How many pomegranate trunks are ideal?

Pomegranates look like spindly bushes when young. They like to grow multiple suckers.

I’ve seen some good mature single and two-trunk pomegranate trees about as high as a room. I’ve also seen disappointing short bushy pomegranate trees with probably lots of suckers.

Does it matter how many trunks are allowed to grow? I’ve cut mine today to have a single stem, thinking maybe the roots will now focus all their energy now into the trunk to make it bigger and stronger. I want it to grow tall and with lots of fruit as it ages. Hopefully I did the right thing.

I've trained my pomegranate tree to be a single trunk.  It took years and it still requires that I cut the suckers off the base 2 or 3 times a year.  The key is to not let it get too tall too soon.  You've got to play the long game and not be worried about fruit yield until the tree is sufficiently strong enough to support the weight of those heavy fruit.

I had to put ropes on it to pull it back straight, as it kept wanting to lean one way or the other.  They tend to get top-heavy and you've got to take a lot of the biomass out of the top of the tree to keep it from bending.  It's not perfectly straight but at this point, the base of the trunk is about 8 inches across and the upper limbs are strong enough for me to climb up into the tree to prune and thin fruit.  Every year it gets a bit stronger, but now I keep it at about 12 feet tall.  It's taken close to 15 years at this point, but we get a lot of fruit from it.

I'm glad I did it that way.  Again, it's a LOT of extra work, but in my opinion, worth it.

I'm going to let mine do its thing and have multiple trunks. My reason is wind, as in we get lots and it can be really damaging. Pomegranates are relatively brittle and I would rather have a shrubby multistemmed tree to soak up that wind energy than a single trunk that is likely to snap in a storm.

I'm also going to let mine have multiple trunks, but my reasons are different than Phil's. The deer won't damage the trunk if they can't reach it, a shrubby thing will keep them from the center. I also find them easier to harvest if the fruit isn't all high. When I was in the suburbs I tried (unsuccessfully) to keep it small, but now that I don't have to worry about that. I'll be happy with an 8x8 foot shrub.