How to grow indoor pomegranate: care features

The houseplant common pomegranate combines decorativeness, fruiting, and unpretentiousness. To grow trees at home, you need to know the features of care and reproduction. Also in the article you will find a description of the varieties of dwarf pomegranate.

Dwarf pomegranate and its varieties

Dwarf pomegranate is intended for growing at home as an ornamental and fruiting tree. Many varieties of this culture have been bred, we will tell you about the most common.

Nana

The tree grows up to 1 m high. The leaves are small, oval in shape. The flowers are crimson. Fruits 3-5 cm in bloom Garnet in the second year of life.

Alba

The pomegranate can grow up to 3 m, but by pruning it is given a compact shape. Leaves are dark green, glossy, slightly elongated. It blooms, starting from the second year of life, with large white or double cream flowers up to 6 cm in size. The variety is decorative, does not bear fruit.

Baby

A miniature plant that needs artificial pollination. Height - up to 50 cm. Small elongated castings grow evenly along the length of the branch. It begins to bloom at 3-4 years of age. The flowers are terracotta or red, single or collected in bunches of 5-7 pieces. Fruits are brownish-yellow in color, average size is 3 cm.

Carthage

Plant height - up to 80 cm. Flowering begins 6-8 years after planting the seed. The flowers are red, about 4 cm in size. Fruits - up to 6 cm.

Ruby

The height of the tree is about 70 cm. Flowers are rich ruby ​​color. Fruits reach a size of 6-8 cm and a weight of up to 100 g.

What does a plant look like

Dwarf pomegranate is a compact plant up to 1 m high. original bonsai 25-30 cm in size. Leaves are green, glossy, elongated. Flowers in burgundy shades.

Distinctive characteristics:

1. The first bloom is 3-4 months after planting.
2. Early fruiting. On a two-year-old plant, up to ten pomegranates with a diameter of 3-5 cm are formed. Edible fruits.
3. Preserves foliage for the winter.
4. Unpretentious care.

How to grow a pomegranate tree at home

At home, pomegranates are grown from seeds and seeds, propagated by cuttings and by vaccination.

Growing from a bone taken yourself

The advantage of this method is high decorative effect.

The disadvantage is that there is no fruiting.

The recommended time for planting seeds is late February - early March. The best option for planting is fresh seeds of a ripe and healthy fruit, for example, a ripe pomegranate fruit. The removed bones are peeled from the pulp.

Reference. If the pulp is not washed off, it will rot and destroy the sprout.

The color of seeds suitable for sowing is cream. They should be firm to the touch. As a substrate, both a universal soil mixture and a soil for citrus fruits are suitable.

How to grow pomegranate from seed:

• prepared bones are planted in the soil to a depth of 1-1.5 cm;
• after planting, watered, covered with glass or film on top and placed in a sunny place;
• aftercare: airing, spraying;
• after the appearance of true leaves, the sprouts are transplanted into separate pots, shortening the root by a third.

From purchased seeds

When buying pomegranate seeds, it is recommended to pay attention to the expiration date. Fresh seeds have the best germination rate - 65-95%.

The preparation consists in treating the seeds with a growth stimulant, for example, "Epin Extra".

Procedure for growing a pomegranate tree from seeds:

• seeds are buried in moist soil by 0.5-1 cm with a distance of up to 4 cm from each other;
• the container is covered with a film and regularly ventilated;
• seedlings are sprayed daily with water;
• the first shoots appear in 14-20 days;
• plants are transplanted into a separate container after 3-4 months, when 4-5 full-fledged leaves appear on the shoots.

Flowering and fruiting occurs 5-8 years after planting.

Reference. A seed plant rarely inherits all the characteristics of the parent variety. To accurately get a beautiful and fruiting pomegranate, propagate it vegetatively - by cuttings.

Propagation by cuttings

Method advantages:

• pomegranate retains the characteristics of the mother plant - immunity to diseases, the ability to bloom and bear fruit;
• flowering in the second year.

The disadvantage is that the cuttings take root for a long time and not all take root, so it is recommended to use several at once.

Often they combine summer crown pruning and pomegranate reproduction, since seedlings take root better in summer than in winter. Lignified shoots 10-15 cm long with 5-7 well-developed buds are suitable as cuttings.

Cutting procedure:

• an oblique cut is made on the handle and the cut edge is treated with a growth stimulant, for example, "Epin Extra", "Zircon";
• prepared cuttings are buried in moist soil by 3 cm at an angle at a distance of up to 10 cm from each other;
• from above the seedlings are covered with a cut plastic bottle and placed in a warm, lighted place;
• care consists in airing and spraying, the soil must be moist;
• rooting of cuttings lasts up to two months;
• they are transplanted into separate pots when new leaves appear.

Graft

This is another way of propagating the pomegranate tree. The plant is grafted in the spring. This requires:

• stock - a tree grown from seed;
• scion - varietal cutting from a fruiting plant.

Vaccination is carried out in the following ways:

1. Simple copulation. The procedure is carried out in the second year of growing the tree. A twig 5 cm long with four developed buds is taken as a cutting. The rootstock and the scion must have the same thickness, oblique cuts of about 3 cm are made on them and tightly connected to each other. This place is treated with garden varnish and fastened with electrical tape until it is completely spliced.
2. In the side cut. In this case, the scion is thinner than the rootstock. A branch of the stock is split from the side and a cutting is inserted there, in the lower part of which a wedge was previously made with two cuts. The junction is fixed with electrical tape.
3. Into the cleft. The graft is taken of the same thickness as the stock; at the end, a wedge is formed by cuts. The rootstock is cut, leaving up to 30 cm of the main stem, and split in the middle. A scion is placed in the split, the junction is treated with a pitch and wrapped with electrical tape.

After grafting, the tree will bloom after 3-4 years.

Flowering and fruiting indoor varieties

Home-grown pomegranates begin to bloom at least three years after planting, depending on the propagation method. At the same time, the plant contains buds, and ovaries, and fruits.

Long flowering, from mid-spring to late summer, abundant, beautiful, represented by large orange-red flowers. Flowers differ in shape and ability to produce fruit:

1. Elongated bell-shaped, non-fruit-forming (male). Most flowers belong to this type. They appear in large numbers in the second year of cultivation, they are characterized by a short flowering - they open and fall off after 2-3 days.
2. Jug-shaped (female). This is a fertile type. They tend to bloom for up to 10 days. After that, small fruits of a round shape, brown-red in color with numerous edible grains, are formed from the ovary.

In the first year of flowering, it is recommended to remove all the ovaries, the next to leave 2-3 fruits, since these processes take a lot of energy from the plant.

Features of caring for a decorative pomegranate at home

The pomegranate is unpretentious. For full growth and development, the plant needs certain conditions and care.

Transfer

Pomegranates are transplanted in late February - early March. The procedure is carried out carefully and carefully so as not to damage the root system. If the root is damaged, it is removed, the cut site is treated with crushed coal.

Young plants are replanted every year, trees older than three years - as they grow out of the pot, about once every four years. Each subsequent pot should be 2 cm larger than the previous one.

Reference. Large perennial pomegranate trees are not transplanted, but replace about 5 cm of the topsoil.

Suitable pot

The choice of the volume of the container depends on the height and age of the pomegranate tree. Initially, a 100 ml pot is sufficient.

Important! The tight capacity encourages the formation of fewer sterile flowers.

For adult plants, pots from 500 ml are suitable, commensurate with their root system.

Lighting

Pomegranate loves bright sun. For a successful growing season, it is placed in a well-lit place. In the spring and summer, the pot is placed in open, sunny areas with little shading. With the onset of cold weather, the plant is returned to a room with sufficient lighting.

Humidity

Air humidity is required moderate, about 65%. At low, the plant is sprayed with cool water and the foliage is wiped with a damp cloth. You can also increase the indicator by installing a container of water next to the pot. High humidity is balanced by frequent ventilation.

Temperature

Comfortable conditions for a plant in summer - open air and temperatures within + 18 ... + 25 ° С. In winter, pomegranates are kept in a cool room with a temperature of + 10 ... + 12 ° C. In the spring, when the frost passes, he is taken out to the balcony or garden.

Priming

Pomegranate is unpretentious to soil content. Basic conditions: nutritional value, saturation with minerals and organic substances, water permeability. For planting plants, use a universal soil or a mixture of sod, leaf and sandy-peat substrate in a ratio of 2: 1: 1: 1.

Watering

During the active growing season, the plant requires abundant watering every 3-4 days. When fruits appear on the branches, pomegranates are watered, preventing the soil from drying out, in order to avoid cracking of the ovaries.

During the dormant period, the frequency of watering is reduced to once every two weeks, but the soil should also not dry out completely. Soil moisture is maintained by loosening or spraying.

Watered at the root, avoiding water getting on the foliage, and only from above, since the plant has a superficial root system.

Top dressing

The tree is fed in the spring-summer period once every two weeks with a universal liquid fertilizer for indoor plants... Also as feeding use potassium-phosphorus fertilizers and nitrogen additives ("Agro Gumat", "Autumn").

To obtain a harvest, organic additives are used: a solution of chicken manure (poured with water in a ratio of 1: 2, after 15-20 days diluted with water 1:25 and diluted with water 3: 4 before adding) or mullein infusion (1 part to 10 parts of water). Also, during watering, the tree is fed with an aqueous solution of wood ash (1 part of ash and 10 parts of water).

With the beginning of autumn, feeding is stopped.

Spraying

Pomegranate needs to be sprayed in dry conditions at temperatures above + 28 ° C and when in the open sun. In winter, spraying is not required, normal air humidity is sufficient.

Pruning and shaping the crown

Prune the pomegranate tree before the start of the growing season, in February. Also, dried flowers and leaves are regularly removed.

Pruning helps preserve the plant's vigor for abundant flowering and fruiting. Shearing rejuvenates the plant and stimulates branching.

To form a decorative crown, the shoots of the tree are pinched, pruned, bent to the ground with a wire. A spherical crown is created by cutting off excess trunks and lower branches at a height of about 15 cm from the ground. To obtain a lush bush, periodically pinch the tips of all shoots without removing the lower branches.

Disease and pest control

1. Branch cancer represents cracking of the bark and swelling of wounds. Subsequently, this leads to the drying out of the entire tree. In the first stage, washing the wounds, spraying them with copper sulfate and processing with garden varnish helps. When the whole tree is damaged, it is cut down.
2. In the fight against gray mold the introduction of a preparation based on trichodermine into the soil and spraying with a solution of "Tiram" (TMTD) helps.
3. From root cancer get rid of by transplanting the plant and removing the growths. Wounds are treated with garden varnish.
4. Aphids are dangerous for the pomegranate tree. In the fight against it, a two-day infusion of tobacco is used (40 g per 1 liter of hot water). Before spraying, it is mixed in water in a ratio of 1: 2 and with 4 g of crushed laundry soap.
5. Get rid of spider mites, whiteflies and scale insects a five-day onion or garlic solution helps (20 g of husk per 1 liter of water). Also in the fight against spider mites use acaricidal agents ("Fitoverm", "Aktellik").
6. To destroy the moth all affected fruits must be removed.
7. From mealybugs are disposed of by spraying the plant with Mospilan or Aktara. The procedure is carried out three times with an interval of five days.

Conclusion

The dwarf pomegranate is suitable for growing at home from seed, by rooting cuttings or grafting. The inherent characteristics allow the plant to bear fruit, the conditions and rules of cultivation are easy to fulfill, the methods of reproduction are varied.