Pomegranate trees

[Marla013]

Hello.

I would like to ask everyone for some tips or ideas about my problem.
We have a pomegranate tree, planted around four years now. It bears fruits, so we thought that we are providing it enough fertilizer and water. We waited until the fruits looked ripe for picking but before it even ripens, it sort of "explodes".
The fruits are about the size of a baseball; we took one and tried it and it was really sour so we assumed it is still not ripe.

I am new with gardening fruit-bearing trees and I am not sure which element should I consider varying to make our tree bear edible fruits.

Thank you in advance.

P.S.
I don't have photos with me right now but I will post it here as soon as I get my hands on them.

 

[Corzhens]

This reminds me of our pomegranate plant that is the decorative variety. It bore fruits as small as pingpong balls and when ripened, the seeds are white and dry, no juice at all. After 10 years of staying in the planter box in our front yard, that pomegranate plant suddenly withered and died. My husband said that it may be too old already - it was already there when we moved in to this house in 2001.

 

[Marla013]

Ah, so there's that variety. Ours, however, grew up to an acceptable size (I think), and the seeds have juice. I was thinking maybe we need to change the fertilizer we are using. I hope it doesn't die, though.

 

[Chuck]

Hello.

I would like to ask everyone for some tips or ideas about my problem.
We have a pomegranate tree, planted around four years now. It bears fruits, so we thought that we are providing it enough fertilizer and water. We waited until the fruits looked ripe for picking but before it even ripens, it sort of "explodes".
The fruits are about the size of a baseball; we took one and tried it and it was really sour so we assumed it is still not ripe.

I am new with gardening fruit-bearing trees and I am not sure which element should I consider varying to make our tree bear edible fruits.

Thank you in advance.

P.S.
I don't have photos with me right now but I will post it here as soon as I get my hands on them.

I think what is happening might be a watering issue and/or varietal. As for watering, when the fruits have reached their mature size greatly reduce the amount of water. It takes a long time for them to fully ripen after reaching full size and excess water goes straight to the fruit and that is when it splits, almost like a tomato. When ripe the blossom end changes its shape, the color changes and there is a slight softness to them

 

[Greenhorn]

I agree with Chuck about the splitting. With Citrus as the fruit grows it expands. If there is a decline in water the fruit will actually shrink or contract slightly. If then the water resumes, when the fruit expands and is subject to cracking or splitting. I'm guessing it might be the same with Pomegranate.

I have a little Pomegranate in the front and it requires very little, but those are in my local conditions. Generally I have a little mulch around it and fertilizer with Nitrogen only in the spring. How much depends on age of the tree.

It's a lot of fun to have one in the front yard as in the fall neighbors will stop by or see me outside and ask if they can have one or two. My wife has a great chicken recipe where the sauce is basically a pomegranate juice reduction. She will juice a bunch and freeze the juice for later use.

I recently bought a little dwarf pomegranate and I'm excited to get it planted, it's going into a container.

Good luck with yours.

 

[Marla013]

So, this means, because I am providing the tree with excess water, the fruit splits even before it matures, is that what it is? Maybe we'll try Chuck's suggestion and reduce the amount of water and observe the changes on the fruits. It wouldn't hurt if we try "experimenting" on the nutrients we provide, right?

Thanks, everyone, for your feedback. I really appreciate it.

 

[Chuck]

So, this means, because I am providing the tree with excess water, the fruit splits even before it matures, is that what it is? Maybe we'll try Chuck's suggestion and reduce the amount of water and observe the changes on the fruits. It wouldn't hurt if we try "experimenting" on the nutrients we provide, right?

Thanks, everyone, for your feedback. I really appreciate it.

Yes, the fruit grows to its full size and then ripens. When it is its full size any extra water has to go someplace and that place is the fruit. While the fruits are maturing go extra light on nitrogen, in fact pomegranates need or want very little fertilizers at all unless you live in sandy soils where nutrients can easily leach out.

 

[Marla013]

Yes, the fruit grows to its full size and then ripens. When it is its full size any extra water has to go someplace and that place is the fruit. While the fruits are maturing go extra light on nitrogen, in fact pomegranates need or want very little fertilizers at all unless you live in sandy soils where nutrients can easily leach out.

I get it now.
I can't wait to try your suggestions. I will post here some photos of the split fruit, as "before-version" perhaps, and look back at it after I harvest some of our healthier "after-version" pomegranates.

Thanks a lot!

 

[gata montes]

Hi Marla013and welcome to the forum

As growing pomegranates is extremely common where I live and I have quite a number of trees myself - I too agree with what has already been said regarding fruit split - as it is totally correct - in fact as pomegranate trees don't need much water and watering at any time during the fruit ripening phase can and does cause fruit to split or crack - we actually don't water ours at all - ever - even though our temperatures around that time are generally around the 45- 50 C mark.

We also - as potassium has a beneficial effect in reducing fruit splitting/cracking - give the trees a light dressing of a potassium rich fertilizer in early spring.

Unfortunately the news regarding taste is not so good - mainly because - as the taste of the fruit depends on the sugar/acidity ratio of the cultivar - there is absolutely nothing that can be done to change the more common fairly astringent/sour flavor to sweet - other than to search out one of the newer cultivars and grow one of those - some which - are said to be much sweeter tasting.

However that said - although the majority of pomegranates are generally somewhere in between sweet and sour - but rarely if ever totally sweet and probably best described as a fairly astringent flavor - which is why they're generally used for making syrups, jams, jellies, juices, liquor etc rather than eaten as a fresh fruit.

The only other reasons I can think of that may contribute to an overly sour taste - are that the fruit wasn't ripe - especially as its not at all unusual for them to look ripe long before they actually are - or failing that - if the tree was originally raised from seed rather than propagated from cuttings - that could explain it too - particularly as fruit from seed grown trees rarely if ever - even remotely - resembles that of the mother plant.

 

[Greenhorn]

gata montes makes a very good point about watering. I live in a Mediterranean type climate and apart from some modest watering the first year I don't typically water mine much at all.