My pomegranate has die back of limbs..

Started a couple weeks ago, so far we have removed 6 large limbs that have just died. Does anyone have experience with this plant and know what might be going on??

The rest of the tree/bush looks nice and healthy with lots of flowers on it...but so did the other branches before they died..

There is a lot of new growth coming up from the base of the plant. Should I let them grow??? thin them out???

I think poms are happiest as multitrunk plants. just remove the dead stuff. You could try to grow as a standard, but the tradeoff is much less fruit. If left as multitrunk, then more fruit. Mine is just waking up.

so do you think this die back is normal??

I am no expert and my tree has only been in my garden for two seasons. Mine experience dieback also, not much as it is a little tree/shrub. I googled dieback and seems that it is characteristic of poms. I also read that pruning is very important. I think lots of people tend to overwater, so keep that is mind. If you're seeing new growth as well as dieback, I'd say you just need to do some branch cleanup.

I think poms are original from the middle east where there is lots of heat, so very good for our area. However, Rowlett is a little further north, so your tree may suffer a little bit more from cold weather. Just speculating here.

Thanks..I also was wondering if the late snowfall we had might have something to do with it. This is a young tree/bush, only in the ground about 4-5 years and this is the first year it looks like it will produce a lot of fruit..last year I think there was 7 poms on it.

I was hoping it wasnt going to totally die back, I worry it to death constantly looking for signs of more branches starting to die. We have cut back 6 already..almost to the ground. I am encouraged by the new growth that is coming up from the ground and/or the stubs of the branches that were cut back.

Thanks again..maybe I will just leave it alone and see what happens..not mush else to do with it anyway.

Kris

I had die-back of limbs on both my 'wonderful' variety and 'eversweet' variety. The eversweet dieback was pretty obviously from cold winter (2 consecutive nights with 17-degree F. temperatures). The dieback on the wonderful variety seemed to be after leaf-out, but I still suspect cold winters. Both varieties are sprouting from the root collar, and the sprouts are doing well.

The cold-hardy variety of pomegranate I have written about earlier,
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1031175/
did beautifully and had no dieback whatsoever. Thank goodness; I have 5 large plants of these, and they are now reliable producers (they took 4 years to produce from cuttings).

Susan Mc
Jackson Mississippi

Well, the jury is still out on mine, not sure of the variety. Lost about 6 large limbs so far but the rest looks like it will be okay and the rest of the tree is heavily bearing. I also have strong re-growth from the roots of the dead limbs. I took pictures up to a local nursery, they suggested it might be from uneven watering causing ...(mind went blank) some sort of wilt, said that it would show up when the branches are cut..will show up as dark splotches, and if any more die back appears, just let it go but not cut back the limb and see if it will re-sprout along the limb. So thats what I am doing. I had one more limb that was wilting and turning yellow at that time so it is now bare and am watching for any green along the branch.

I accidentally let the water flow one night on it..forgot to turn it off when I came inside, my DD (who is neighbor) called me the next morning because there was water in her back yard. So wondering if that was the uneven watering he mentioned. I would have thought it would have affected the entire plant but maybe it is lower on that side and more water stood there longer. Might never know..but am happy there are many poms on it right now.

Kris

Hmmm... thanks for the update. I guess I would have thought leaving the hose on all night was comparable to it raining all night... I'm surprised that would be a problem.

Anyways, sounds like enough of the plant is healthy that you'll still get your fruit.

That was my thoughts, too...I guess it will forever remain a mystery and as long as most of the plant is thriving, I will hope the worst is over.

Kris

My "wonderful" looked like some of the limbs died back from the cold but I wasn't sure so I didn't prune. End of the story is all the branches did leaf out but at different times, I didn't expect that at all. Dead is dead no real hurry to prune them out and I'm glad I didn't. Last winter was the coldest, wettest my pom has ever seen but I don't know what exactly the problem was.