Growing indoor pomegranates "Baby", "Nana" and others at home

Indoor pomegranate is an unpretentious crop that undeservedly has the reputation of being capricious. It is avoided not only by beginners and amateurs, but also by many experienced flower growers. In fact, growing varieties of dwarf pomegranates is no more difficult than growing aloe.

Description of indoor pomegranate representatives

Dwarf grenades, or pomegranates, are perennial deciduous shrubs of the Derbennikov family with trunks up to 1 m long and branches up to 1.5 cm thick. The bush grows up to 90-120 cm in width. The plants make beautiful bonsai up to 30 cm high. The main direction of indoor pomegranates is decorative, but their fruits are edible and taste almost no different from ordinary pomegranates.

The leaves are small, oval, shiny, light green or deep green, depending on the variety, and sit on short reddish-brown petioles. Young castings are bronze, mature ones are green, turning yellow before the leaves fall.

The flowers are numerous, tubular, resembling an elongated bell. They most often sit alone, less often they gather in inflorescences of 3-5 flowers. The diameter of the corolla is up to 4 cm, length – up to 10 cm. The petals are mainly red or orange in color.

Most of the flowers are sterile - they have only a short, sterile pistil and do not produce fruits.. Fruiting flowers have a long style. Flowering is long-lasting, with a single flower living for no more than 3 days.The duration of flowering is determined by the daily formation of new buds.

The fruit is a pomegranate with a diameter of up to 7 cm. The color varies: from brown or orange-yellow to deep red. Berries with a large number of seeds taste a little worse than a regular pomegranate, are less juicy and have less pulp. Ripening occurs at the end of November - beginning of December.

What types of pomegranate are there?

Breeders annually release new varieties and hybrids of dwarf pomegranates to the market. Most often you can find Baby, Carthage, Nana and some others seeds on sale.

Baby

A miniature variety up to 0.5 m high with small elongated leaves. The flowers are red or brick-red; flowering occurs in the 3-4th year of the bush’s life. The indoor Baby pomegranate produces fruits closer to 6-7 years of age. This requires artificial pollination of female fruiting flowers. The fruits of this pomegranate variety are yellow, up to 3 cm in diameter.

Nana

Dwarf pomegranate Nana, up to 1 m high, has small elliptical leaves. The flowers are crimson and appear in the second year of the plant’s life. Variety easy to care for and is considered one of the most popular. The fruits of this type of pomegranate are up to 3-5 cm in size, pinkish-red.

Alba

Alba is a tall tree that needs regular pruning. The leaves are glossy, elongated, dark green in color. Doesn't bear fruit. Forms large 5-6 cm double cream and white flowers. Blooms from the second year of life.

Carthage

Carthage is a plant up to 80 cm high. It blooms and bears fruit only for 6-8 years. The flowers of this pomegranate are double red, 3-4 cm in diameter. The fruits are small - 5-6 cm in diameter, with a sweet and sour taste.

Features of growing and caring for decorative varieties of pomegranate

Caring for red and sweet yellow pomegranates is simple - even a novice gardener can handle it. They grow on almost any soil, since their wild ancestor prefers loose soil, poor in organic matter and minerals.

Temperature

Pomegranate is a southern plant, but it easily tolerates significant temperature changes. In summer, it is better to keep it at a temperature of +20...+30°C and high humidity. Balconies, loggias, and wide south-eastern window sills are suitable for this.

The plant does not tolerate heat and stuffiness, which is why it is better to keep it in well-ventilated places, while avoiding constant drafts.

In winter, the optimal temperature is +10…+14°C. Short-term drops are acceptable, but under no circumstances should the plant be kept at temperatures below zero.

Important! In autumn after the leaves fall and in winter, pomegranate looks absolutely dry and lifeless.

Watering

For an ornamental crop, unlike its wild ancestor, you need to create well-drained soil with regular, abundant watering. During the winter dormancy period, pomegranate plants are watered no more than once every 6-8 weeks. In February, upon awakening, pomegranates are watered as the top layer of soil dries with water at room temperature - at least 2 times a week.

Important! If you flood a flower, in too heavy, poorly drained soils, the root system will begin to rot and the plant will die.

During flowering, watering is reduced to once a week. In hot weather, they resort to increasing the air humidity around the pomegranate by spraying the entire bush with a spray bottle. After the end of flowering and the beginning of fruit formation, watering is carried out abundantly, once every 7-10 days. If the plant does not form fruits, water it as the soil dries.

Light

Plants need a lot of light. In the spring, when daylight hours are short, additional lighting is provided for up to 18 hours using phytolamps or a regular incandescent lamp. In summer, you should not leave pomegranates in direct sunlight for a long time - there is a risk of burns on the leaves and flowers. During the hottest hours, during the period of greatest solar activity, it is advisable for the plant to be in partial shade.

In winter, the lighting mode is left natural, without backlighting, otherwise the plant will begin active vegetation, which is highly undesirable.

Priming

For growing dwarf pomegranate, well-drained, light, aerated soils with neutral acidity are preferred. Soil mixtures for begonias or roses are suitable for this. You can prepare the soil yourself from equal parts of turf soil, peat, humus or compost and river sand. Before planting pomegranate, the soil is sterilized with a 1% solution of potassium permanganate or by calcination for 10 minutes in an oven at 200°C.

Trimming

Pruning is carried out to maintain a decorative shape and activate the flowering process. They begin to form the crown from the first year of life. It is mandatory to leave one or more leading trunks, cutting off the root juveniles. For a bonsai, one powerful shoot is suitable, for a small shrub - 4-5 branches.

Pomegranate is pruned several times a year. The first pruning is carried out at the beginning of the growing season (February-March). Remove old, dried shoots without signs of living buds and growing inside the bush. The main shoots are shortened by 2-3 cm to stimulate flowering and growth. Usually the cut occurs above the second lateral bud.

In summer, pruning is carried out in periods, cutting off bushes that are too elongated.In the fall, after flowering, thin, weak, drying branches are removed, the crown is thinned out, leaving the branches for spring shaping.

Feeding

Despite the fact that the plant is tolerant of poor soils, for better flowering the flower is regularly feed:

1. The first feeding is carried out in April with nitrogenous fertilizers - urea, ammonium nitrate. Liquid fertilizer is prepared at the rate of 1.5 ml of substance per 1 liter of water.
2. From the beginning of flowering until September, the soil is enriched with phosphorus fertilizers - superphosphate, double superphosphate with the same calculation as for nitrogenous fertilizers.
3. After the end of flowering and shedding of leaves, once every 2 months the soil is fertilized with potassium salts, for example, potassium sulfate (0.1% solution - 1 g per 1000 ml of water). Potassium helps strengthen the root system and immunity.

Pot

The container for growing an adult flowering pomegranate should be narrow and low, regardless of the variety. Plant in too large pots experiences discomfort, sheds flower stalks, and grows exclusively green mass.

Transfer

Up to 3-4 years of life of a shrub or tree, it is replanted annually by transferring it into a larger container. Further, depending on the variety, transplants are not resorted to at all or are carried out no more than once every 3 years.

Reference! Despite the recommendations of flower growers, it is better to replant all varieties once every 3 years, since the soil tends to deplete.

Wintering

In winter, plants look sick and even lifeless, which is why inexperienced gardeners resort to active treatment and fertilization. There is no need to do this: in winter, the pomegranate needs peace, infrequent watering and coolness. Pomegranate overwinters from mid-December to February-March.

Protection from diseases and pests

The plant is regularly inspected for pests and disease symptoms. Most problems arise due to errors in care, too frequent or infrequent watering, dry or excessively humid air:

1. Powdery mildew manifests itself as a whitish coating on the leaves in conditions of poor ventilation and high humidity. Sick pomegranates are wiped with a sponge soaked in a solution of soda ash at the rate of 5 g per 1 liter of water with the addition of 10 ml of liquid soap. In case of heavy lesions, they resort to fungicides - “Topaz”, “HOM”.
2. spotting – the appearance of yellow-brown spots on the surface of the foliage. The main reason is excess soil moisture. It is better to transplant the plant into new soil, after first inspecting the root system and removing rotten roots. Before planting in new soil, it is better to keep them in a 1% solution of potassium permanganate for 10 minutes.
3. Whiteflies - small butterflies that parasitize the foliage, causing leaf blades to curl and turn yellow. To get rid of the insect, the crown is sprayed with garlic water - 3 crushed cloves of garlic per 1 tbsp. warm water, leave for 48 hours. Among the chemicals used are “Aktara” or “Fitoverm”.
4. Aphid - small green insects that feed on leaf juices. A large number of small greenish eggs are found on the back of the leaves. Insects are washed off under running water, and the foliage is soaked in liquid soap for 10-15 minutes. Iskra, Strela or Tanrek are used as insecticides.

Conclusion

Indoor double pomegranates are spectacular plants that are not difficult to care for. Long and abundant flowering pleases the eye from April-July to October, and fruit-bearing varieties produce small but unusual-tasting pomegranates.At home, a grenade launcher will not cause any trouble even for a beginner.