Pruning a Pomegranate for Proper Production
Q: I have a 4-year-old pomegranate. It is growing as a six foot tall multi-stemmed shrub. It appears lush and healthy, but it has never had more than two or three flowers and never any fruit. It gets sun from noon till late afternoon. Do you have some tips for getting it to flower and fruit?
A: First thing to do is to make sure you have heavy gloves. Pomegranates have thorns. My father, ungloved, had a pomegranate thorn in his palm that exited out through the back of his hand. Your second job is to make sure sunshine penetrates to the interior of your pomegranate. Remove dead, diseased, or spindly limbs. You say your plant is lush and healthy. I suspect you have fertilized it too much in the past. Use your judgment as to how many of the limbs that are left should be removed to allow light to penetrate. In early March, cut the growing tip off half the twigs. You will catch the pomegranate at the prime time for new growth. The new growth will produce fruiting spurs that will have flowers and fruit next year.
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