Last winter I started some (ca 200) pomegranates just for fun and for researching how well they can perform in high latitudes, like near to the 60º, in the zone 5 climate, which has recently turned into zone 6-ish or even 7-ish due to several extraordinary mild winters. Of 200 initial trees, after several repottings, 30 stronger ones are keepers. I am aware, that pomegranates from seed are not true to their parents cultivar, the aim is not to get crop, but to research opportunities brought by the climate change. AFAIK, pomegranates are even less cold hardy than figs, hence I did not dare to plant my young trees into the ground, but kept these in containers and brought them indoors for winter. This winter is my first attempt to overwinter pomegranates. Because of high latitude, we have very short and dark days (6 to 8 hours of daylight with almost constantly overcast weather) in the middle of the winter, so I decided to let my pomegranates to go fully dormant (stop growth, lignify shoots, drop leaves, reduce water content etc). From the internet I found, that to keep pomegranates NOT to go dormant, the temperature has to be kept above + 15º C (+60º F). I keep my pomegranates at ca +7...+8º C (ca +45ºF), but the problem is, that they started to break dormancy few days ago - new shoots and leaves are emerging despite relatively chilly temperatures. So, the question is - what is the optimal temperature to keep pomegranates fully dormant?
Good morning Sulev, first of all I want to say that I have never grown Pomegranates, but I had a friend many years ago that did and I vaguely remember him saying that he would ensure that his trees 'never' went fully dormant. Don't know if this is of any help at all, but I thought I would mention it.
Hello, Acerholic! I know, that for fruit bearing it is better to avoid containerized pomegranates to go fully dormant. Then temperature should be kept above +15ºC and proper lighting should be provided. My plants are too young for even thinking about fruits, and fruits would be bitter too, if they ever bear some. Plants are currently only ca 20...25 cm high. I don't have enough space on my windowsill and plant lights to keep my pomegranates awake. My best lit windowsill is reserved for mandarines and avocado - they are not supposed to go dormant, ever. My plan is to finally select few most cold hardy plants and try to overwinter them inground. Before planting them into my orchard they have to gain decent thickess of stem and branches. In the autumn I specially forced my pomegranates to go dormant, by exposing them to light frosts (down to -5ºC). Actually I was afraid, that this was too much for these babies, because they looked pretty sad, almost dead, when I brought them indoors. Now I see, that they are still very much alive, what a relief, but I'm afraid of that they'll become leggy.
This is going to be an interesting thread for everyone, even if not growing Pomegranate trees. All experiments done at home should be a very welcome addition to all the forums. Good luck Sulev.
