Pomegranate training
 

Hi All,

Last spring I acquired a two-year old pomegranate grown from seed. Given my
residential restrictions, I am treating it as an indoor tree.

As soon as I got it, it went into the training pot. It immediately started
to grow vigorously, and has kept doing so to this day. My concern, however,
is that it seems to only grow vertically. As much as I cut back, it keeps
sending its branches straight up, and it doesn't back-bud. The main trunk
also does not thicken appreciably.

I get the feeling that, after one year, I am exactly were I started. The
tree is healthy, but I don't seem to be getting even incipient girth or
branching. I would appreciate any help you can give me.

Best,

Mauricio

Pomegranate training
 

mauricio
pomegranate
I have about 5 pomegranate grown from seeds. I started them more than 5
years ago and they still have trunks not much thicker than a pencil.
Well, maybe a thick pencil. I have observed much the same growth habits
that you have. They are all still in training pots and they do grow
vigorously. I grow them outdoors in the summer (ne ohio, zone 5) and
indoors under lights in the winter.

I can tell you that they will stand cutting back quite a bit. I let them
grow unchecked and then cut them back hard. They back-bud easily.

Does anyone have any advice on how to mature these things? I have them
in quart or gallon size nursery pots. Should they go into bigger pots?
Are they simply slow maturing when in pots? I just keep them fed and
growing but progress is slow.

art krummel
ne ohio

Pomegranate training
 

I am treating it as an indoor tree.
As much as I cut back, it keeps sending its branches straight up, and it
doesn't back-bud. The main trunk also does not thicken appreciably.

Yup, that's what pomegranates do. Your only hope is to plant it in an oversized
nursery pot & see if that will do anything for the trunk. To get more
branching, about all you can do is cut back the top & use a branch as a new
leader. I tried thread grafting, but that didn't work either. You need to keep
trimming off those vertical shoots, except in the summer when you want it to
bloom.
Pomegranate is a subtropical & does better with a winter rest. If you can't put
it outdoors, next winter strip off the leaves & put it in the refrigerator for
a month or two.

Iris,
Central NY, Zone 5a, Sunset Zone 40
"If we see light at the end of the tunnel, It's the light of the oncoming
train."
Robert Lowell (1917-1977)