Pomegranate Scion & Rootstock Selection

Rootstocks are not currently used or necessary when growing pomegranates in California (Morton 1987). 

The primary cultivar grown in California is Wonderful, which is ready to harvest mid-season. Granada and Foothill are also becoming popular in California as early varieties. Wonderful is a vigorous and productive tree with fruit that ship well, and are more resistant to mature fruit cracking after rainfall (Stover and Mercure 2007). Wonderful fruit arils and rinds have a deep red color and small seeds.  Granada is similar to Wonderful (Stover and Mercure 2007), with slightly smaller fruit and an earlier harvest date. Foothill produces a similar fruit to Wonderful, but ripens one to two weeks earlier (Morton 1987, LaRue 1980).

(see Cultivar Table and Cultivar Photo Gallery for more information)