I started some from cuttings about 40 years ago. Don't remember, but I suspect I took semi-hardwood cuttings in mid-July - about the same time I usually cut azaleas for rooting. Dipped basal ends in Rootone, and stuck in the shaded rooting bed, which had a 50/50 mix of sand & peat moss. Watered on a daily basis.
I don't think they're very difficult to propagate. You could probably do some now, and they'd be rooted before winter sets in.

Changsong,

I have yet to take cuttings from my pomegranate tree. However, I have read that they do better when the cuttings are taken in the winter. If you want to start now, you might want to try airlayering.

~james

Here is a link that might be useful: CRFG Pomegranate Fruit Facts

Thank you all for the information. We planted 3 cuttings last week, just to give a try. We have a very hot and dry summer recently, and I don't expect that they would be successful this this time. I'll defenitly try again this winter. Thanks for the link and it is very informative.
Happy gardening.
Changsong

Changsong, I was just talking to my mother about this very subject today. She has two ornamental pomegranates.? who knows what they are as she got them from cuttings about 20 - 25 years ago. I have been trying to get cuttings from this shrubs for the last two years but the problem is she has a tendency of sticking things together and never labeliing or marking, I want to propagate them separately. Anywho, the way she does it is to take semi tender cuttings and just putting them in soil under some shade, making sure that they are done flowering or fruiting. The woman could put spit in dirt and you would have a spit tree! flora

Flora,
Do you think you could get your mom to grow me a beer tree, like the one in the Bud Lite commercial? ;>)
I'd prefer a Bud regular tree,
Thanks.

I threw pomegranate fruit in my mint bed last winter. After the birds and the ants took what they wanted, the rest of the seeds sprouted. I promise, I did nothing to these seeds. They came up like weeds--trying to crowd out the mint at that! Maybe seedling would work for you. Or, do they come true? The little trees are starting to branch out and have woody bases.
Becca

Becca: Thanks for the reply. Yes I'll try seedlings too. Our little tree has set one big nice fruit this year and I'll definitely give them a try. My mom back in China told me she grew some dwarf variety from seeds and they bloomed the same or next year!
Happy gardening
Changsong

I take fall cuttings & just stick them in soil. Rooting hormone is probably good, but they root very easily. Seeds also start well in a very warm location. My neighbor also gave me a dwarf seedling she started last summer from seed - it flowered & fruited this summer. It was only about 4 inches tall, but it still had a baby fruit on it.

Hi I'm back to update the experiment. We took some cuttings from pomegranate and Flowering Apricot trees last Nov or Oct. We were the lazy type and did not bother with rootone, which we should have and will definitely do next time. We stick the cuttings in a bed covered by a climbing rose "Buff Beauty", another one covered by a peach tree.

So far we have 3 cuttings growing leaves 2 different types of leaves, so we got 1 or 2 for each tree. There are 2 other cuttings still holding there. I think they will survive, although there haven't been leaves showing up.

So far so good. I had hoped more for Pomegranate, but I'm surprised and happy that we get success for Flowering Apricot (Prunus mume), since it is said to be a hard one for propagation.

Now I wonder whether and when we shall dig the cuttings and pot them up. We need to move them to a different place.

Thank you very much for all the inputs.

Happy Gardening,

Changsong

This is really funny. The one cutting that I suspected to be prunus mume turn out to be pomegranate, since it has grown a flower bud at the tip. The other 2 cuttings are pomegranate too.
Looks like this little baby will bloom one little flower this season.
Changsong

tractor,
Most of my experience with pomegranates has been growing them in south AL. I do, however, have a seedling of Wonderful in a pot in my office window, but I doubt it would be winter-hardy here. Time will tell, as I had a bunch of seedlings pop up in a flower bed last spring, where I'd pitched out a rotten pomegranate fruit sometime during the winter.
That said, there are some Russian and eastern European selections that may be cold-hardy enough to survive and fruit - probably with a little protection - in zone 6. I'm trying a couple of the Russian varieties, but just got cuttings last year, so it's too soon to tell. You can get cuttings from the NCGR Punica collection, but the deadline for requesting cuttings is Dec 1; here's the URL:
http://www.ars.usda.gov/Main/docs.htm?docid=12170
Also, check out my friend Richard's website for more info on pomegranates(linked below)

Here is a link that might be useful: Oak Creek Orchard

I appreciate reading all of your experiences trying to propagate pomegranate trees. I am a beekeeper in Georgia and have had a wonderful fruitful experiment that I tried with cross pollination. I have a pomegrante tree in the backyard that is at least 50 years old. I keep one bee hive in the backyard and this year it has produced over 100 lbs of honey.. the first harvest was June 2, and I knew from seeing so many bees pollinating the pomegranate tree that the honey was almost 100% pomegranate. The honey is very clear and is grade A. So many people have requested it that it is all I can do to just keep a couple of quarts for ourselves. As I researched pomegranate honey I came to find that it comes from Israel and Iran.

So my goal is to now get as many pomegranate cuttings going this winter as I can. I am going to try both ways from seed and from a cuttings. I am now collecting samples from different individuals that have pomegranate trees in their yards. But, the goal is to actually plant an entire orchard of pomegranate trees of several types.

Cross pollination of pomegranate trees increase production around 69%. This ole' tree out back has never produced as well as it has in the last 2 years. Honeybees are diffinitely a plus for this fruit tree's production.
I sure would like to hear more from all you that are trying also to propagate pomegranates..And if you have never had the opportunity of tasting the honey produced by this tree try to find some..It is wonderful!

Buzzashuck

I am currently actually trying to do summer cuttings from a wonderful pomegranate tree I have. Winter and Spring cuttings are easy, and I suspect the reason why we don't see many summer cuttings, here in Florida at least, is because we go through bits of drought and bits of rain throughout the spring and summer. When it's too dry, the cuttings basically overheat and dry out.

This last spring, we actually got one small rain the whole time, and it really messed up a lot of our fruits. Most of the persimmons fell off, and we didn't have nearly as many muscadine grapes as we usually have. This summer, we have gotten so much rain that the pears seemed to grow too fast and not ripen correctly. Many of our pecans seemed to have been falling off pre-maturely as well.

I suspect that if you find a good time in the summer when the weatherman is predicting a good two weeks of heavy rain, the pomegranate cuttings should root easily. If you don't get enough rain, put a humidity chamber over the cuttings and mist the cuttings over day or so when we don't get rain at least every other day. Keep the cuttings in shade.

One thing good about pomegranates is that they should produce enough limbs to let you experiment summer, fall, winter, and spring, as long as you're not training it to be tree-like.

Buzzashuck,

Check with me in a year or so and I will probably have some cuttings (if they survive the winter). I have an unknown Georgia tree, Parfyanka, Ink, and Koinekasyrsky going and should have some cuttings next fall. Might give you some variety.

scott

Scott-

Put me on your waiting list - I would like some pomegranate cuttings - a variety that is frost-resistant would be ideal, but I will try any variety and cover them over winter if necessary.

Thanks, Rick_in_VA

I guess it's time for me to report my rooting success rate for the summer cuttings I talked about several months (august 08) ago.

Somewhere between one half and 2/3rds of my summer cuttings actually took root. It's probably slightly less than winter or spring cuttings, but I believe it could be about equal to the success if I would have spent more time taking better care of the cuttings. In this case, the cuttings were pretty much put in a cheap potting mix, watered a few times, and then nature did the rest.

In the right conditions and care, I believe you could get close to a 100% success rate year round.

One of the best things about rooting your own plants is being able to give them as gifts to family and friends. It saves money from buying expensive gifts and is a personable item, because you did the rooting yourself!

All You Have to do is take the Cuttings in Dec When Plant is Dormant, and put it in a cup full of perlite and water the cutting, and leave it for a week then water about a inch more of water, so that you dont over water, it will make very fine unseeable roots after 2 weeks, then transplant and keep moist, Enjoy your Pomegranate Tree... Kyle

Glad to hear all your updates.
Last year I tried both cuttings and seedlings. They were doing OK especially at the beginning. But I think I moved them to the ground a little too soon in November. The weather was still quite warm or even hot for a few days. I might lose some due to this. We will see in a few months.

Happy gardening!

Changsong

I'm wondering if poms propagate the same way as figs? I wish there was a pomegranate forum! I just got some cuttings from UC Davis. Palermo and Wonderful. Fingers crossed I can get them to grow! They are green and healthy looking.

Tiny update. My UC Davis pomegranate cuttings arrived, and they were planted April 1st in 3 parts perlite and 1 part peat. I kept them damp, and this morning April 18th, one pomegranate (Wonderful)has 2 teeny green leaves. I only want 3 or 4 pomegranates, so if this one survives I'll be thrilled! I have a total of 20 cuttings. Some are laid on their sides in 1.5" trenches with warm soft dirt on top. Our weather will be in the 90's for several days, so I expect some of those outside to put down roots and sprout up in a month or so.

Good news Desertdance. Just remember to keep up with the care of new plants. I had a bitter experience a couple years ago. A lot of the cuttings had taken, but I ended up losing most of them by planting them too soon to the ground and they were burned in the summer. If you can, keep them in the pots and put in the shade. Baby them till next year. Good luck, Changsong

Thanks for the advice Changsong. I will keep them in their Monarch Planting bands for a couple months, then put the whole band into a larger container (With Al's Gritty Mix) and move them into a shady North Facing spot for them to get used to being outside.

It hasn't even been a month, but the variety Palermo has almost 100% leafed, and some have branches. Wonderful is slower, but now I see at least 4 with leaves. Those outside haven't popped up yet, but the grapevines I planted outside have just started peeking their little heads out of the soil, so I expect the Poms to follow.

Last year I bought a pom from Gurneys, put it in a pot in morning sun on the vineyard drip system, and it is doing fine. I might put some of these in the same spot. The drip system is key to keeping them hydrated for sure.

It's probably best to plant them in their true home sometime in the winter, so they get established in Spring and get ready for the heat. Not sure about this, but I'm hoping the two varieties will pollinate each other? I think they self pollinate, but it sure can't hurt!

Desertdance,

How was your luck last year rooting the pom cuttings? I just got some from UC Davis too and I'm ready to start rooting.

Just curious, Little John

Hey Little John,

I think you will find that rooting pomegranate cuttings is pretty easy. I rooted 36 last year with excellent results. I used a decent grade of regular potting soil mixed with perlite. I think my mixture ended up being about 60% potting soil and 40% perlite. I placed my cuttings under a giant clear plastic tub (as a moisture tent) until they were well established. I kept them in about 50% shade on my east-facing front porch. One mistake I made is planting them all in one really large container, which made for extra work when I got around to potting them up. Next time I will go with individual pots or no more than two or three in a medium sized pot.

The UC Davis cuttings are pretty large. You could almost get two cuttings out of each cutting they send, or, you could at least cut them down a little if you think they would fit your pot better that way. I left mine full-size, but think I might reduce them (or consider halving them) next time.

I think I covered most everything, but if you have questions, feel free to email me.

I live in Indiana and am trying to grow a pomegranate in a pot, I have one that is 2 days old and one 2 years old any advice on how to keep them alive, certain temperature I have a type of heater that can go to about 90 and a pretty large yellow light that's on at night.

P.S.
I live Northeast where they had the 2005 frost.

Is there an ideal size for pomegranate cuttings?

Pencil wood?

Anybody ever do larger cuttings, such as 2-foot long sections as thick as a sharpie marker? Would such a cutting give one a jump on getting to production?

Or just stick with smaller stuff?

Guess I can afford to experiment. Bush needs pruning. Actually, it needs to be moved, getting shaded out by a huge pine and it wasn't the sunniest spot to begin with.

here's a few of the cold hardy varieties i palnted in 2010,only problems i have had so far is some brown rot on the trunks but weather has been some what normal lately so the infected area's callused up,but i still need kazake and salavatski...there supposed to be the best for the east coast due to being crack resistent to rain when there ripening up and the hard seeded one's are hardy to 0-3 degree's,but if i get any more im putting them in 45/50 gallon pots so they get good air flow and drainage and is any one's best bet to have them thrive-{{gwi:1175813}}{{gwi:1175815}}{{gwi:1175817}}{{gwi:1175818}}{{gwi:1175820}}{{gwi:1175822}}

This post was edited by houck on Fri, Jul 26, 13 at 18:35