How to plant pomegranates at home: a guide for beginners

Not every gardener has the opportunity to plant pomegranate in their garden plot. However, with due diligence, you can grow this fruit at home. How to obtain material for planting, what conditions are important to observe and what to do after receiving a sprout, we will tell you in this article.

Is it possible to grow pomegranate at home?

In any house or apartment you can plant and grow pomegranate. To do this, you only need a window sill, a pot and planting material. The indoor pomegranate tree is compact, blooms very beautifully and even produces small pot-bellied fruits..

How to get planting material

There are 2 most popular options: buy seeds at a specialty store or germinate them yourself.

Store-bought seeds allow you to obtain hybrid forms of dwarf pomegranate. About 500 varieties are known, most of which are suitable for home cultivation.

Advantages:

1. You can get a strong tree 100-120 cm high.
2. Pomegranate does not shed its leaves during the cold season and remains decorative.
3. It produces its first fruits 2-3 years after planting the seeds.

However, you should not dream of large and juicy fruits. Even trees that received by cuttings from a fruiting parent, are capable of producing fruits only 3-5 cm in diameter. Although they taste pleasant, they have a distinct sourness.

A plant from a seed very rarely inherits the qualities of the parent tree. To get a strong and fruit-bearing pomegranate, it is better to propagate it vegetatively.

If you decide to germinate the seeds yourself, choose a large, bright crimson fruit. It should not have external damage or signs of rot. The best fruit is one with hard, even, whitish seeds with a slight creamy sheen. Green and soft seeds are not suitable.

Preparation

Before planting seeds, it is necessary to carry out simple preliminary procedureswhich will increase your chances of success.

The soil

The following types of soil are suitable for pomegranate trees::

1. Universal or peat soil for citrus fruits, roses, begonias.
2. Rotted leaves, sand, humus – 2:1:1.
3. Turf soil, peat, sand – 1:1:1.
4. Peat, coarse sand – 1:1.
5. Fertile soil, compost – 2:1.
6. Humus, fertile soil, wood shavings, river sand, peat – 1:2:0.5:0.5.

The result will be moderately nutritious and crumbly soil. In such conditions, pomegranate pleases with lush foliage and good flowering. You can add a little wood ash to any of the options for disinfection. Before planting, be sure to steam the soil.

Capacity

To plant a pomegranate, you will need a disposable container with holes for water.. In the future, a plastic or clay pot of 100-200 ml will be suitable.

Reference. In a cramped container, pomegranate grows better, and its flowering becomes abundant.

Seeds

Before planting, selected grains are immersed in water for 2-3 hours., and then washed under running water, using your fingers to remove any remaining pulp. There is an alternative option: the seeds are wrapped in several layers of gauze and gently squeezed out, after which they are washed under running water.

Reference. Germination rates of pomegranate seeds vary from 45% to 95%.If you plan to get just one tree, plant at least 10 seeds to get 3-4 sprouts. Among them you will choose the most beautiful and strong one.

After washing, an initial check for seed quality is carried out. To do this you will need a saline solution - 1 tsp. for 1 tbsp. water. Good, full-bodied seeds will sink in this solution, and empty ones will float to the surface. They are immediately thrown away.

The next step is soaking clean seeds in any available stimulant.. These can be special preparations (Epin, Zircon, Immunocytophyte) or folk remedies (aloe juice, wood ash).

Seeds are half filled with nutrient mixture. However, experienced gardeners advise spreading the seeds between cotton pads soaked in stimulating moisture. They are left in this form for 10-12 hours.

You can increase the germination rate to 90-95% in two simple ways:

1. Scarification is a slight mechanical damage to the hard shell of the seed. Make a few tiny grooves using a nail file and then carefully pierce the seed with a thin needle. It is important not to damage the germ in the grain.
2. Stratification - keeping seeds in the cold. Pomegranate seeds are immersed in damp sand and placed on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. This hardening lasts 3-4 months, the optimal temperature is 0...+2°C.

Place of cultivation

For the pomegranate tree, allocate a place on a well-lit windowsill. The south or southeast side is best. Remove all spreading neighbors - their shadow will oppress the young pomegranate.

How to plant pomegranate at home

It is best to plant seeds in November or mid-spring. To begin with, the selected grains are placed in disposable containers up to 8-10 cm deep, maintaining a distance of 2-3 cm.

Important! The container must have holes for water drainage.

Drainage is poured into the bottom of the container. This could be pebbles, branches or sticks, broken bricks, small crushed stone. Drainage should occupy 1/4 of the container.

Seeds should not be buried in the ground, it is best to press them a little into the ground with a pencil or stick. Each seed is immersed 1 cm.

The container is covered with film or glass to create a greenhouse effect so that moisture does not evaporate too quickly. Afterwards, the container is placed in a warm place with a temperature of at least +25°C.

The soil is moistened as it dries using a sprayer.. You can’t pour too much water - the seeds will rot or go deep and won’t be able to germinate. Immediately after the first shoots form, the container is moved to the windowsill. The temperature should be maintained no more than +18°C to avoid excessive stretching of the sprouts.

There is no need to immediately remove the bag or glass. The plant is gradually accustomed to dry room air. within 3-5 days. After this, the seedlings are transferred to the usual growing regime.

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How to care for young sprouts

Small sprouts require a temperature of +18 to +25°C and lighting for 10-12 hours a day.

If planting was carried out in the fall, plants need lighting with special phytolamps. Its minimum operating time is 2 hours in the morning and evening. In winter, the sprouts are constantly illuminated throughout the day.

Pomegranate needs moderately humid air. The heat from the radiator can destroy young plants, so place bowls of water next to the container, use a humidifier, or sometimes spray the sprouts with a spray bottle.

Water as needed: ideally when the soil dries to a depth of 2-3 cm.

The sprouts are distributed into a separate pot after 2-3 leaves appear on them. Use the same soil as when planting grains. At the same moment, the sprout is pinched so that the roots become stronger and develop better.

Reference. After transplanting, it is better to place the pot under diffused light for one week, and then return it to its original windowsill.

There is an opinion that Pinching is best done a month after transplantation. This stimulates the rapid development of new branches and makes the crown round.

How to propagate a plant

For propagation of pomegranate tree Several methods are available.

Bones

You can plant seeds not only from purchased pomegranates, but also from fruits obtained from an indoor tree. To do this, select the largest pomegranate, without visible signs of damage, traces of diseases or pests, and then follow the algorithm described above.

Cuttings

Healthy, strong one- or two-year-old shoots are selected from an adult plant. They take root well and are able to form a powerful root system and a beautiful crown. Cuttings are carried out in late February - early March.

The optimal length of planting material is 20-25 cm, with at least 6 buds on each cutting. There should be no traces of diseases, pests or mechanical damage on the cuttings.

Before planting, the cuttings are placed in a small glass container with water., in which 1 tablet of activated carbon was dissolved. Next, the dishes are placed in a well-lit place for 2 weeks - this is exactly the time it will take for the roots to develop.

Next, the cuttings are planted in a prepared pot and placed on the windowsill., avoiding direct sunlight.The tree is transplanted to a permanent location at the end of summer.

This the method is considered the most effective. It allows you to get an adult pomegranate tree in 2 years.

By layering

For this method, choose a healthy, strong twig.. Without separating it from the parent tree, it is surrounded by a plastic pot with drainage holes, which is filled with suitable soil. Cut off the cuttings after the roots are fully formed.

Scion

Vaccination is organized in 3 ways: by budding (dormant eye), under the bark or into a cleft (by splitting a cutting). Budding is carried out in September, the remaining 2 are applied in early spring. For the scion, a cutting from a young shoot is used, its optimal length is up to 20 cm. The cutting is placed on the north side of the tree to avoid direct sunlight.

Sprouts

For such propagation, root shoots are used.. To do this, two-year-old strong shoots are selected in September. Having carefully disconnected it from the mother tree (it is important not to damage the root system), the sprout is moved into a tight pot with suitable soil and placed in a bright place for several days, avoiding direct sunlight.

Within 2-3 weeks, the seedlings will take root and can be transplanted into larger pots.

How to transplant

Mature pomegranate trees are best replanted at the end of summer.. Larger pots are used, and the soil in them is pre-disinfected. This also applies to purchased soil. The roots should not be crushed too much; there should be room for further development of the root system.

For the first time after transplantation, pomegranates are kept in a slightly shaded place.. After a week, the pot is returned to a well-lit windowsill.

Conclusion

Grow a pomegranate tree not difficult at all.Having obtained a plant from seeds, you can later improve its characteristics by propagating it by cuttings. A pomegranate tree on the windowsill will not only delight you with lush foliage and abundant flowering, but will also produce a small harvest.