Pomegranates are a unique fruit with lots of health benefits, but some people have trouble finding them regularly when they shop for groceries. If you love the taste and health-boosting potential of pomegranates, this may lead you to consider growing your very own pomegranates at home.
Here are some tips for how to grow organic pomegranates, plus an easy way to get your pomegranate fix with minimal effort.
Gardening with Pomegranates
Pomegranates grow on trees, and there are many types of pomegranate trees to choose from. You’ll need a location for your trees that has full sun and a 20-foot space for each one to grow in. However, you can keep your trees smaller by pruning them. Pomegranates can be grown as bushes instead of trees if you let the suckers grow and keep the plant pruned regularly.
Wait until all of the risk of frost has passed for the year before planting pomegranates, and make sure the soil is well drained and not consistently wet. For the best results and the most natural approach, you’ll also want to fertilize your pomegranates plants with Seagate Fish Fertilizer or Seagate Seaweed & Fish SoilTabs. Gophers can be a pest issue when you are growing pomegranates, but you can take a natural approach to pest control by using a wire gopher basket in the planting hole.
Harvesting and Care
You can generally harvest your pomegranates within about a year of planting them, so you don’t have to wait very long to enjoy the delicious fruits you have grown. You can expect large harvests after about five years of planting. Instead of pulling the fruits off the branch, cut them off with pruning ships. You can store pomegranates in a cool environment for several weeks, refrigerate them for three months, or freeze or can them for longer enjoyment.
As your tree continues to grow, make sure not to water it excessively because soggy soil can kill the tree. You’ll also need to keep up with pruning away the dead wood and suckers for good long-term growth and development. Leaf-footed bugs commonly suck the juice from pomegranate fruit , so you’ll need to inspect your plant often to detect any insect activity early and try neem oil at the young nymph state of the insects’ development to fight them away naturally.
An Easy Way to Get Your Pomegranate
Here at Seagate, we love pomegranates and make our own 100 percent pure pomegranate powder comprised of the entire mix of seeds, skin, pulp, and juice of the fruit. We put this powder into easy-to-swallow, convenient capsules so that you can get the full benefits of pomegranate without any of the hassle.
Interested in learning more about pomegranates? Check out these other articles on the Seagate blog: