I am purchasing a pomegranate from Turtleman.. Based on other posts in this forum, I am leaning towards the Angel Red. I am going to keep it in an Air Root Pruning Container for a year or two before it goes in ground. My question is, what medium is best for a pomegranate? Can I use my CHC/coir mix or the red cedar mulch/soil mix that I use for my container citruses?

Thank you!

I would think the citrus mix would work great. I have had a few in plain potting soil for up to two years and that seemed to work well. [/list]

I can tell you from experience that you will need a mix that has a pH of at least 6.5. I propagated several pomegranates for a research plot a few years ago. They were potted them in a pine bark mix that did not have any lime added to it and they all turned yellow and several died.

So pomegranates do not like soil that is too acidic? I believe I read a post where Millet stated the pH of CHC is 6.5.

I can't seem to find the pH level of cedar mulch. I have read that long-term lowering of pH by cedar mulch is unlikely. Several reports state that cedar mulch has no significant effect on pH.

I have planted one Wonderful Pomegranate plant about four to five years ago. I added some cactus mix soil. I bought it in a 5 gallon pot from a local nursery. It has produced close to 100 fruits last year. Current size is about 10 feet tall and 5 feet wide. It is in a bush form. From the second year it has been producing.

Reading upon pomegranates, they originated in the hot climate of Mediterranean and Mid Eastern desert areas. Since Southern California, where I live, is almost like a desert, hot in the day, and cold at night, pomegranates seem to flourish here.

Regarding your soil choice, I would recommend 50% cactus mix and your own soil, since the origin of the plant is similar to a desert.

The soil I have is clay and does not drain well. I hate it. It's hard to dig up, and when tilled, it comes out in clumps. But pomegranates seems to not care what type of dirt it is in, and grows very well.

Robby, the pH of red Cedar mulch is 5, the pH of natural cedar mulch is 6. - Millet

I live not too far away in Tucson. I have a few pomegranates planted in the ground; an angel red, parfianka, desertnyi and a sin pepe. I don't have experience with keeping them in containers, but they seem to do very well with the local soil and climate. When I planted mine a couple years ago, I screened out the stones and caliche from a hole about 3' diameter and added perlite and pine bark to replace the volume screened out. They have all thrived since day one, they are the least problematic plants in my yard. I have about 100 blossoms per tree on them now.

Since it is eventually going in the ground, maybe a 50-50 mix of screened local soil and a bagged cactus mix ?

I bought some citrus from Turtleman, very nice, helpful guy with better quality plants than retail storefront nurseries. Long drive from Tucson though. Angel Red is the most vigorous of my trees and ripens about a month earlier than the rest. My favorite for flavor is parfianka, but it is pretty close between all the varieties. Everyone in Arizona should have a pomegranate tree. One of the few fruit trees that isn't a battle to keep here.

pH of 5! Is there any truth that cedar hardly effects the pH of the container? I read it in multiple places. I definitely won't use it on my pomegranate, but I recently transplanted some citrus into a red cedar/CHC/organic soil mix and want to make sure they will be alright with a pH of 5 if it goes down so much.

Bada Bing, is the parfianka sweeter tasting than the Angel Red?

Cedar doesn't effect the pH of the medium in your container. To date I have transplanted 1/3 of my collection into the 50:50 cedar/potting mixl blend. All of the trees are doing great. - Millet

Bada,

I followed your advice and purchased a Parfianka. I called every Lowes in Tucson and they did not have any; fortunately, I found it at Mesquite Valley though I paid much more.

I now have an Angel Red, Parfianka and a white pom to go along with all my citrus. I had few flowers this year but most fell off. Two little poms formed, but they too eventually fell off as well. Hopefully I get some poms and citrus next year.

Thanks for the recommendation.

Some of the flowers on pom trees are male flowers and are destined to fall off soon after blooming. I think the relative percentage of male blooms varies with the cultivar and the enviroment so the potential fruit set varies as well. I'm lucky to get a 1/3 of the flowers to set fruit on any of my poms, but even that usually results in a good fruit load. Most varieties have nice looking blooms and pom trees can be a nice front yard plant. Angel red has very pretty scarlet red blooms and it sets a few blooms on through the summer.

I believe pomegranates and olives will grow in almost any type of soil. Neither are affected by high soluble salts and seem to easily survive quite well on their own. Very easy plants to grow, and when they mature up they are very drought resistant. - Millet