Q&A for How to Open a Pomegranate

Remove the stem at the top of the fruit using a paring knife. Next, score the sides by cutting the skin between the ridges from top to bottom. If you can’t feel the ridges, just make about six evenly spaced cuts around the fruit. Then, pull it apart with your thumbs.

After opening the pomegranate, you can remove the red seeds and eat them as is. You can also use them in a parfait, fruit salad, jam, etc.

Check the quality and acidity of the soil, or use a fertilizer or nutrient rich compounds.

They can, but many store bought pomegranates are hybrids so they won’t be the same as the parent.

Whole pomegranates can be kept at room temperature out of direct sunlight for several days. Refrigerated in a plastic bag, they can keep for a few months. Pomegranate seeds can be refrigerated for three days. You could also freeze the seeds in a single layer, so they won't clump to one another, and those will keep for several months, as well.

No. The white tissue inside of the pomegranate (the pith) is in fact edible, it just doesn't taste very good.

You chew them. If you swallow them, you don’t get any of the flavor in the juices.