The Russian Pomegranate is the top-choice variety for colder areas, but it thrives just as easily in the hottest and driest parts of the country. It grows into a small tree 6 to 15 feet tall, with attractive glossy foliage, beautiful red flowers, and large red fruit. It will grow as a specimen tree, or in a row for a unique screen or hedge, and it is the perfect low-maintenance tree for dry states. The fruits ripen in early winter and can be used for juice, eaten fresh or as an addition to salads of all kinds. Rich in vitamins and minerals, children love to eat this healthy fruit fresh, or you can juice them for concentrated goodness in a glass.
The Salavatski Pomegranate produces red flowers in summer and delicious red fruit in early fall. It’s a cold hardy variety that may be able to withstand temperatures down to -6F. This Afghanistani pomegranate is also known as Russian-Turk.
- Average mature height: 10 feet
- Container growing? Yes. Prune pomegranates as a bush with 3 to 6 main trunks and top them off to keep the height manageable.
- Fertilizer: Nitrogen/Phosphorus/Potassium in a 3/1/6 ratio
- Light: Full sun is ideal, but pomegranates will be fine in mostly sunny conditions too.
- Soil: Pomegranates adapt to most well-drained soils. They can grow in nutritionally poor soil but they do best in loamy soil.
- Zones: Perennial 7-10 (Pomegranates love warm, tropical climates but can take some cold without getting severely injured.)
The Salavatski Russian pomegranate is among the hardiest of pomegranate cultivars! Developed in the 1970’s by Dr. Chris Inhulsen, the Salavatski was his first choice for hardy, dependable, high quality fruit. It is able to tolerate temperatures down to 10 degrees Fahrenheit. Salavatski (aka Russian #8) is a multi-stemmed deciduous shrub that grows up to 10 feet but is easy to keep smaller by pruning. It blooms with trumpet-shaped, orange-red flowers and produces orange-sized, globose, yellow to orange-red fruits. The fruit are large, deep pink seeded and have one of the best flavors of the southern pomegranates. Salavatski is one of the few pomegranates known as a tweener, so called for its semi-soft seeds. You can use these in salads for a nice crispy sweet surprise.
These are tough trees, able to tolerate a wide variety of soil conditions, from clay to sand. Unlike many fruit-bearing trees, the Salavatski pomegranate is deer resistant. Very cold hardy and very productive, performing well in zone 7 with some rumored success in protected areas in zone 6. Plus they produce an abundance of beautiful bright orange flowers over an extended period of time during the spring. Both the flowers and the fruit are produced at a very young age. Trees grow to about 10 feet in height with an equal spread at maturity. Exceptionally heat tolerant. Prefers full sun for best fruit production but will tolerate some light shade. Quite drought tolerant when established.
