Dwarf Pomegranate 'Nana' (Punica granatum)

I bought 2 plants tagged Dwarf Pomegranate (Non-bearing, thornless). They are now trees where I needed small shrubs and have fruit at least 3 - 4 inches in diameter. The pomegranate blooms are really beautiful. It looks like yours is a dwarf. I am jealous. I should have realized mine weren't before I bought them. What size are the fruit?

This message was edited Thursday, Nov 6th 9:21 PM

The fruit are approx. 2 - 3 inches. The little boy next door loves them and waits all year for them to be ready to pick. Kathi

I like the way the fruits' ends form sort of a crown that turns outward. I always break them open and look at the seeds with the clear flesh. It looks like beautiful beads. The last of my plants' fruit just dropped yesterday and the leaves are starting to turn colors.

Do you know they sell dried pomegranates at Michael's for up to $5.00 each. I let them dry and use them in fall flower arrangements, just attach florist wire and cover with green florist tape. I live in Arizona were do you live?

Yes, I was amazed when I saw them in different stores selling for about that a couple of years back. At one of the local supermarkets, they had them in the fruit section going for $3.50 each and they were not very big. Using them in fall arrangements is a great idea, thanks. I live in San Antonio, Texas. I always include the city because Texas is so big that there are many types of climates and terrains. Different plants prosper in different regions.

I live in Goodyear which is a suburb of Phoenix, just off of I-10. I love San Antionio, we were there a few years ago for vacation. I was disappointed in the Alamo being in the center of town and having grass all around it. I expected it to be in the middle of the desert like alot of our missions here in AZ. I am really into cactus and succulents. If you see anything on the plants I have posted photos of and would like one just let me know. Kathi

I have never visited Arizona. The Alamo as we know it today is only the chapel and a little bit of its grounds that was a part of a rather large mission. Most visitors make comments such as, "Is this all there is?" We have several other missions farther fron town. If you are ever this way again, give me a shout. Thanks for the offer of the plant.

How do you prune this plant so that it produces more fruit?

If they are young plants, they may not "take off" until the 2nd or 3rd year after they have been planted. Generally, they do not need pruning if they are in full sun or are receiving more than half day sun. If they do not receive enough sunlight, pruning will not increase the number of blooms nor the number of fruit. I do not know what zone you are in, but they bloom and produce fruit more abundantly in warm zones that have a long growing season.

If they are receiving enough sun, you can prune them to increase the number of branches which will increase the number of blooms and fruit, but this sometimes does not occur until the following year. Do so in late winter. In warmer climates, if they are pruned in the late winter, they will be able to put on enough new growth to bloom and set fruit before they go dormant. In really cooler climates, the growth season usually is not long enough for this to happen so the plant whether it is pruned or not never produces an abundance of blooms and thus, hardly any fruit.

You can prune them in the summer after they bloom if you do not mind losing the fruit. In return, you will have a fuller plant with more blooms and thus, more fruit the following year.

Some say to prune them in the fall after the fruit has set, but decay fungi spread by spores can enter the plant through wounds that heal more slowly during cooler weather. I would not recommend this.

This would not work in my zone that does not have much of a winter because they would put on new growth before the first hard freeze, the freezes would arrive and damage the new growth. Then, They would have to be pruned anyway in the spring to remove the freeze damage.

When it is dormant, thinning out old, diseased or damaged branches and pruning off the suckers that appear at the base of the plant helps to keep the plant more vigorous.

In colder climates, they can be planted in containers and brought inside when the weather turns cold so that the fruit is able to ripen.

Nana plena is the double flowering dwarf variety. It does not produce fruit.

I hope this is of some help to you. If you have questions, please ask. If others have suggestions, please write a response.My experience with growing them is only in Zone 8b.