Pomegranate
Hi. Welcome. It is all about me here, nothing but Pomegranate facts.
My Latin name (Punica granatum) translates as “seeded apple”. yeah I know, can you believe they called me an Apple – go figure!
In ancient times, that is a long time ago, we originated from the Middle Eastern regions.
Pomegranate Facts
Our Seeds
The Fleshy seeds (real name: Arils) inside of me are Tart, citrusy and incredibly juicy, I do mean incredibly!
Check this recipe out as one way to use my seeds
Deciduous Tree
Us lot are a Deciduous Tree, we do loose our leaves in Winter, but don’t fret we ‘Spring’ back (see what I did there!).
Best planting position
Is in a warm sunny spot. We are cold tolerant and frost hardy too, though protection from your Spring frosts is welcome. We do grow up to 5m high, as long as we are happy with our soil base, though to be honest we happy in any type, just don’t let us sit in water, so good drainage is required.
For the geeks out there; Our preferred soil pH level is Neutral (I believe around 6.0 – 7.0 pH) Don’t quote me, some say 6.6-7.3pH. Hey, if I am happy I grow, if I am not … well I would be questioning your abilities!, while I am feeling very sick.
Watering
The most important period is Spring, if you stop us from drying out during this period, we will reward you with improved growth & fruit set. For the rest of the year … you must have heard we are drought tolerant. But hold on a second, we are not camels, so please do not let me die of thirst! We do not need as much water as in Spring, but you have been warned ok!
Pruning
Oh we do love a prune, especially over late Winter and probably the best time for us. We like our space too, overcrowding is so yesterday, so make space in the middle. Just remember this one Rule: We bear our fruit (what you love to eat) on our Mature wood, so take it easy hey. People do ask us if we can become Dwarf Trees? Keep us at 2m high and we will love you.
Harvest Time (woohoo)
Well, I have to say, the best time is Autumn through to Winter. Always grab the biggest fruit first, they are usually our brightest, most colourful & juiciest fruit. Even though our exterior skin feels hardy we can still bruise, so take care.
When you first take us home as a little toddler, it will take us around 2-3yrs to show you fruit, but hang in there, we love to reward.
How do you know when our Fruit is ripe?
It’s hard to hear when a fellow Fruit’ee says “Not now!, Don’t pick me just yet, I’m not at my best” So listen up:
- I’ll be big and have my best bright colour or beautiful light pink. Some of us are a mysterious Dark Red.
- If you tap us gently you should here a Metallic type of sound.
- If we too mature we start to crack (wouldn’t you), so pick me just as I show signs. Sometimes I peel open if I’ve had to much water/rainfall in Autumn, high humidity for too long, or poor watering especially in Spring time.
Pomegranate Jodhpur Red Pomegranate Wonderful fruit crack
Storage
You know … after all that time in the beautiful sun, we now like to cool off. You can store us for a month or so in a nice (of course) Dark, Cool place and yes, we are happy to be placed in your little old Fridge.
Pollination
Quite simply put … We don’t do dating; we are self-pollinating.
Flowering
Watch out for our beautiful flowering period, which is late Spring to Summer. Our flowers are extremely attractive believe me. I have heard some people plant us as headages and ornamental trees just for our flowering beauty.
I hear @Avowest Avocado Nursery are selling varieties of my Pomegranate mates. You will find Wonderful there (always things he is Mr Wonderful), Gulosha Rosavaya (what a mouthful to say!) and Jodhpur Red (always looks like she is blushing).
Signing off