This is a different kind of post for me, but as I’ve scoured the internet in my fruit gardening journey, I’ve saved literally hundreds and hundreds of helpful links along the way — learning resources about how to grow fruit, what temperatures fruit trees can survive, how to grow trees in containers for cold climates, and SO much more.
In this post, I want to share some of those resources with you, focusing on some of the best information available for gardeners seeking to grow the pomegranate in containers on their windowsill! There’s an incredible wealth of information available about growing outdoor pomegranates, but it’s harder to find information about growing them on a windowsill. I’ve put in a lot of time to track down learning resources for home gardeners (and ended up writing this book as my own guide when I couldn’t track down a single comprehensive information source for windowsill-growing the pomegranate), and this section shared some of my favorites as reference guides for new gardeners. There’s a lot to learn out there, but these are some of my favorites.
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!
Pomegranate Growing Guides from Extension Offices
There are few resources more valuable to a gardener than the agriculture extension knowledge base… unless you are growing crops never designed to thrive in your county. For northern gardeners, your local extension office probably doesn’t have the expertise or knowledge needed to advise on keeping subtropical fruit trees alive on a windowsill, simply because that expertise isn’t typically needed! However, the web has made it possible to lean on information provided by warmer-climate states. Pomegranates may not be a business concern in New England or the Upper Midwest, but it sure is a fruit of interest in Georgia, California, and other sunny states.
The information that you will find in pomegranate growing guides developed for these warm-climate hardiness zones will not be entirely applicable to your tree. Most of those extension offices are assuming that you will be growing outdoors rather than on your windowsill. However, you can still learn from the information, take it home, and tweak the suggestions to fit your indoor growing environment.
There are many, MANY extension-based resources available, so don’t take this list as the only one of importance. Do your own exploring and see what else you can find to learn about growing the pomegranate – but to start you off, my favorite agriculture extension-based learning resources are linked below.
University of Georgia Extension: Pomegranate Production: https://extension.uga.edu/publications/detail.html?number=C997
If you only have the time to look up one internet-based guide, this is my top choice. There is a lot of information packed into this page, and it covers all the bases without delving into complicated technical terms. Although not specifically geared toward windowsill cultivation, it’s an invaluable resource in regards to growing pomegranates in general.
University of California: Pest Management Guidelines: Pomegranate: https://www2.ipm.ucanr.edu/agriculture/pomegranate/
This link brings you to a landing page with dozens of links for more details on pests and diseases that affect the pomegranate tree. It’s a phenomenal resource and I can’t recommend it highly enough!
Purdue University: Pomegranate (**excerpt from Fruits of warm climates. Julia F. Morton, Miami, FL): www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/pomegranate.html
This guide is a little light on growing tips, instead using space for topics like nutritional value, history of the fruit, and similar topics. It does cover some ground not referenced in other guides, so I do recommend at least skimming through it to see if you find information useful to your growing adventures.
Utah State University Extension: Pomegranate, Fruit of the Desert: https://extension.usu.edu/yardandgarden/research/pomegranate-fruit-of-the-desert
This is a nice, compact and easy-to-read guide that is very basic compared to the others, but covers a lot of ground briefly. I appreciated the short but helpful description of different cultivars at the end of the article, as well as the links to additional references (both books and web-based resources).
University of Nevada Extension: Growing Pomegranates in Southern Nevada: https://extension.unr.edu/publication.aspx?PubID=3809
Again, this is a fairly short & sweet article, but it hits most of the critical care topics. Since this is a southwestern-state extension, the information is not tailored to windowsill growing, so keep in mind care needs will be a little different for container pomegranates.
University of Florida IFAS Extension: The Pomegranate: https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/MG056
This guide had a combination of great information and a small number of interesting photographs detailing different blossoms, fruit types, and frost damage. The pictures didn’t radically change my gardening habits, but I did find the visuals helpful.
Clemson Cooperative Extension: Pomegranate: https://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheet/pomegranate/
This is a handy little factsheet that covers the basics of growing pomegranates. It doesn’t go into deep detail, but for the home gardener, it touches most of the important points and ends with a helpful summary of different cultivars.
Texas A&M University: Home Fruit Production-Pomegranate: https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/citrus/pomegranate.htm
This article essentially covers the same basic topics as most guides listed above. The information dates to 1998 so is not as current as some of the other guides, but I’m including it as a reference; sometimes it’s helpful to review as many sources as possible, and although not groundbreaking, the information in this article is still relevant.
Nursery Growing Guides
A good clue to the quality of a nursery is the amount of effort they are willing to expend to be sure that their plants have a chance at success in their new homes. For a brick-and-mortar physical nursery, this means staff who are willing to discuss plant care requirements with you and provide expert advice. For many online nurseries, care advice is provided in the form of PDF or web-based growing guides. These resources are fantastic for the new gardener, and a few of my most highly recommended references used during my pomegranate-growing years have included:
Minneopa Orchards: Pomegranate Trees: https://minnetonkaorchards.com/pomegranate-tree/
This is a very basic blog-type guide that provides advice for the beginner. I typically prefer the extension guides as they pack more information into a shorter space, but this guide answers questions that most universities don’t even think to cover – like whether dogs can eat pomegranates, and how to use pomegranates in the kitchen. It may or may not be your style, but it’s worth a look to find out.
Four Winds: Growing Pomegranates: https://www.fourwindsgrowers.com/pages/pomegranates-dropdown
These guides are fairly short, but all the information provided is extremely relevant and helpful. Information is geared towards outdoor growers, but it is still extremely helpful as a starting point to understand the shrub’s typical growing environment needs.
Wilson Bros Gardens: How To Plant A Pomegranate Bush Or Tree in the Ground or in a Pot: https://www.wilsonbrosgardens.com/how-to-plant-a-pomegranate-tree.html
This guide focuses mostly on planting rather than long-term care of the tree, but it does include information for container gardeners! The article is short and sweet, but does give a nice step-by-step walkthrough of the soil preparation and planting process.
Other Resources
As we all know, the great and wonderful web has LOTS of information on basically everything. Whether or not that info is reliable… well, that’s another story.
If you dig long enough, you can find some helpful information, so long as you carefully vet sources. I’ve found the following resources to be useful in my windowsill-grown pomegranate experiences:
California Rare Fruit Growers: Pomegranate: https://crfg.org/?s=pomegranate
In addition to a quick overview of the pomegranate’s care needs, the real value that this guide brings to the discussion is its extensive table of data on chilling hours, temperature hardiness, and other qualities of a variety of fruit trees. Once you find the pomegranate in that table, you can compare it to any of the other trees listed so you have an idea of whether the pomegranate will manage with the same soil, temperature, etc. as your other windowsill trees.
Mother Earth News: Growing Pomegranate Trees: https://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/growing-pomegranates-zm0z21fmzbut/
This article is surprisingly extensive for a magazine-based publication. Although not specifically written to provide information for the container gardener, it covers the plant’s growth habit, propagation, cultivars, and more. It’s a fast read and worth a look.
The Yankee Dirt: www.yankeedirt.com
I mean come on, you knew I was going to plug my own site, didn’t you? And after all, what reference guide would be complete without my great wisdom? In real life, you won’t find technical specs or super-deep details here, but I do post on my latest pomegranate-growing discoveries here and there… you’ll just have to weed through other posts like windowsill bananas, lemons, and other subtropicals to find pomegranate-specific articles.
Learning Resources for Container-Growing Pomegranate Trees
There are of course thousands of other resources available online… but these are some of my favorites in terms of accessible, easy-to-understand practical growing advice for hobby and backyard gardeners of the pomegranate. Although most aren’t specifically geared towards how to grow pomegranates in containers, there is great information on the tree’s care needs and considerations – and that information is useful no matter where the tree is located.
Interested in reading some of my guides about how to grow potted pomegranate trees on your windowsill? Check out my other articles: Growing Windowsill Pomegranates: 3 Cultivars