.

Where to Plant Pomegranates

Pomegranates are Middle Eastern and South Asian shrubs that thrive in plenty of sunlight and the heat of summer. Though they can grow in part sun, poms need at least six hours a day to grow, flower, and fruit their best. Ten or more hours of sun a day in summer is even better. If you’re in Zones 9-11 you can plant pomegranates wherever they’ll get lots of light and well-drained soil. For anyone growing them in Zones 6-7, select a site where they will get maximum exposure in summer but protection in winter. In Zone 6 it’s essential that pomegranates get protection from an east-facing wall, like the side of a house, shed, or retaining wall. 

Part of the special charm of pomegranates is their tendency to weep and take on a fountain shape. When they’re loaded with fruit or after a heavy rain they may require a lot of room to stretch out. Plant pomegranates where they'll have least 10-15 feet on all sides if you want them to be freestanding. Dwarf pomegranates give you more planting options. They’re at home in a dense flowering shrub garden or in a hedge. 

If you have space, consider planting two different varieties. You only need one pomegranate to get fruit, but if you can plant two different kinds, each one will give you more than it would by itself. One dwarf pom in the garden or a pot and one large fruiting shrub or tree will do the trick as long as they’re in flower at the same time.

How and When to Plant Pomegranates

Plant pomegranates any time of the year in Zones 9 and warmer. In cooler regions, it’s best to plant in spring. That gives them a full season of growth before their first winter. A good root system increases the chances that they’ll re-grow from the ground if they get damaged by cold weather. Wait until after the last threat of spring frost.

Though pomegranates adapt to most soil types, they’ll appreciate being planted in amended soil. Dig a large hole two or three feet in diameter and a foot to a foot and half deep. Mix the soil with a bag of manure or compost. Add peat moss or coconut coir. Place the pomegranate in the center. Make sure it’s sitting in the ground at the same depth as it is in the pot it came in. If you need to, replace some of your amended soil underneath it until it’s at the right level. Fill the rest of the soil back in the hole and water it in thoroughly.

Potted pomegranates need a potting mix that drains well but retains moisture. Unless you’re growing your pom as a bonsai, give it a container with enough room for the roots to spread out. Good drainage is essential. Add holes to the bottom with a drill if necessary (and make sure you use a saucer if you bring it indoors to avoid damaging your home).

In northern areas where it’s too cold to grow pomegranates in the ground, some gardeners grow fruiting pomegranates in large pots outdoors during summer and bring them into a greenhouse, sunroom, or unheated garage for winter.

Northern gardeners may also experiment with ornamental dwarf pomegranates as perennials or annuals in the ground. They will die back to the ground in climates where they’re not cold-hardy, but they may come back the next year. The drawback is that they may not flower until late fall or not at all and they may not survive.

Pomegranate Care Tips

If you pick the right pomegranate and the right spot, you don’t have to do much other than plant it. But you can get fruit sooner if you pamper them for a few years. 

Light

The more sun the better. Pomegranates tolerate four hours but they need at least six hours to do well. If you grow evergreen varieties like ‘Nana’ in a pot indoors, they need the sunniest window you can give them in order to keep them growing and flowering during winter, or consider using a grow light.

Soil and Water

Pomegranates don’t need the best soil or supplemental water. But they will perform better in rich soil with a neutral PH and with occasional deep watering, especially during the first year or two and during drought. If you grow in a pot, you will need to water weekly and use a good quality potting soil.

Temperature and Humidity

Pomegranates prefer temperatures between 85°F and 100°F during the summer. Most of the older pomegranates don’t tolerate temperatures below 10°F and can be damaged by temps in the 20s. A few commercial-quality fruiting varieties can tolerate temperatures below zero. 

Traditionally, pomegranates were thought to perform poorly in humid regions. But more recently, they’ve been found to grow well enough in humid Florida to potentially become a commercial crop. Still, it’s best to look for pomegranates that are known to grow successfully where you live. 

Fertilizer

Fertilizing during the growing season for a year or two can get you to that first crop of fruit in fewer years. For ornamental flowering types, extra nutrients can increase the frequency of bloom. Use all-purpose fertilizer or add a layer of compost or manure around your plant. But it’s not necessary to use fertilizer if you want to take a hands-off approach. You can still grow a vigorous, attractive, fruit-loaded pomegranate without fertilizing it. If you choose to fertilize, either apply once in mid-to-late spring or monthly from mid-May to August.

Pruning

How much you need to prune pomegranates depends on whether you want to leave them in their natural shrub form or cultivate them as single- or multi-trunk trees. Pomegranates naturally grow a dense, spreading set of stems from the base. For gardeners in Zones 6-8, it's best to let them grow naturally because it increases the chances they’ll survive an unexpectedly cold winter. When grown as a shrub, all you need to do is remove dead, diseased, or dying growth. Avoid shaping them up too much. Part of their charm is their tousled, slightly twisted growth. 

When grown as a tree, you have to cultivate the shape from the first year by selecting the stem or stems you want to develop into tree trunks. Pomegranate trees continue to try to revert to shrubs by sending up new stems called suckers at the base. They have to be cut back throughout the year to maintain a tree form. 

Pomegranates are often one of the last plants to leaf out in spring. Don’t panic if you don’t see leaves in April or May. Before you cut off seemingly dead growth, scratch the bark back at the end of a limb. If there is any green, it’s still alive and you should wait. If you see vigorous growth from the base but nowhere else, give it a couple of weeks and cut it back if the branches don’t leaf out. Inspect closely to try to salvage any living stems and branches.

In warmer regions, pruning should be scheduled for the end of winter or early spring. In colder areas, it’s best to wait until the pomegranate begins to leaf out to check for winter damage and decide whether pruning is necessary.

Potting and Repotting

Pomegranates in pots need more attention than pomegranates in the ground. Pot them in any standard potting soil or come up with your own mix at home. After two or three years you'll need to change the soil or move the plant to a larger pot. You may also use this as an opportunity to propagate a new pomegranate. If it has developed too many stems at the crown and you’d prefer a smaller plant, divide it by splitting the crown in the center with a hand trowel.

Pests and Problems

Except for deer with adventurous palates and advanced problem-solving skills (they can figure out how to open the fruits and eat the seeds if they put their minds to it) pomegranates don’t have many problems. Whether you grow your own or buy them at the store, chances are you’ll open one or two a year and find a rotten core. Heart rot is the biggest problem you’re likely to encounter. Unfortunately, there’s nothing you can do about it.

How to Propagate Pomegranates

The easiest way to make more of your a favorite pom is to divide a sucker from the base with pieces of root on it and pot it. Keep it moist and out of direct sunlight until it starts to develop new growth.

If you don’t have a good sucker to divide or want to make more than a couple of new plants, pomegranates can be rooted from stem cuttings. Follow roughly the same directions you would to root other woody plants like roses. 

As a fun experiment in amateur hybridizing, you can raise pomegranates from seed, but they will be new and unique plants that might not have the desirable traits of the parents.

Harvesting Tips for Pomegranates

How you harvest depends on whether you want to eat pomegranates immediately or whether you want to store them. You’ll probably want to do a little bit of both if you have enough. For the easiest off-the-plant eating, let the berries split open naturally. Then cut or twist them off the branches. Eat or juice them as soon as possible. The big plus to letting them split themselves is you don’t need to use tools to open them. They’ll store for a couple of few weeks.

Unsplit pomegranates can store for several months in the crisper drawer of your fridge. Enjoy the first few split pomegranates and harvest the remaining intact fruit to store. They’ll often change color or develop stretch marks when they’re about to split.

Types of Pomegranate

Even though they’re all botanically known as Punica granatum, pomegranates fall into distinct groups. Most of them lose their leaves in fall and go dormant no matter where they’re grown. Others are evergreen if the temperatures stay warm enough. Some produce large, edible fruit. Many dwarves produce small ornamental berries that are usually considered too much trouble and too sour to eat. Then there are the flowering pomegranates. They often have fully double flowers as spectacular as the most refined roses and camellias. Usually they just keep flowering and never set fruit.

‘Haku-Botan’

This pomegranate variety combines elaborate flowers, large fruit, and unusual color. Its fully double blooms, berries, and seeds are cream colored. Extra tart seeds have a hint of pineapple. It grows about 10 feet tall in Zones 7-11.

‘Madame Legrelle’ 

Also known as the California Sunset pomegranate, 'Madame Legrelle' features fully double variegated coral and cream blooms that are deeply veined with impressionistic stripes. It doesn’t set fruit but blooms all season on 15-foot-tall plants in Zones 8-11.

‘Nana Black’

Known for its elegant purple-to-black fruit, it’s also one of the few pomegranates that is evergreen in warm climates or indoors. The small berries are perfect for wreaths and floral arrangements but probably not worth the trouble to eat them. It grows about four feet tall in Zones 7-11.

'Pepe Le Pom'

A recent high-performance pomegranate for the landscape or pots, this compact shrub flowers all season and bears small fruit that look like festive holiday ornaments. When it sheds its glossy leaves in fall, you get something like a beautifully decorated version of a Charlie Brown Christmas tree. It's potentially evergreen when grown in a pot indoors. It reaches four feet tall in Zones 7-11.

‘Red Silk’

This dwarf pomegranate produces large, delicious fruit. The flavor had hints of red berries and almond. Ideal for Northern gardeners who want fruit from their potted pom, it grows about 6 feet tall in Zones 7b-11.

‘Salavatski’

Cold-hardy to at least -6°F, it’s the perfect pomegranate for Northern gardeners in Zones 6 or 7. When mature, it produces a heavy crop of large berries comparable in quality to store-bought poms. When pressed, the juice has the refreshing tartness of lemonade with the richness and sweetness of grape juice. It will grow in Zones 6-11, but requires a protected spot near a wall in Zone 6.

‘Wonderful’

The standard grocery story pomegranate that launched the pomegranate industry in California. As a fresh fruit, the flavor is mild and sweet, often with hints of cherry. Its store-bought juice often tastes slightly like a liqueur or vermouth. It grows about 15 feet tall in Zones 7-11 (with winter protection in Zone 7).