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Growing a pomegranate tree is fairly simple, but there are a few things you need to know at planting time that will increase your chance of success. In this video, I walk through the basics of pomegranate variety selection, planting tips, and early tree care.
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LEARN MORE:
How to check your soil drainage:
https://youtu.be/bd6Q8AJjOVk
Choosing the right pomegranate tree for your area:
https://thefruitgrove.com/choosing-the-perfect-pomegranate-tree-19-top-varieties/
How to grow sweeter pomegranates:
https://thefruitgrove.com/simple-tips-to-grow-sweeter-pomegranates/
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0:00
Pomegranate trees are really the unsung hero of the garden as far as I'm concerned. I mean
0:04
I think everyone should plant one in their backyard, so here's mine. And in this video
0:09
I'm going to show you exactly what you need to know to plant a pomegranate tree
0:13
how to choose the right one, how to get it in the ground, and how to care for it its first year
0:18
And along the way, I'm going to share a few tips with you that you might not have thought of that
0:22
could make all the difference in how well your pomegranate tree grows. There's a ton to love
0:27
about pomegranate trees. They're really heat tolerant. They're even fairly cold tolerant
0:31
considering they're a subtropical plant. They don't take a lot of care. They can tolerate a
0:37
really wide variety of soil types, pH values. They love lots and lots of sun, but they can also
0:44
tolerate some shade. They're productive. They're beautiful and ornamental in the landscape. And
0:51
of course, they're absolutely delicious. I mean, there's no comparison between homegrown pomegranate
0:57
and the ones that you find in the grocery store that always look just a little bit questionable
1:01
to me. Most pomegranate varieties love heat and they actually need a lot of heat in order to
1:07
fruit well. We're talking at least 120 days over 85 degrees Fahrenheit. Now, if that's not your
1:13
climate, it's okay. You don't need to worry about it because there are a few varieties that can
1:18
tolerate a more temperate climate. So a couple of those sort of milder climate varieties would
1:23
include Desert Knee or Golden Globe. Now, this is a wonderful pomegranate tree and that's actually
1:29
the name of the cultivar. Wonderful is by far the most commonly grown pomegranate tree throughout
1:36
the world. It's the one you're most likely to find in the grocery store and it's very commonly
1:41
commercially cultivated, but it's also pretty much the easiest one to find in your local nursery
1:48
So the reason is because it's awesome. It's delicious. It's beautiful. It's disease resistant
1:54
It's very easy to grow and it has that really quintessential pomegranate look and taste of the
1:59
bright red fruit and kind of that balance of sweet and tart. But the thing is there are tons of other
2:05
varieties out there that you can grow. Another really popular one is Parfianca. So that's one
2:12
that you'll see a lot, but there are even more varieties. And if you're not a fan of the slight
2:18
astringent tartness in some pomegranates, you might like some of the sweeter varieties that have less
2:25
acidity. So examples of some of those sweet varieties would be Pink Satin or Ever Sweet
2:31
It's a very handy name. It tells you that it's sweet. But now just a little word of caution
2:36
about those. They're very sweet. They're delicious. But in my opinion, you miss a little bit of that
2:42
pomegranate flavor when it's not as acidic, but they're still really delicious and it kind of
2:47
depends on your situation and on your taste. So choose the one that is right for you. So now that
2:53
you've chosen your pomegranate variety, the next step is to choose the right location to plant your
2:57
tree. Now, the first thing to think about is sun. Pomegranate trees love sun. They love heat. They
3:05
can be drenched in sun all day and thrive. This is great news if you live in a really hot, sunny
3:11
climate like mine. Now, it's shady right now where I am, but you're looking for a spot in your yard
3:15
that has at least six to eight hours of sunlight every day. So there are some pomegranate trees
3:21
that are a little more tolerant of partial shade, but just keep in mind that will affect how well it
3:26
fruits and even how sweet and flavorful the pomegranates become. So aim for as much sun as you
3:32
can. And the next thing is space. These guys can get big, generally in the 10 to 15 foot range. Now
3:40
they're not too hard to keep pruned at a smaller size, but it does take some work. And just in
3:46
general, because you want them to have a lot of light and air, you want to make sure you have
3:50
plenty of space around your pomegranate tree. The other thing to think about as far as location is
3:56
just the visual. I mean, it's a beautiful tree. It's very ornamental. It gets bushy and it tends
4:02
to want to grow kind of like mine in this multi-stemmed form. It is possible to train a pomegranate
4:08
tree to be a single-stemmed tree, but it's a little bit tricky and it's less common. So they want to
4:14
grow in a slightly bushier, multi-stemmed form. So in terms of thinking of it in your landscape, you
4:21
could treat it like any other small ornamental tree or large shrub, but they're really beautiful
4:27
They have these small glossy dark leaves. The flowers are really big. They're a couple inches, these
4:33
bright red trumpet looking flowers and these big clusters at the end of the branches. And then, of
4:39
course, when the fruit grows, it almost looks like these perfect red Christmas tree ornaments all
4:44
over your tree. And they take a long time to develop, so you see them for a long time, for many months
4:49
So you want to see that. So I highly recommend you put your pomegranate tree somewhere where you can
4:55
enjoy its four-season beauty. So I've got mine right in a direct view from the kitchen window
5:01
And the last thing, as far as location goes, is my first tip, which is check your soil drainage. You
5:08
want to pick a spot that has really, really good drainage. A thing with pomegranate trees is that
5:14
they hate wet feet. They hate being planted in soil that stays really soggy. So it's important
5:20
that you double check that the area you want to plant your tree is going to drain the water through
5:25
fairly quickly. But if you're concerned about drainage, go ahead and pick a different location
5:38
Now we've got our tree, we've got our location, and now it's time to prep the planting site
5:43
So if you haven't done so already, now is a great time to check your soil pH. The great news is
5:48
pomegranate trees are really tolerant of a lot of different pH levels. So ideally, you want a pH that's
5:55
between 5.5 and 7, so that is slightly acidic to neutral. But they can actually tolerate a pH range
6:02
outside of that, even slightly alkaline soils, up to about 8, which is great news because it can be
6:08
really hard to find fruit trees that grow well in alkaline soil. But go ahead and test your pH just
6:14
so you know where you are and you can double check to see if you need to do anything else to tweak
6:19
your soil to get it ready for planting. But most garden soils are going to fall naturally within
6:25
that ideal range of 5.5 to 7. So now it's time to dig the planting hole. Take a look at the size of
6:31
the pot that your pomegranate tree came in and dig the hole about two to three times the width of that
6:38
pot. This leads right into my tip number two. Don't amend your soil when you plant your tree
6:44
unless you need to. Now let me explain a little bit. So ideally, you want the pomegranate tree to adapt
6:52
to the native soil of your planting spot. So I mean, if you think about it, planting a tree is
6:58
stressful. I mean, you're moving the tree from its comfy little potted environment to a whole new
7:05
location. I mean, think about how stressful it is for us when we have to move houses, right? It's
7:09
similar here. It's stressful on the roots to move to a new location. So once, if you've amended the
7:16
soil a lot, once the roots have grown outside of that amended area, it can be a shock to the plant
7:23
to reach unamended native soil, if that's not what they're used to, if they're used to a rich compost
7:28
And that can actually harm or even kill the tree in some circumstances. So we don't want that. We
7:34
want it to be comfortable with the native soil in your area. Now, my caveat to that is you might want
7:41
to amend the soil a little bit in some circumstances. In my case, my soil is sand. It is pure sand. It has
7:52
almost no organic material in it, unless I add it. Now, sand is great for drainage, and a pomegranate
7:59
tree loves well-drained soil, so I have that covered. But I did have to put in some compost
8:04
into my planting hole, and I dug it in really well. And I didn't add too much compost, but I had to add
8:10
some so that the soil would retain some moisture, and so that the plant roots could get the nutrients
8:17
that they need to support growth and to just grow healthily. So that's my tip number two. Don't amend
8:22
the soil unless you have to. So once your planting hole is set, take that tree out of its pot and
8:28
loosen up the roots gently around the side. If the root ball is really compacted, you may even want
8:34
to trim the roots lightly, but do this minimally. So lightly loosen up those roots and set it into
8:40
the planting hole so that the top of the root ball is just level with the top of the soil
8:45
You don't want to bury the root ball too deep. You want it to be just level. Once your tree's in place
8:51
start backfilling with your native soil or your native soil plus a little bit of compost mixture
8:56
like in my case. And as you go, tamp down the soil really firmly to get rid of any air pockets
9:03
My third planting tip for pomegranate trees is don't fertilize. Not yet. So again, we've got
9:10
this stressful situation for the tree's roots, and they can be sensitive to changes. So even something
9:17
as innocuous as fertilizer could potentially burn the roots or just cause more problems. It's better
9:23
to give the tree maybe a couple months to kind of get used to its new spot before you try to
9:28
fertilize. So after you've backfilled all the soil and tamped it down really well, the next most
9:34
important thing to do is my tip number four. Water more frequently than you think at first
9:40
Yes, pomegranate trees are drought tolerant, but after you first plant them, they need a lot of
9:46
water to help the roots to establish. So after you do a really good initial watering as you're
9:52
planting the tree, and I'm talking like you may even want to water as you're backfilling, because
9:57
the goal is to saturate the whole planting area, the entire root ball, to help it get established
10:04
So once you've done that, that first initial watering, you should probably water deeply about
10:09
twice a week for the next several weeks to get the plant going. This may seem like a lot, but it
10:14
really will help your plant get a good start. And then after that, aim to water about once a week
10:20
throughout the growing season. Now keep in mind how much rainfall you get. If you live in a really
10:25
rainy climate, or if it just happens to be like a rainy spring season like I have here, you have to
10:31
take that into account. You may not need to supplementally water quite so much. And the other
10:36
thing to keep in mind is the temperature. So as the temperature gets hotter, you may need to increase
10:41
your watering slightly. The hotter the air is, the more the plant essentially sweats. Water evaporates
10:48
off of the surface of the leaves to help cool the plant down, and that water needs to be replenished
10:54
through the roots. So keep an eye on the temperature, and as they start to rise into the 90s and above
11:00
you may need to water a little more frequently. Now a couple of my favorite ways to handle watering
11:04
a newly planted fruit tree is, first of all, these watering bags. I call them donuts. I don't know if
11:10
that's a thing, but that's just what I call them, for obvious reasons. I mean, look at the shape
11:15
But it's really simple. It's just this bag that you place around a young tree, and there's a little
11:20
spot to insert the hose. You fill the bag up, close it up, and underneath the bag are a couple of drip
11:26
emitters that slowly drain the water over a period of about eight hours. So what that means is it
11:32
gives the roots time to absorb more of the water rather than it just draining away. And I have found
11:38
this to be a game changer when it comes to my young planted fruit trees and plants. You know
11:45
I'm not a perfect gardener. I'll forget if it's all up to me manually watering, or it's so easy
11:50
to fall into the habit of watering too shallowly. The other thing is, of course, drip irrigation
11:55
and it depends on where your tree is. If you have access to drip irrigation, I highly recommend it
12:00
because, again, regularity of watering is almost more important than how much water the tree gets
12:07
You want it to be in regular intervals, and drip irrigation set up on a timer is just a super easy
12:14
way to do that. So here's my pomegranate tree. It's now October, and I planted it back in April or May
12:24
As you can see, or maybe you can't see, it's probably 10 feet tall right now. So it grew a ton
12:30
this first season, which I'm thrilled with. It's also looking a little bit wild, and that's okay
12:37
because I let it just kind of do its thing, and I wanted to wait to prune it for the first time
12:41
until this winter. So that'll be another video I'm going to tackle the big pruning of this
12:46
pomegranate tree, but for now it's just kind of crazy looking, and I don't mind. The other thing
12:51
you might notice is that there's no fruit on it, and again, this is okay. This is actually a good
12:57
thing because not growing fruit means that the tree has put its energy and all of its resources
13:04
to establishing a really great root system, to growing this massive canopy even the first year
13:11
and storing up what it needs in order to fruit next year and every year following. So I am
13:16
perfectly fine with the fact that I don't have any pomegranates yet. Hopefully I'll get a couple
13:21
next year, but realistically I'm thinking it might even be two years before I get any significant
13:26
crop of fruit, and you know what? I'm okay with it. I can wait. A little delayed gratification is
13:31
good for all of us. So that leads me to my fifth and final tip, which is simply observe your
13:38
pomegranate tree. Once you've planted the tree, get in the habit of coming out to take a look at it
13:44
See how it's responding to your watering, or do the leaves look pale or yellow like they might need
13:51
fertilizer, or like I've noticed, I've got a little bit of leaf curling, and I'm pretty sure it's due
13:56
to some mite damage. So I'm going to start spraying it with neem oil, and there's some things I can do
14:01
while the tree is dormant this winter that can help prevent that next season. And now I know
14:05
because I've been paying close attention. But all of these things is because I've kept an eye on it
14:11
and that really is the way to learn. It's the way to learn more about gardening, and of course about
14:16
everything. Now I hope you'll come back and watch a couple more of my videos, but the best way for
14:21
you to learn is to get out, observe, make mistakes, figure it out, and just keep at it. So I hope this
14:28
video inspires you to go get yourself a pomegranate tree, get it in the ground, and watch it go
14:34
Thanks so much for joining me, and I'll see you in the next video
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