to test them here in Thornhill Ontario (zone 6B just north of Toronto).
They rooted easily in a vermiculite tent medium indoors (shaded) and I
nurtured them into potted outdoor plants. They overwintered in my garage
which at times was minus 10-15 Deg Celsius, but the plants did survive,
ultimately growing to a meter in height in a 16 inch pot. After 3 years,
they had copious gorgeous flowers (minimal female flowers) and did bear
fruit. Fruiting was sparse, about a dozen or so on 4 plants, from marble to
tennis ball size. Sweetness was quasi due to our short growing season and
our usually high summer humidity. I found they required much water and
quickly went dormant with the cool October temperatures. Had our growing
season been two weeks longer, I'm sure the fruit quality would have
improved. I found the plants degenerated thereafter and after a few years,
died away, the last one dying in 2021. Still the process was interesting.*
*I did plant one cutting into a NW exposure near my house foundation. It
grew well in the summer and in spite of being covered with snow over the
winter, the stems died back to the ground. The plant did sprout again the
following spring! Since fruit is only borne on 2+ year old stems, the whole
purpose is defeated and the plant was removed.*
*I found pomegranates generally similar to the propagation of figs of which
I maintain six varieties - but there again, although I have much better
crops, production and maturation is reduced from our shorter and humid
growing season. (Oiling with olive oil in late August does help)*
*John Barbowski - amateur gardener*
*Two pics attached with 2 commercial fruit on the left on the left and one
of the flowers*
On Tue, Jan 24, 2023 at 11:45 AM yearroundgardening@comcast.net <
YearRoundGardening@comcast.net> wrote:
> Here in Houston, pomegranates routinely take mid-teen temperatures when
> they are dormant, but freeze back badly when they aren't. But we very
> rarely get anything below 25˚F. Ours two years ago survived with dieback a
> late freeze at 15˚F. If you can keep them above 20˚F, you shouldn't have a
> problem on that end. Also of course, they root easily from cuttings so you
> can always hedge your bets.
>
> They really like hot dry weather for production. Whether you can get ripe
> fruit that far north with so much darkness late in the fall is another
> question. Lights?
>
> Bob Randall, Ph.D.
> lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/nafex
>
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