A friend gave me some pomegranates for Rosh Hashanah, and he told me that the tree is over five years old. Can I eat the pomegranates or do I have to be concerned about orlah?
Pomegranate trees are problematic, because if they are not properly cared for, they will grow suckers, which are branches that sprout from the bottom of the tree trunk and sometimes bear fruit.
The halachah is that a sucker is considered a new tree, and orlah years must be counted for it. The fruit that grows on a sucker during the first three years after it comes out of the ground is orlah.
Unless you know for sure that your friend’s tree is free of suckers, you must suspect that the fruit is orlah.
