I have a Punica granatum 'Compactum', which has set fruit for the first time. I've been waiting patiently (kinda) for the fruit to ripen. We have had a lot of rain lately and when I went out today to check on it, I saw that many of the fruits had split open. Many of those are still green.
I took a pic of one. It has opened up more than when I pulled it off the plant.
I'm assuming it's not really edible at this point, but are the seeds viable?
Thanks!
Barb
Your pomegranate, which is grown as an ornamental, had to have been on the dry side while the fruit was developing. All that water encouraged the fruit to start growing again with the inside growing faster than the hard outer skin prompting it to split. I had "Wonderful" when I lived elsewhere and its fruit ripened in December so your seed could be ripe even though it is a different variety. Try it. At worst, it won't germinate. You could try eating the seed in sections of the fruit that haven't been exposed to the elements. Larger varieties have seeds separated into different compartments. I don't know about the "Compactum" fruit.
I figured that's what happened.
Good point about the seeds. I'll dry them and see what happens!
Barb
Grapes will do that to some times and you really can't do much about it. Seeds??? Anyones guess there.
