Florists who like to grow exotic plants: oranges, lemons – no doubt will be interested in the opportunity to grow a real pomegranate. While small lemon trees can be found on sale, the pomegranate is much harder to buy, but it can be grown from a seed.
An ordinary room pomegranate in due course will turn into a small tree, it will actively bloom and even bear fruit. I must say that the harvest will be small, but the magical flowers of unusual shape and purple hue will delight you with their unique fragrance. Care of a home pomegranate tree is not so difficult, but the rules of planting, information, how to grow a pomegranate at home – it is worth studying.
Pomegranate tree in the house – a brief description
Pomegranate is a plant native to the subtropics. An adult pomegranate tree reaches up to 7 meters in height and lives up to 20 years. The branch of a pomegranate tree grows up to 20 centimeters. The thin branches are covered with needles and the wood is of little strength. Leaves are bright green, up to 8 cm long, up to 2 cm wide. Leaves are simple, veined leaves, leaves are arranged in a ring-like pattern: up to 6 leaves on one level.
Grown in room conditions mini – tree usually reaches a height of about one hundred centimeters. Considering that pomegranate trees grow in natural conditions in saline soils or in mountainous areas, you can conclude that the plant is very unpretentious. In standard urban apartments, the dwarf tree adapts perfectly to the natural microclimate of the room .
This decorative pet blooms not only abundantly, but also constantly .
Growing a pomegranate at home with proper care is only worth it because of its amazingly beautiful blooms.
The small tree is completely covered with flowers, they bloom not only singly, but also in large inflorescences.
Interestingly, the flowers on this plant are present at the same time different in shape: some look like lilies, and others – like bells. Both forms are good, but the ovaries are formed only from the lilies. This is why, despite the rich blooms, very few fruits are produced. If you plant the pomegranate from a stone, it will only bear fruit three to four years after planting. With an adult plant, fruiting can last from seven years and longer.
How to plant a pomegranate from seeds at home
Starting to grow pomegranate from a seed in home conditions, first you should take out the seeds from the fresh fruit, then extract the seeds from the pulp, washing them in cool water. For a complete cleaning, the seeds should be placed on a paper towel and allowed to dry completely for one day, otherwise during the germination rot may occur.
Pomegranate seeds are planted in soil that consists of a mixture of peat, soil and sand. The pot should be selected clay, on the bottom of which to put good drainage.
When planting, the following rules should be observed:
- The dried seed should be buried to one centimeter;
- After planting, water the soil moderately;
- The pot in which the seeds are planted, put in warm, in the sun;
- The soil should be periodically moistened by covering the pot with a piece of polyethylene.
Seeds, if they are viable, germinate for two weeks, usually the germination of seeds in the pomegranate is not bad. When the sprouts germinate and strengthen, the polyethylene should be removed and the damaged or weak sprouts removed. Then, out of the remaining specimens for cultivation, you can choose a few of the best ones.
Taking care of a young pomegranate seedling
In orderto grow a pomegranate from a seed in home conditions, you need to create comfortable conditions for him. In the room where the future tree should stand, it should be warm, the room should be periodically aired, do not forget to spray the young plant.
After the formation of the seedlings of the first true leaves, the seedlings are planted, and the root is shortened by a third. Growing a pomegranate tree from a seed in home conditions requires attention to the selection of soil, it must be not only loosened, but also airtight .
The composition of this soil must necessarily include:
- river coarse sand;
- sawdust;
- good compost;
- simple garden soil.
You can buy in a garden store ordinary soil (universal), it is also quite suitable. After seeding the seedlings, young home pomegranate put on a bright sunny windowsill – the plant needs at least two hours a day under the bright summer sun. If the sprouts sprouted not in the spring, but in the winter, you should arrange for the plant special lighting.
After three pairs of young leaves are formed on the young tree, you can slightly pinch them, and when the new shoots again show leaves, do the same again. After such a simple procedure, the pomegranate will grow at once with several crowns, becoming after a while a very lush and beautiful tree.
And further, as the plant grows, in the room in which the treegrows, it is necessary to maintain a twenty-degree temperature, not forgetting to arrange a good airing. In the summertime the pomegranate should be placed on a balcony or terrace, since already grown plants prefer fresh air and bright sunlight .
If a room pomegranate grows poorly, stretches weakly, the young twigs almost immediately become reddish in color, and the leaves grow broad and brown in color – the plant is dark, it does not get enough sunlight.
The first pomegranate flower can already appear in ten months but only if the tree is exposed to the sun. The more thoroughly the plant was cared for during growth, the more abundant it will bloom. When the first ovaries of flowers appear on the tree, you need to leave two buds on the pomegranate, and remove the rest. After a year, it will flower a lot.
In autumn, the young plant will completely lose its leaves, it will begin to dormant. You should move the pomegranate in a cool place (air temperature – 10 ºC above zero), stop all feedings, keep watering to a minimum and let the plant rest for a couple of months. After such a rest period, new leaves will grow on the tree, and it will become beautiful again.
How to care for the pomegranate
The ideal summer temperature forgrowingpomegranates is 18 to 25 ºC above zero. Already in late spring the tree is sent to the balcony. Taking care of your pomegranate at home involvesconstant watering and sprinkling in summer. The tree should never be dry, only in winter intensive watering is reduced, because the plant is resting. Also during watering, the following requirement should beobserved : water the pomegranate always from the top. This is due to the fact that this plant has a root system partly on the surface.
So that the pomegranate at home not only bloomed, but also gave the long-awaited fruits, the plant should be periodically fertilized. Fertilization of the tree begins in the spring and ends in the fall, carried out every couple of weeks. At the very end of summer (August) gradually reduce both feeding and watering, and at the beginning of autumn bring the pomegranate tree into the room.
By early December, after the fruits are fully ripe, the tree will drop its leaves, preparing itself for a rest .
Growing a pomegranate at home involves creating the right temperature regime for the plant during this period of time.
The flowering and lushness of next year’s leaves depends directly on the conditions in which the pomegranate tree is dormant.
Before putting the tree to rest you need to:
- Dry out the ground lump;
- Remove all leaves;
- Put the pot in a cool place.
If you can not keep the pomegranate in a cool place, with normal lighting room pomegranate and normally survive the winter period, completely stopped in its growth and thus dropping only part of its leaves. If the pomegranate overwinters in the warmth, but without additional light, it will then become overly elongated and not as lush as it was before wintering.
As early as the end of February, the room pomegranate can be placed on a sunny and warm windowsill, andcare for it first of all includes good watering. After a while, the tree will be covered with tender foliage.
Young pomegranate trees are transplanted annually, each new pot choose a little more (a couple of centimeters) compared to the previous one. When the tree is three years old, it begins to be transplanted only as necessary, taking into account that the pomegranate in a close pot normally grows and blooms well, as well as bearing fruit. It is possible to replace the top layer of soil every year.
Care for the room pomegranate before its growth also involves the removal of dry or weak shoots, the buds on them will no longer form, they will appear on young and strong shoots.
Shaping the crown
In order to make the tree fluffy, it needs to be pruned. The crown of thegrowing pomegranate tree can be made different, choose the shape that you like. For example, the tree can look like a ball, be oval.
Before pruning, the following should be taken into account:
- Pruning should be done in February, before active growth begins;
- Gradually the old trunks are replaced by younger and stronger shoots;
- The shoots that are left over from pruning can be applied to cuttings.
If there is a desire to combine thecultivation of the room pomegranate with the Japanese art of bonsai, the pomegranate will be ideal for this purpose, since it is easy to form a pomegranate tree .
Sometimes you can find specially bred dwarf varieties of pomegranate in garden centers. These small trees initially perfectly bloom and bear fruit, but every florist is much more interesting to learn how to grow a pomegranate himself from a seed at home, himself to achieve from a tree abundant flowering and even a small, but his own crop of fruits.
