Glenda wrote:
Is it possible to grow anything from pomegranate seed? Any
information gratefully received.

I have one, or rather a cluster, in a large pot which I grew from seed
around 20 years ago. It has beem outside through all winters for at
least 10 years. I keep it cut back, but not as a Bonsai. I am
intending to let it grow from now on.
Pomegranate juice is all the rage at the moment. A friend told me that
a friend of hers gave her a piece of pomegranate that had NO SEEDS! I
cannot believe that.


Pam in Bristol

The message
from Kay contains these words:

In article , Sacha
writes
On 2/11/05 19:34, in article , "Nick
Maclaren" wrote:

In article ,
Mike Lyle wrote:
Glenda wrote:

Is it possible to grow anything from pomegranate seed? Any
information
gratefully received.

Only pomegranates, I'm afraid.

Shucks. Beat me to it :-)

A pomegranate makes a good patio plant, and mine seems to be fairly
hardy. The mild frosts we have had in the past 5 years haven't
worried it, and have got down to -10 Celcius briefly. It is also
very drought resistant, though it respond by dropping its leaves.
I have not get got it to flower, but it has very attractive flowers
in hotter climates.

You won't get fruit in this miserable climate. It needs a LOT more
heat and sun than we get.


I've seen it flowering beautifully as a border shrub in the Channel Islands
but never fruiting. But aren't there two kinds that one can grow in this
country - larger and smaller leafed? Or am I dreaming?!

There's a dwarf one, which makes a good bonsai subject. Chiltern sell
the seed.
--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

/me chuckles. Why get dwarf? Anyways, thats another question entirely. 8-)

I have managed to germanate loads of pomegranates but never managed to
get anything more than seedlings. They have all fallen over. One time I
had a single seedling that looked promising but never got past the 2nd
leaves.

I`m not good with tree seeds.

"Glenda" wrote in message
...
Is it possible to grow anything from pomegranate seed? Any information
gratefully received.

I'm no expert, but have grown one from a seed! The plant is now in its
second year and is growing well if rather slowly on a south-facing patio
(rubric on packet led me to believe that it's the dwarf variety "Nana" so I
guess slow growth is to be expected).

Germination was rather a hit and miss affair for me - I only had one seed
germinate from a sowing of around 20 or so. The packet of seeds I had said
nothing about stratification requirements and maybe I'd have had better
results if I'd done my research first. Most seem to say that cold
stratification of 2-3 months (preceded by 48 hours soaking) will improve
germination - some say that the stratification is necessary. Germination can
take several months (during which period I think they're as likely to rot as
to germinate ;-))

I think that propagation from cuttings is preferred over seed - I can't
imagine why!!!

Good luck!

The message
from "Ian Keeling" contains these words:

Germination was rather a hit and miss affair for me - I only had one seed
germinate from a sowing of around 20 or so. The packet of seeds I had said
nothing about stratification requirements and maybe I'd have had better
results if I'd done my research first. Most seem to say that cold
stratification of 2-3 months (preceded by 48 hours soaking) will improve
germination - some say that the stratification is necessary.
Germination can
take several months (during which period I think they're as likely to
rot as
to germinate ;-))

I think that propagation from cuttings is preferred over seed - I can't
imagine why!!!

I just saved seeds from a fruit and planted them. No stratification, no
cold at all. Most of them came up. (I've got about thirty of 'em.) If I
thought they'd survive I'd replace my front hedge with them.

--
Rusty
horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co full-stop uk
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

Dave Poole wrote:
Mike Lyle wrote:

Pity my ignorance, but, Dave, have you produced any books yet? If
not, I wish you would. (I can't find the website, by the way.)

I had one on the go about 6 years ago Mike, but never found time to
finish it. To make a book worth doing, you need a decent agent or
enthusiastic publisher or preferably both. [...]

A pity. Sounds like a perfect case for David & Charles, if they are
still what they were. Not that any publisher is what it was!

--
Mike.

On 4/11/05 10:38, in article ,
"Dave Poole" wrote:

Mike Lyle wrote:

Pity my ignorance, but, Dave, have you produced any books yet? If
not, I wish you would. (I can't find the website, by the way.)

I had one on the go about 6 years ago Mike, but never found time to
finish it. To make a book worth doing, you need a decent agent or
enthusiastic publisher or preferably both. The former was on the
cards at the time, but life got in the way as it often does. Maybe
one day I'll pick up the threads again, but unless there's a good
possibility of it being taken up.... It's a lot of work to undertake
on a wing and a prayer.

It might be worth scouting around publishers, though, David. You have an
enormous fund of knowledge and a great deal to share. I agree that it's not
worth doing on a wing and a prayer and a historian friend of ours who has
had many books published, always makes sure he has a commission to write
them before he gets started - just for the reasons you cite. I think it
might be worth your while talking to a few publishers who do gardening books
and getting their reactions to a synopsis.

snip
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)

On 4/11/05 11:08, in article , "Mike Lyle"
wrote:

Dave Poole wrote:
Mike Lyle wrote:

Pity my ignorance, but, Dave, have you produced any books yet? If
not, I wish you would. (I can't find the website, by the way.)

I had one on the go about 6 years ago Mike, but never found time to
finish it. To make a book worth doing, you need a decent agent or
enthusiastic publisher or preferably both. [...]

A pity. Sounds like a perfect case for David & Charles, if they are
still what they were. Not that any publisher is what it was!

Bit like nostalgia. ;-)
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)

Sacha wrote:
[...]
It might be worth scouting around publishers, though, David. You
have
an enormous fund of knowledge and a great deal to share. I agree
that it's not worth doing on a wing and a prayer and a historian
friend of ours who has had many books published, always makes sure
he
has a commission to write them before he gets started - just for
the
reasons you cite. I think it might be worth your while talking to
a
few publishers who do gardening books and getting their reactions
to
a synopsis.

Good idea to get a few articles in the press first, as well. It shows
you're serious and up to the task. Could be fun, too.

--
Mike.

In message , Richard Brooks
writes

Some articles, for instance on growing oranges from seed say that the
fruit will be awful.


Citrus seeds are odd things. They're polyembryonic, which means that you
can get more than one seedling from them. Some of the embryos are normal
products of plant sexual reproduction, and some of them are clones of
the parent. The fruit of the former may well be awful, but that of the
latter should be just the same as the parent.
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley

The message
from Christopher Norton contains these words:

I have managed to germanate loads of pomegranates but never managed to
get anything more than seedlings. They have all fallen over. One time I
had a single seedling that looked promising but never got past the 2nd
leaves.

I`m not good with tree seeds.

Leave them outside in a sunny position in a tray of compost, and keep
them moist.

I had about thirty come up this spring, and I've still got thirty.

You can see the evidence of two of them at

http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/bonsai.html

In the second table - the rest are still in the tray and awaiting potting-up.

--
Rusty
horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co full-stop uk

In article ,
Jaques d'Alltrades wrote:
The message
from Christopher Norton contains these words:

I have managed to germanate loads of pomegranates but never managed to
get anything more than seedlings. They have all fallen over. One time I
had a single seedling that looked promising but never got past the 2nd
leaves.

I`m not good with tree seeds.

Leave them outside in a sunny position in a tray of compost, and keep
them moist.

And no more than moist. Most UK native plants are resistant to
waterlogging, but a lot of others can't take it even for a day.
This makes wtering very tricky when you are out on a hot day :-(

With many of those plants, the compost MUST be free-draining, and
a sandy soil-based compost is often better than a soilless one.
Expecially an imitation peat one.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.