FAQs: Growing Pomegranate Trees Indoors

If you’ve been too afraid to try container-growing subtropical fruit trees indoors on your windowsill, I can sympathize. These tender-climate trees tend to be very picky about EVERYTHING in their growing environment; the amount of light, the humidity, the soil, the temperature, the amount of water, even what type of pot you plant them in…

…but there’s hope out there! Of all the subtropical fruit trees I’ve ever grown in pots, the pomegranate is by FAR the toughest I’ve ever had. This incredibly resilient little tree is wildly hardy in comparison to other warm-climate fruit trees, and sometimes I wonder if it even can be killed.

However, just because the tree is incredibly tough doesn’t mean that it won’t benefit from some expert care. If you are looking to improve your chances of a reasonable harvest, you need to provide the right growing environment… and this post covers some of the most common questions and answers about growing pomegranates indoors in pots.

NOTE: This post contains excerpts from my book, The Complete Mini-Guide to Growing Windowsill Pomegranate Trees: A Reference Manual for Northern-Zone Gardeners. The book is a comprehensive instruction manual for growing potted pomegranate trees indoors, and may be purchased on Amazon in ebook or paperback formats for less than the price of a fancy cup of coffee!

Can You Start a Pomegranate Tree from Seed?

Absolutely! Starting pomegranate trees from seed is a cheap way to expand your windowsill garden… but be aware that many of the seeds sold on the market are going to be for ornamental trees, not for trees that produce a good-quality fruit. Harder seeds are easier to package and sell, but the resulting fruit will also have hard seeds, making them less useful for fresh-eating or culinary purposes. Make sure you read the full description before buying!
Read more about starting pomegranate trees from seed.

Are Pomegranate Trees Self-Pollinating?

Yes… but they would rather have a pollination partner. If you only have room for a single pomegranate tree on your patio or on your windowsill, you’ll be fine, so don’t panic. However, if you have the option, grab two types; they tend to flower fairly continuously in the spring, so there’s a good chance of cross-pollination.
If your trees are flowering early in the spring before they’ve been set outdoors, be prepared to step in and help with pollination. (If you’ve locked out the bees, somebody has to do their job!) It’s not complicated, but a little intervention goes a long way.
Read more about how to pollinate potted pomegranate trees.

Are Dwarf Pomegranate Trees Stunted?

Technically, a pomegranate isn’t a “tree” at all… it’s considered a shrub! The bush-like growth habit is more naturally adaptive to container-growing than some of the larger subtropical fruits (think the cinnamon tree). However, although some pomegranate varieties are more like a shrub than a tree, that doesn’t mean all of them will stay short and compact. Look for a dwarf or smaller type, but be aware that many of the “dwarf” varieties are more ornamental than culinary-focused. If you pick a true dwarf, you may end up with a gorgeous flowering shrub rather than a fruit-producing variety.
Read more about different types of pomegranate trees.

Is the Fruit from Ornamental Pomegranates Poisonous?

“Ornamental” pomegranates are considered inedible because they are outrageously sour, with a terrible flesh-to-seed ratio… and those seeds are HARD. Don’t try to chew and swallow them like you can with the larger, soft-seeded varieties.
I have a Nana Dwarf pomegranate (considered an ornamental/inedible type), and personally I wouldn’t attempt to eat the fruit unless I was doing specifically to say that I tried it once. I typically don’t mind sour fruit, but in there’s just no point with an ornamental pomegranate; there’s practically nothing there!
Read more about different types of pomegranate trees.

How Soon Will a Pomegranate Tree Produce?

Short answer? Roughly three years. Long answer? It depends. If you treat the tree right and give it the right growing environment, it will have the vitality needed to produce a healthy crop of blossoms and fruit. This means the right size pot, good soil, and good air, light, moisture and temperature. If conditions are right, your tree should start blossoming as early as year one, with a few fruits set in year two. More commonly, a tree will start producing fruit in year three, and will build up to full production power after that.
Read more about pomegranate blossoms and pollination.

Where Can I Learn More about Growing Pomegranates?

There isn’t a huge number of sites where you can read about container-growing pomegranates; it’s growing in popularity, but the research and literature has a ways to go in order to catch up with the hobby. I’ve compiled a list of some of my favorite learning resources, but keep in mind they aren’t all specifically geared towards growing pomegranates indoors. With a little extrapolation, the same information still applies… you just have to adapt it a little.
Read more about external learning resources for growing pomegranates.

Have other questions about growing pomegranate trees on your windowsill? Check for the answers in my book! The Complete Mini-Guide to Growing Windowsill Pomegranate Trees: A Reference Manual for Northern-Zone Gardeners is now for sale in ebook and paperback formats on Amazon.

For less than the cost of a pack of seeds or a fancy cup of coffee, you can now snag a copy of this quick how-to manual as a reference guide in your windowsill tropical fruit tree adventures. Not sure what you’re looking at? Excerpts from the book are contained in articles sprinkled across this blog, so the type of information you find here is the same that you’ll find in the book — only the book is more extensive, detailed, somewhat more organized, and ever-so-slightly less sarcastic.

Epic Fails of a Northern Fruit Gardener

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