Pomegranate tree not bearing fruit

[carolynj]

I live in south Alabama. My pomegranate tree has borne fruit only once. Any one have any ideas about why it won't bear again. I love to eat the fruit and would appreciate any info.
Thanks,
Carolyn

[rainbowgardener]

Tell us more about the conditions it is growing in- full sun? have you been fertilizing it? watering? etc.

I can't grow pomegranates where I am, so I don't really know, but I looked up this for you:

Severe fruit drop during the plant's juvenile period (3-5 years) is not uncommon. Mature trees seem to set and hold fruit better than younger trees. Fruit drop is aggravated by practices favoring leafy growth such as over-fertilization and excess watering.
https://ag.arizona.edu/yavapai/anr/hort/byg/archive/pomegranates.html

Incidentally that is from an Arizona U. publication and it talks about pomegranates doing well in their hot dry climate. You have hot there in Alabama, but I think not so much dry, so you would really need to be careful about over- watering.

[Shanejennings]

Hello,

My name is Shane Jennings. I live in Alabama. I am the president of the Alabama Pomegranate Association. Currently there are 66 pomegranate varieties we are testing here in Alabama.
Several questions to ask you about your pomegranate tree;

What soil conditions do you have? Such as, is your soil well drained or is it a wet soil type that holds water?
Does your tree receive full sun, partial shade, or mostly shade?
Did your tree bloom?
How old is your tree?
How tall is your tree?
What variety of pomegranate tree are you growing?

[rainbowgardener]

That was a post from 2010, from someone who never visited this forum again after the day she posted it. Very unlikely to respond to your questions!

But welcome to the Forum anyway! I'm sure you have lots of expertise about pomegranates and there is certain to be some current member here who will benefit from it.

[imafan26]

Pomegranates need well drained soil. A good deep soaking once a week is beneficial in summer and I only fertilize infrequently, really like when I think about it maybe twice a year. I do trim the pomegranate often and it flowers on new growth. It really wants to be a shrub so you have to thin it to open it up and cut out the extra suckers. Since your tree did have fruit once, it should be old enough; at least 3 years old. Young trees often drop fruit till they are about 5 years of age if they are from a seed.

It can grow in partial shade or sun but has more fruit in the sun.