Inducing flowering in pomegranate

[Nick C]

I grew a wonderful pomegranate from seed 10+ yrs ago and kept it in a container for the probably the first 7. It flowered briefly for two years until i planted it in ground with protection in the winter. It has yet to flower again.  Any tips/methods for getting this thing to flower again?

[vnomonee]

My Russian #26 flowered the first season I planted it in the ground straight out of the pot, it flowered again the second year, the third year nothing, I hope it flowers this year. I gave it a fertilizer spike meant for citrus and avocados so we'll see if that does anything. Bag says NPK 16-4-8.

Some  small cuttings I rooted and planted the 3rd season flowered when the main tree did not which is strange.

[vnomonee]

Do you have flower buds yet? Nothing on my Russian #26 so far, it's fully leafed out but I am not seeing any buds at the ends of the flushes.

[Nick C]

Do you have flower buds yet? Nothing on my Russian #26 so far, it's fully leafed out but I am not seeing any buds at the ends of the flushes.

I got nothing yet. All my varieties are fully leafed out no buds in sight

[Plantinyum]

I am also interested as i have a 4 year old red giant variety , starting to leaf out right now, its a potted plant which i should repot in a bigger pot soon. I have a question on the flowering of pomegranate , do they flower on the new growth or do they set flower buds in the fall ,like most temperate fruit trees?havent had a pomegranate flower or fruit for me so dont have any personal data to lay on.

[Flgarden]

I have a 4 yo Salavatski pom. Last year all flowers dropped. This year i have more flowers and a small pom developed. I saw flowers on the old growth and new.

[Tortuga]

Do any of you have any luck getting fruit to bear on a pomegranate bush/hedge? I am also waiting for first flowers on my 4 year old tree in a 20 gallon pot. Been giving it jacks blossom bloom Fert every 2 weeks lately

[vnomonee]

That's a good question Plantinyum. That would be a bad sign if winter cold damages the buds where flowers would shoot from? If that's the case if flowers don't develop due to winter damage at the bud level then these Russian types are not a zone 7 typical winter plant for fruit. I don't think age is the issue since mine flowered twice once after planting it as a 1 gallon small plant and again the next spring after it doubled in size, now I am thinking that winter was mild. So now it's a huge bush and I'm not confident it will flower as the winter cold got down to 1f / -17.2c but there's still time. If flowers will show up and they have potential to be fruit it will have to happen between now and mid June at the very latest. 

[shmojojojo]

I grew a wonderful pomegranate from seed 10+ yrs ago

That might be your problem right there. Most pomegranate trees are air layered or grown from cuttings. They're one of the easiest trees to air layer. My wonderful started flowering a little late this year possibly due to our long winter. Maybe try grafting more cold tolerant cuttings on your tree. If you're interested, I can give you some cuttings of my wonderful in the winter. It flowers profusely and produces softball or bigger fruits that taste amazing

[Nick C]

I grew a wonderful pomegranate from seed 10+ yrs ago

That might be your problem right there. Most pomegranate trees are air layered or grown from cuttings. They're one of the easiest trees to air layer. My wonderful started flowering a little late this year possibly due to our long winter. Maybe try grafting more cold tolerant cuttings on your tree. If you're interested, I can give you some cuttings of my wonderful in the winter. It flowers profusely and produces softball or bigger fruits that taste amazing

Appreciate the offer, might have to take you up on it down the road. It’s just weird the tree has flowered before and has no problem with my winters under a polytunnel

Tree currently




Flowers back in 2017

[John B]

I'd assume the chemical composition is completely different in your pot vs ground. Pomegranates will thrive on poor quality soil. That may have been the case in the pot, vs a nutrient rich ground. The plant might have been quite rootbound, and is now focused on root production and vegetative growth. Wonderful grows quite large. Might try an organic 0-10-10 or so fertilizer drench, then withhold water until you notice the plant is stressed.

[mbmango]

Poms seem to respond to a lot of water, especially if water-stressed.  One year, I didn't notice the emitter heads had clogged, so the trees were being underwatered.  After clearing them mid-summer, the rehydration triggered an off-bloom.

[vnomonee]

Watering and 0-10-10 liquid fish fertilizer must have done the trick for me. I had to poke holes in the clay soil to get it down to the roots.










Probably too late and not enough flowers to get a fruit so I'll start fertilizing early next year with the liquid fish

[vnomonee]

Nick were you able to get flowers from your Wonderful pom? My Russian26 finally made fruits from those late blooms. These are the bigger ones, I guess they will hang on until Novemeber or whenever we get a hard freeze. Should I assume they will be damaged at 28F like most fruit? I tasted some of the arils of a fruit that was knocked off and while it was acidic I didn't detect bitter or tannins so even if these do not ripen fully I can still use them.

Sorry for the blurry images, they are stills from a video

[Nick C]

Nick were you able to get flowers from your Wonderful pom? My Russian26 finally made fruits from those late blooms. These are the bigger ones, I guess they will hang on until Novemeber or whenever we get a hard freeze. Should I assume they will be damaged at 28F like most fruit? I tasted some of the arils of a fruit that was knocked off and while it was acidic I didn't detect bitter or tannins so even if these do not ripen fully I can still use them.

Sorry for the blurry images, they are stills from a video

Nice ! Nothin on the wonderful unfortunately or any of my other varieties. Just a ton of flowers and some fruit set on my dwarf ornamental plant