Advice for my Dwarf Pomegranate

[gooeytek]

Hey all, I got this dwarf pomegranate from a vendor during Bonsai Day at the National Arboretum last month, with plans to let it grow out and thicken before doing any work to it.
It's still in the original pot that it came in, I just added some free-draining substrate to the mix it already had.
When I got it, there were about 3 flowers and a fruit. In roughly a month and a half, it has grown quite a bit, and has been flowering and fruiting as well.
Should I cut back the flowers and fruit now, to encourage trunk and branch growth? Also, is it advisable to plant this in the ground? I'm on Long Island, NY 7a.

 

[PerryB]

Mine is now 5 years old. I'm in 7B and I overwinter mine in my heated greenhouse.
I wouldn't risk repotting it now, but you could put it in the ground until early October without risk to thicken the trunk.
I did that 2 years ago and it grew to about 48" tall. I dug it up before frosts hit us and cut it back to about 18" so I could get it ina pot for winter. The trunk is now about 3/3" at soil level. It's growing in 50/50 pumice/coco coir and seems very happy.

I would cut the fruit off to direct energy to growth rather than fruit production and other than that feed it well in the ground until October.

 

[gooeytek]

Mine is now 5 years old. I'm in 7B and I overwinter mine in my heated greenhouse.
I wouldn't risk repotting it now, but you could put it in the ground until early October without risk to thicken the trunk.
I did that 2 years ago and it grew to about 48" tall. I dug it up before frosts hit us and cut it back to about 18" so I could get it ina pot for winter. The trunk is now about 3/3" at soil level. It's growing in 50/50 pumice/coco coir and seems very happy.

I would cut the fruit off to direct energy to growth rather than fruit production and other than that feed it well in the ground until October.

Sweet, thanks for the advice. I'll plant it in the ground this weekend after cutt8ng back the fruit and flowers