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Pruning a pomegranate is an important step in growing a garden or indoor plant. With regular, competent pruning, it becomes easier to care for the tree. But you need to trim the pomegranate correctly, otherwise there is a risk of damaging its growth.
Why pruning a pomegranate tree
Despite the fact that wild pomegranates bloom and bear fruit without forming, cultivated plants need mandatory pruning. It helps:
- give a beautiful and geometrically correct shape to the fruit pomegranate;
- stimulate the development of lateral branches responsible for fruiting;
- strengthen the skeletal branches of the pomegranate and make it more resistant to weather;
- prevent excessive thickening of the crown;
- to prevent the appearance of diseases and pests, which more often affect pomegranates that are not pruned.
The timely formation of the crown of the pomegranate makes the fruit tree a noticeable element of landscape design. A well-groomed pomegranate blooms more abundantly and more beautifully, and it is possible to collect more fruits from it.
Types of pomegranate trim
In general, pomegranate pruning can be divided into several categories - formative, rejuvenating and sanitary. At different periods of life, all of the listed types of pruning are used for the pomegranate, since each of them helps to achieve different goals.
Formative
Formative pruning helps to achieve a primarily decorative appearance of the pomegranate and makes the tree more convenient to grow. Such pruning is carried out at the very first stages of a tree's life - at the stage of a seedling or even a cutting.
For example, a formative cut for a cutting would look like this:
- if the stalk grows with one stem, then at a height of 10-15 cm, the top is pinched off;
- the side branches of the pomegranate are pruned, forming no more than 6 shoots, and the pinching and pruning must be carried out at the height where the crown should begin;
- next to the trunk of the pomegranate, a high, even support is placed, to which the plant is tied up - this will prevent the curvature of the main shoot.
If a pomegranate from a cutting initially gives several branches at once, then you need to wait until the shoots grow a little and remove the weakest and lowest of them. The seedling is transplanted into the open ground when it reaches half a meter in height, and the formation of the trunk and crown is continued for the next year.
With the help of formative pruning, you can give the pomegranate the shape of a standard tree or a spreading bush. And at home, the plant is often turned into an ornamental bonsai.
Sanitary
Sanitary pruning is important for the pomegranate as it helps maintain the health of the tree. Its meaning lies in the fact that every year the pomegranate gets rid of all damaged, dry and weakened branches, as well as unnecessary shoots that thicken the crown. Thanks to sanitary pruning, pomegranates are less likely to suffer from fungal diseases and pests, and they grow stronger and healthier.
Rejuvenating
Rejuvenating pruning is used for adult perennial pomegranates whose growth has stopped and fruiting has worsened. Usually, during it, the crown is completely removed in order to stimulate the growth of young fruit shoots. Such pruning is carried out very rarely, about once every 25 years, after the pomegranate has time to practically exhaust its strength.
How to prune a pomegranate tree in your garden
Pruning a garden pomegranate is mainly aimed at increasing its yield, as well as giving the tree a decorative look. In addition, pruning helps the pomegranate to survive the winter more easily, as a well-groomed tree is much easier to protect from frost.
How to prune pomegranates in spring
Most often, fruit pomegranates are pruned in the spring, in early April, before the start of active vegetative processes. During pruning, you must adhere to the following rules:
- all shoots in the lower part of the pomegranate and at its roots are removed;
- dry, broken and weakened branches are cut at the root and then burned to prevent disease;
- no more than 6 main shoots are left on a pomegranate bush, with a strong thickening, the plant loses its decorative effect and begins to bear fruit worse;
- tree branches are processed so that the middle of the crown has access to fresh air for ventilation and is clearly visible.
All work on pruning pomegranates in the spring must be carried out using sharp and clean garden tools. Places of cuts should be treated with garden varnish or fungicidal agents. This will help the pomegranate to recover faster after formation and also prevent the tree from infesting the tree with fungi and pests.
How to prune pomegranates in the fall
Autumn pruning of pomegranate practically does not differ from spring formation. In the course of it, in the same way, it is necessary to remove all weak, dry and broken branches, thin out the growth in the lower part of the bush and cut off excess shoots that thicken the crown. However, some important rules apply specifically to autumn formation.
- Pruning pomegranates in the fall is carried out only after harvest, the plant must finish the active growing season and prepare for winter dormancy.
- At the same time, you need to cut the pomegranate before the onset of the first frost. If by the time of pruning the tree has already had time to retire, the procedure can damage the health of the pomegranate or disrupt its wintering.
How to shape indoor pomegranate
Fruit lovers often grow miniature seed pomegranates in pots. Pruning a indoor pomegranate is necessary in the same way as a garden one, it is responsible for the beautiful shape of the crown and also helps to strengthen the health of the plant.
Pruning a pomegranate at home is as follows:
- after the tree grows up a little, it is pinched at a height of about 12 cm - this stimulates the growth of lateral shoots and allows you to form a sprawling bush from the pomegranate;
- if you want to give the plant the shape of a small tree, then you need to pinch the main shoot a little higher, at the level of 20 cm or in the place where you want to get the crown of the plant;
- in the process of growing young branches, they continue to pinch and cut them until the crown of the desired shape is formed.
After the formation of a pomegranate at home has borne fruit, it remains only to monitor the growth of the shoots and not allow them to violate the initially set outlines.
Indoor pomegranates that have not been pruned, in principle, cannot acquire decorative outlines, they grow with only one stem vertically upward and look inconspicuous. And the flowering and fruiting of the plant comes very late, even if all other growing rules are followed.
Shaping from pomegranate bonsai
When forming a house pomegranate, you can turn a house plant into a bonsai - a miniature and very decorative artistic tree that will serve as a striking design element.
Grown plants with a main trunk thickness of at least 2.5-3 cm are suitable for creating a bonsai.The formation procedure looks like this:
- all unnecessary branches and shoots of the plant are removed;
- the main trunk is cut at the desired height - usually about 20-25 cm;
- the trunk is carefully bent, making sure that it does not break, and fixed with a stiff wire so as not to allow it to straighten back;
- the remaining branches are also bent at will at the desired angle and fixed with a fishing line;
- as the shoots grow, they are pruned so as not to disturb the outline of the formed crown;
- the crown of the pomegranate bonsai is left sufficiently thinned, otherwise mold may appear in the thickened branches.
Caring for a home bonsai pomegranate is carried out in the same way as for an ordinary tree, it must be watered, fed and transferred into new containers as it grows. The main attention should be paid to supporting pruning, since without it the tree can quickly thicken the crown and lose its decorative appearance.
The branches and shoots of the plant are very flexible, so in the photo of the care and pruning of a home pomegranate, you can make sure that with due effort the miniature tree easily takes on the desired shape. At the same time, pruning and shaping in the bonsai style does not affect the health of the home tree, the pomegranate continues to grow and develop, although it needs more careful observation and care.
Experienced gardening tips
In addition to the basic rules for growing and pruning pomegranates, there are important nuances that experienced gardeners know about. When caring for a pomegranate tree, you need to know some secrets of successful formation.
- Pomegranate branches bear fruit no more than 4 years in a row. After that, you can safely carry out pruning, since they will no longer participate in the harvest.
- After pruning a young or adult plant, the cut sites must be treated with garden antiseptics and fungicides. It is important to prevent infection of the slices, otherwise, after pruning, the pomegranates can get sick with fungal ailments or attract pests.
- After about 25 years of life, the pomegranate practically ceases to bear fruit. During this period, it is recommended to carry out a radical pruning of the crown at the very root. This will not harm the tree. Soon, new shoots will appear on the trunk, of which 4-5 of the strongest shoots will need to be left for further development.
Although the pomegranate in the standard form looks very attractive, in the northern regions of the country, experienced gardeners recommend pruning so that the pomegranate takes on a bush shape. Pomegranate belongs to heat-loving plants, and a spreading bush is much more convenient to cover and insulate with the onset of cold weather than a tall standard tree.
Conclusion
Pruning a pomegranate is a procedure that must be carried out when caring for a garden or indoor fruit plant. Sanitary pruning helps maintain the health of the pomegranate tree, while shaping and maintenance trims help maintain the pomegranate's attractive shapes and increase annual yields.
