Sacramento Digs Gardening: Pomegranate time arriving early

Pomegranates are ripening earlier than normal this

year. (Photo: Debbie Arrington)

Pomegranates are ripening early this year. Instead of waiting until mid-November, they look like they’ll be ready by mid-October.

Likely, late-summer heat pushed them into speed-up mode. But if you have pomegranates on the tree, keep an eye for signs that they’re ready for harvest.

Most commercial growers pick pomegranates when they’re under-ripe to avoid splitting or other damage. When the round fruit turns blocky, the arils (the seed sacs) are at their juiciest and sweetest. That’s the best time to pick – when the fruit is at its peak.

But waiting for that blocky shape may be too late this season – if rain is in the forecast. An October storm can cause the tree to soak up too much moisture – and force the fruit to split its skin.

So, watch the forecast while also watching the tree.

Off the tree, pomegranates will keep several weeks. In the refrigerator crisper, they'll last three months or more. They'll actually produce more juice after they've sat a couple of weeks. By that time, the leathery skin can start to harden. If so, soak the whole fruit for 5 to 10 minutes in lukewarm water before deseeding.

That soaking also will remove any grit or soot the fruit may have collected during its long hang time on the tree. Fortunately, that leathery skin also protects the arils from smoke and ash.

Did your pomegranate have an off year with little or no fruit? The next question: When did you prune?
Hard pruning of a pomegranate tree can lead to a season with no fruit. Pomegranates bear fruit on second-year wood, sprouts the tree produced the previous year. If you remove all the new growth each winter, the tree will have few if any fruit.

Instead, prune lightly in January after the shrub has dropped its foliage, concentrating on opening the center of the plant for good air circulation.

GENERAL GARDENING

An article about gardening.

Keywords:

gardening Sacramento backyard produce fall weather fall food orchard fruit fruit trees pomegranates fall harvests

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Food in My Back Yard Series

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April 8: When to plant summer vegetables

April 1: Don't be fooled by these garden myths

March 25: Fertilizer tips: How to 'feed' your vegetables for healthy growth

March 18: Time to give vegetable seedlings some more space

March 11: Ways to win the fight against weeds

March 4: Potatoes from the garden

Feb. 25: Plant a fruit tree now -- for later

Feb. 18: How to squeeze more food into less space

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Garden Checklist for week of May 18

Get outside early in the morning while temperatures are still cool – and get to work!

* Plant, plant, plant! It’s prime planting season in the Sacramento area. Time to set out those tomato transplants along with peppers and eggplants. Pinch off any flowers on new transplants to make them concentrate on establishing roots instead of setting premature fruit.

* Direct-seed melons, cucumbers, summer squash, corn, radishes, pumpkins and annual herbs such as basil.

* Harvest cabbage, lettuce, peas and green onions.

* In the flower garden, direct-seed sunflowers, cosmos, salvia, zinnias, marigolds, celosia and asters. Transplant seedlings for many of the same flowers.

* Plant dahlia tubers.

* Transplant petunias, marigolds and perennial flowers such as astilbe, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis, dahlias, rudbeckia and verbena.

* Keep an eye out for slugs, snails, earwigs and aphids that want to dine on tender new growth.

* Feed summer bloomers with a balanced fertilizer.

* For continued bloom, cut off spent flowers on roses as well as other flowering plants.

* Are birds picking your fruit off trees before it’s ripe? Try hanging strips of aluminum foil on tree branches. The shiny, dangling strips help deter birds from making themselves at home.

* As spring-flowering shrubs finish blooming, give them a little pruning to shape them, removing old and dead wood. Lightly trim azaleas, fuchsias and marguerites for bushier plants.

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