Preface

Lovers of indoor plants sometimes get lost in next choice"green neighbor" If you want to grow a homemade pomegranate, caring for the plant is very simple and will not cause problems in growing it. This exotic plant is completely unpretentious, and can be grown in an ordinary pot on the windowsill.

Dwarf pomegranate - beauty and well-being in the home

The name of the fruit comes from the Latin granatus, which means grainy. By historical information, the pomegranate was a symbol of a rich harvest, giving faith and life.

History says that the fruit came to our countries from Carthage and was called the “Punic apple.” In every country, pomegranate is a symbol of something special. In Greece it is fertility, in Persia it is passionate love. And the wife of Zeus holds a pomegranate in her hand as a symbol of marriage. Even in the real world in Greece, flowers and tree fruits are thrown at the feet of the bride and groom during a wedding. And during the celebration, the bride herself can throw a juicy fruit to her bridesmaids instead of a bouquet.

Mostly at home, dwarf or indoor pomegranates are preferred, growing which will be a pleasure. It should be noted that the plant perfectly decorates not only any interior of a room or garden, but also has a lot of useful properties.

The first mention of the dwarf pomegranate dates back to 1803. The plant reaches a maximum height of 120 cm. Its leaves are light green with a glossy tint, located on red cuttings. Due to the change of seasons, pomegranate leaves change their color: in spring the plant acquires bronze tones, in summer - shades of green, in autumn - yellow.

The bush blooms from May to September. Pomegranate flowers are large, up to 4 cm in diameter, and purple in color, but most do not form fruit. The duration of flowering of one flower is a maximum of 3 days, but every day new buds are formed on the bush. Only flowers with long columns can ripen into small pomegranates. So, out of a hundred flowers, only 3 produce fruit. Do not worry that the remaining flowers fall off: this is an individual property of the plant.

The indoor pomegranate fruit itself can be colored as Orange color, and in brown-red and ripens in winter. But pomegranate does not have a special, pronounced taste, and the fruit itself is very small. So basically bonsai serves as a decoration for the room. To ensure that the plant puts all its energy into color and has a sufficient number of new buds, the owners cut off the ovaries.

Necessary conditions for a home tree

Indoor pomegranate is a light-loving plant, so the pot must be placed on any window, with the exception of northern ones. But the plant does not tolerate direct sunlight, especially young growth. In the summer, when it is warm and light, it is better to take the tree out onto the balcony or veranda, and overwinter the plant should be brought indoors.

Homemade pomegranate, like any exotic plant, needs warmth, especially during flowering. Therefore, the temperature in the room must be maintained above +20°C. But if the room is very hot, the pomegranate leaves may begin to fall off. To prevent this, you can spray the leaves with cool water. During the ripening of the fruit, pomegranate prefers cool rooms at home with a temperature of +14°C, and during the dormant period - even lower.

The soil is homemade pomegranate In order to ensure flowering and fruiting, it must be rich and valuable in various mineral components.

Watering the plant also needs to be approached wisely to prevent waterlogging or dryness of the soil. The most abundant watering of the shrub occurs during the period after flowering, so that the plant can then delight with its flowers. In winter, homemade pomegranate practically does not need watering - once every 2 months is enough.

Homemade pomegranate will not refuse feeding, but no more than twice a month. Must be applied to moist soil and in spring. nitrogen fertilizers, during color - phosphorus, in autumn - potassium.

After the fruit of the tree has ripened, it usually sheds its leaves, that is, a dormant period begins. To do this, a grenade must be created optimal conditions with a temperature of no more than +12°C. It is difficult to ensure such a temperature at home. You can, for example, move a pot with a plant to the window or put it on the balcony for 3 weeks.

After a period of dormancy, in February, homemade pomegranate begins to form buds. During this period, it is important to trim dry or unnecessary branches of the plant. Pruning is carried out in such a way that the bud of the bush faces outwards, otherwise with further growth the inner bud will thicken the plant. You can shape the pomegranate into a tree by trimming the root branches. It is important to avoid severe pruning, otherwise the plant will weaken and the number of buds and, accordingly, flowers will decrease.

For young plants, replanting is carried out every year until they reach 3 years. Homemade pomegranate does not require large containers and pots, and, conversely, the tighter the root system, the stronger the flowering will be.

How to grow pomegranate?

Homemade pomegranate can be propagated in 2 ways:

• cuttings;
• seeds.

Before growing pomegranate from seeds at home, you need to purchase seed material. You can buy it in a store, or you can take it from a houseplant. Before planting a seed in a container, you need to prepare it. To do this, the largest and ripest fruit is selected and several grains are taken out. To get the seed itself, you need to remove the pulp of the grain, rinse it in water and wipe it dry with a napkin or dry it. Seeds should be planted at a distance of approximately 1 cm from the surface and away from each other. Seed germination time on average reaches 2 weeks. For good germination of the future plant, the pot should be placed in a warm place. sunny place and provide it with abundant watering.

To grow pomegranate at home when propagating by cuttings, shoots should be taken from a fruitful plant with several buds and covered after planting plastic bottle or a glass jar.

If an exotic plant has become infected with a disease, there is no need to delay its treatment. When pests appear on leaves, they must be treated with special chemicals or assemble by hand. Dry rooms and air can cause spider mite. To prevent such a disease, the plant must be frequently sprayed and moistened. Overwatering can also affect the health of pomegranates, with yellowed leaves being the main sign of overwatering. In such a situation, the plant must be transplanted into dry soil and the rotten roots removed.

You should not be afraid of such seemingly excessive care. The main thing is that the process of growing indoor pomegranate brings delight, then the plant will delight the owner with its beauty.

Homemade pomegranate - benefits for family health

Pomegranate is a healthy fruit: for the treatment of diseases, raw materials are obtained from all parts of the plant: from the fruit, peel, flowers, roots.

The value of the fruit lies in the contents minerals And organic acids. Pomegranate is rich in various vitamins, carbohydrates, proteins and even fats. The juice of the fruit has an analgesic, choleretic, and antiseptic effect. The fruits of the plant are used for digestive diseases. They normalize arterial pressure, relieve headaches, saturate the body with vitamins. Pomegranate peel has found its use as an anthelmintic due to its ursolic acid content. Doctors recommend drinking pomegranate juice for infectious and colds, anemia, and problems with the gastrointestinal tract. For stomach disorders and colitis, the peel of the fruit is used. And pomegranate flowers are brewed as tea, which gives this drink a similarity to the popular hibiscus.

What are the benefits of pomegranate?

Thus, homemade pomegranate is perfect for those who want to acquire a decorative tree. It will not be difficult for beginning gardeners to grow pomegranates with juicy and ripe fruits, and even a schoolchild can take care of dwarf pomegranates.

There is probably not a single apartment, and certainly not a single house, where there are no indoor flowers and plants. Many housewives love to decorate their homes with representatives of the flora kingdom, pleasing to the eye. And in this article we will talk about how to grow a real pomegranate at home, which will not only be a beautiful addition to your interior, but will also bring undeniable benefits with its original and tart-tasting fruits.

Botanical description

In ancient times, the pomegranate plant was widespread in the territories of Carthage and the entire northern tip of Africa along the Mediterranean coast. This is where the original name “punica” came from the Latin word “punicus”, which means “Punic”, “Carthaginian”. The Russian version of the name also comes from the Latin word “granatus”, which means “grainy”.
It is the presence of many grains inside the fruit that characterizes pomegranate in the botanical sense. Typically, pomegranate fruits are spherical in shape with a hard skin in the form of a solid shell. Inside there is juicy and tart pulp, formed into hundreds of grains. The color of such a shell varies in the range of orange and brown shades; less often you can find a blood-red color.

Did you know?In Ancient Greece, they believed that pomegranate fruits gave immortality, perhaps for this reason, in myths they were often present on the tables of the gods of Olympus.

The structure of the fruit is multi-tiered and divided into several chambers, which, in turn, are divided into nests. All these sectors are separated by thick and hard walls. Inside each nest, chamber and tier there is a huge number of pomegranate grains, of which there can be more than a thousand in one copy.
Such massive fruits grow on quite large tree, which reaches a height of 5-7 meters. The branches of such a tree are distinguished by their subtlety and grace. The foliage is pointed with a glossy shiny coating. Pomegranate flowers are quite large in size, and their color varies between pink-orange and carrot shades.

Important!At home, the pomegranate tree grows up to 1.5-2 meters. This is due to the lack of sufficient sunlight and limited land capacity. In any case, you don’t have to worry about the tree breaking through your ceiling.

The pomegranate tree is distinguished by its heat and light-loving properties. He needs solar energy during all year round, and in the absence of it, such a tree will not bloom and, therefore, will not produce fruit.

Chemical composition

These fruits consist of peel, seeds and pulp. Oddly enough, each of these elements is beneficial for the human body. And in terms of calorie content, such a fruit is quite light, because One average fruit contains only 90 kcal(while 100 grams of pomegranate juice contains only 50 kcal).
Pomegranate fruits contain 15 amino acids, including cystine, aspartic acid, hydroxyproline, threonine, histidine, alpha-aminobutyric acid, lysine, glutamic acid, arginine, serine. Most of these compounds are essential and are included as an ingredient in drug formulas, the total amount of which in annual production exceeds ten tons.

In addition, pomegranate contains a real storehouse of vitamins, minerals and nutrients, among which:

• vitamin PP - 0.4 mg;
• beta-carotene - 0.03 mg;
• vitamin A - 5 mcg;
• vitamin B1 (thiamine) - 0.04 mg;
• vitamin B2 (riboflavin) - 0.01 mg;
• vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid) - 0.5 mg;
• vitamin B6 (pyridoxine) - 0.5 mg;
• vitamin B9 ( folic acid) - 18 mcg;
• vitamin C - 4 mg;
• vitamin E - 0.4 mg;
• calcium - 10 mg;
• magnesium - 2 mg;
• sodium - 2 mg;
• potassium - 150 mg;
• phosphorus - 8 mg;
• iron - 1 mg.

And in addition to all of the above, pomegranate contains fiber, which is an indispensable activator of our body’s activity and has a beneficial effect on the functions of all internal organs and systems, as well as a complex of vitamins and minerals.

Beneficial features

Together with such a rich composition of vitamins, minerals, amino acids and other useful microelements, pomegranate fruits are very beneficial for the human body. There are five main positive qualities that help normalize the functioning of our body:

How to grow pomegranate at home

So, there is no doubt that pomegranate is very healthy and rich in various mineral compounds and vitamins. Now it’s time to sow and grow such a wonderful plant in your home.

How to plant a pomegranate from a seed

In order to grow a tree from a seed, you will need special seeds collected from the flowers of this plant, since those grains that are in the fruits are no longer suitable for use. It is the flower seeds that are suitable for germination. Having purchased such seed, you need to soak it in a solution of some substance that promotes rapid germination (growth stimulant). For this purpose, for example, .
In this composition, the seeds should be soaked for 24 hours, after which they can be placed in loose soil under a lid. The pomegranate will spend some time in this greenhouse (2-3 weeks) before sprouts appear.

Important!Although the seeds are in a kind of greenhouse, it also needs to be placed in a warm and, most importantly, bright place.

During this period, it is important to ventilate and moisten the soil in a timely manner so as not to cause premature diseases in the still fragile plant. The main feature of this growing method is that a pomegranate tree grown from seeds will bloom only in 5-8 years. If you don’t want to wait that long, you can purchase a ready-made young tree from nurseries.

Soil and fertilizer pomegranate

Despite the fact that pomegranates grow in the wild on rather poor soils in arid areas, to breed beautiful tree at home you will need more mineralized soil. The best option would be to buy soil for or. It is rich in useful elements and is well suited for sprouting pomegranates at home. At the bottom of the pot you need to pour a fairly high (about a third of the pot) layer of expanded clay or river pebbles.
If we talk about fertilizers, then for pomegranate it is necessary to apply fertilizers, starting in the fall, when its growing season ends, and ending in the spring, when the plant needs the maximum amount of additional vitamins and minerals. You can fertilize no more than once every two weeks. Typically, fertilizers are applied once a month to moist soil. Basic fertilizers spring period are considered nitrogen, while closer to autumn they are replaced by potassium.

Important!The best way to feed fruiting pomegranates is organic matter, which does not contain nitrates harmful to the human body. At the same time, mineral fertilizers should be used extremely carefully, since, unlike organic ones, they contain a high content of harmful nitrates.

Follow all the rules and instructions for using the fertilizers you have chosen to avoid adverse consequences, since overfeeding is just as bad as underfeeding.

Humidity and watering pomegranate

Air humidity must be maintained at an average, moderate level. In order to humidify the air in the room, you can carry out wet cleaning or place containers with water near the plant. Another way to maintain humidity levels is to spray the pomegranate tree's crown with water using a spray bottle and wipe the leaves with a damp, clean cloth.
The main signal that it is time to water such a representative of the fauna is the dried crust of the earth. Once you find that the top layer of the substrate crumbles easily and feels completely dry to the touch, feel free to water your pomegranate. It is important not to overdo it with watering, so as not to cause putrefactive damage to the root system. The approximate frequency of watering is once a week. This will be enough to provide your plant with enough moisture.

Important!During the flowering period, it is better to reduce the amount of watering by half. In the spring, the amount of watering should be increased: this regime should be maintained from February to May, until the pomegranate blooms.

Lighting conditions

Good and properly selected lighting will be a guarantee good flowering and fruiting. Since pomegranate is a heat-loving and light-loving representative of the fauna, it needs to create optimal conditions under which daylight hours should not be less than 12 hours. A pot with a pomegranate tree can be placed on a windowsill (any one will do, except the northern one). But there is also a nuance here, because it needs to be protected from direct midday sunlight. For this purpose, blinds or regular curtains will help you.
In summer, for example, such a seedling can be planted in the garden at the dacha, if any. Pomegranate adapts perfectly to natural conditions. But in winter and long, cloudy autumn, such a plant will need additional lighting, which you can provide using a regular fluorescent lamp or a special phytolamp. Both methods of additional lighting will give your plant what it needs - the correct twelve-hour lighting regime.

Transplanting a pomegranate at home is also a separate ritual with its own nuances. Firstly, it is better not to touch or replant the plant until three years old, since the root system and young stem are not yet ready for mechanical stress and such a procedure can only do harm.

Secondly, it is worth expanding the living space for a flower after three years gradually, each time choosing a new pot 3-4 centimeters wider than the previous one.

Important!It turns out that pomegranate loves close quarters. When the roots of this plant rest against the walls of the pot, feeling constrained, such a pomegranate will bloom more abundantly and produce a larger harvest.

Thirdly, the best time for replanting is considered to be early spring, before sap flow and flowering begin. When replanting, the pomegranate is removed with a lump of earth from the old pot and placed in a new one, in which the substrate has previously been laid and fresh soil has been added. The space around the earthen ball and roots is also covered with new soil, lightly tapping the container to evenly fill the voids.
Around the sixth year, your pomegranate will become an adult and will not need further replanting. Typically, the average pomegranate tree requires a container of up to 5 liters. And the depth is not as important as the width of the dish, because the root system of pomegranates spreads to the sides.

Pomegranate trimming

For every plant, pruning is a positive thing that promotes strengthening and healing. This procedure brings the crown into a proper and well-groomed appearance, giving the indoor plant the necessary ergonomics and neatness. In addition to the purely visual effect, such manipulations reduce the load on the plant, since unnecessary shoots that require constant feeding are removed. And after removing unnecessary processes, pomegranate tree can direct all his efforts to growing large and fleshy fruits.

So, pomegranate should be trimmed three times per season.

First cut: carried out in March, before the start of the growing season. It is worth removing all branches growing inward, as well as small branches that only interfere with the development of the main shoots. You can leave up to 6 main branches on one trunk, and it is better to remove all other shoots. On each of these main branches, 3-5 branches of the second line are left, and on them, respectively, 3-5 branches of the third order. Such a crown will look neat and symmetrical. Second cut: carried out in the summer, during flowering and ripening of fruits. Don’t worry, such pruning will only help your pet retain all its strength for better ripening, because it will not have to waste extra energy on new shoots. In this approach, it is worth removing newly formed shoots and dry branches.

Third cut: carried out in the fall, after the harvest. All unnecessary small shoots and branches directed into the crown should be removed, as well as dried or withering branches.

Important!Only those branches that have grown this season bear fruit. Once you have harvested this year's shoots, you can cut the branch at bud level to begin dividing into the next row of branches that will bear fruit next year.

Reproduction of indoor pomegranate

There are several types of propagation of pomegranate trees, including: planting by seeds, growing from cuttings or grafting method. You already know how to grow pomegranate correctly, so to speak, from scratch (from a seed), and then we will talk about two other methods.

Pomegranate from cuttings

It is this method that allows you to preserve the main features of the selected type without loss. The best time Summer will be the time for cutting and germinating cuttings. Choose non-lignified shoots with 4-5 buds and a length of about 12-15 centimeters. Having removed the two lower buds, insert the cuttings (it is better to prepare several of them at once, since some may not be accepted and die) at an angle of 30-45 degrees into the previously prepared soil.
With regular spraying, watering and proper care, the finished seedling will be formed in about 2-3 months. After this, it can be transplanted into separate pot. Such a pomegranate will bloom next year, but will be able to bear fruit only after several seasons.

How to graft pomegranate

Grafting a pomegranate will be a rather labor-intensive process, since not every novice gardener will be able to carry out this operation correctly. A shoot of a healthy fruit-bearing plant is grafted onto a cutting grown using grain. Such grafting can be carried out by various methods, the most popular of which are: simple copulation, behind the bark, into a split, into a butt and into a side cut. Each of these methods has its own nuances and difficulties, and therefore, if you are afraid that you will not be able to cope, it is better to seek the services of a professional or resort to another method. If the scion is successfully carried out, the plant will bloom only after a few years, and will bear fruit in about 4-7 years.

Pests and possible diseases

An infusion of 40-45 grams of tobacco in 1 liter of water aged two days will cope with aphids.

Before use, you can add another liter of water to such a solution so that it is not so concentrated, and also mix in grated laundry soap. By spraying the plant with a spray bottle, you can deal with aphids.

Scale insects, mites and whiteflies. A five-day infusion of onion and garlic peels per liter of water will allow you to quickly and efficiently deal with these pests.

Cancer diseases. Cancer of the roots, trunk or branches is quite frequent illness home pomegranate trees. They appear as a result of mechanical damage, after which the bark begins to crack and turn black, and characteristic dark tumors appear on the surface.

These diseases can be defeated if you clean the affected areas to healthy wood, then generously treat them with a solution copper sulfate, and then seal the affected area with garden varnish. In most cases, this procedure should help. If we are talking about extensive damage, then it makes sense to cut the tree down to a stump. Perhaps it will be saved and after a while it will sprout new shoots, but if not, then such a fate would await it anyway, given the abundance of cancerous formations.

Did you know?The fruit of the pomegranate tree is mentioned in the Koran. The first is that the pomegranate tree grew in paradise. The second is that the Prophet Muhammad advised his followers to eat pomegranate fruits as a remedy against envy and hatred.

In addition to such diseases, a number of other symptoms may be observed that indicate insufficient pomegranate care. These include yellowing of leaves, their falling, or even drying out of the tree. You can cope with such manifestations quite easily if you follow the recommendations:

Yellowing of leaves. This disease is associated with too high a room temperature (of course, if one of the pests described above is not identified). If the leaves, in addition to yellowness, appear dark spots, then the reason is a lack of moisture: you should water your plant as quickly as possible.
The basic rule for watering and maintaining the required level of humidity in a flower container is the degree of dryness of the soil. So, if you find that the soil loosens easily and is not wet to the touch, it is worth watering such a substrate. The normal watering schedule for the average pomegranate tree is once a week.

Did you know? According to one version of the Biblical legend, it was with a pomegranate, and not with an apple, that the serpent seduced Eve in Paradise.

Falling leaves. This is an advanced stage of yellowing. If you intervened in the process of healing your tree at the wrong time, then the falling of leaves will become its natural continuation. It is necessary to immediately remove pests (if any are identified) or adjust the care of the plant by watering it or lowering the temperature in the room (for example, by ventilating the room). In addition to painful manifestations, leaf fall can be caused by the end of the growing season, that is, by preparing the pomegranate tree for wintering. Thus, falling leaves can be both a signal of a problem and a natural phenomenon that should not be feared.

Drying of leaves. This ailment indicates that in the room where the pomegranate tree is located there is not enough high humidity and you need to spray the plant with plain water. Another variant of this disease is damage to the root system and problems with it. Such damage can occur as a result of improper, excessive watering. If the soil smells moldy and damp, then you need to transplant the tree into another container as quickly as possible and replace the substrate. Before doing this, carefully inspect the roots for putrefactive damage and, if necessary, remove rotting ones. Cut wounds should be covered with crushed charcoal.

In maintaining and successfully growing a pomegranate tree at home, you should follow strict care rules. Monitor all the slightest manifestations of ailments in your plant and adjust the conditions under which it is kept. Maintain balance in temperature conditions, do not forget to ventilate the room if it becomes too hot, or carry out wet cleaning and additional humidification of the room to maintain a climate close to the Mediterranean.

Also, wiping the leaves with a damp and clean cloth will have a beneficial effect on the health of the plant. In the cold season, when heating season It hasn’t started yet, and it’s very cold in the apartment, you should get a heating device so that not only your plant, but also you, will be comfortable.

It is also important to water the pomegranate on time to prevent the soil from drying out, but do not overdo this procedure so as not to start putrefactive processes in the root system.

Did you know?During the opening of the Egyptian pyramids, it was discovered that a pomegranate was placed in the sarcophagus of the deceased rulers. This fruit was considered sacred and capable of giving new life. And the pomegranate tree was called the “tree of life.”

Periodically spray the pomegranate leaves with plain water to create the effect of natural rain and maintain a normal humidity balance, because pomegranates grow near the Mediterranean Sea, where the climate is very humid and hot.
Periodically you should fertilize with various mineral fertilizers as a prevention of the appearance and development of unwanted diseases. Such procedures can be carried out before the start of the growing season in the spring and after its completion at the end of autumn. The interval for feeding can vary from two weeks to a month. More frequent applications fertilizers are fraught with irreversible consequences of disease development.

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15 once already
helped

Where can I get planting material? Buy at the market or in a store large fruit rich shade. Fruits with rot or mold should not be taken for planting. The seeds obtained from such specimens are weak and painful, and do not germinate and develop well.

Only healthy, ripe pomegranates are suitable, which need to be carefully cut and the contents removed. Remove the soft shell, place the seeds in a colander and rinse under the tap to remove juice and pieces of pulp. Carefully inspect the bones. Only hard seeds of a grayish-beige color or shade are suitable Ivory. This means that they are already mature and have enough nutrients to germinate. The planting material is green, soft to the touch, and does not sprout. Such bones simply rot when they fall into the ground and disappear.

Germination

Place the pomegranate seeds on a saucer and pour in a little water until they are half immersed in the liquid. Planting material needs air, because oxygen awakens the grain and starts the germination process. The seeds must not be allowed to float in the water, otherwise they will die.

Planting material must be disinfected. Products such as Zircon or Epin are recommended. Just 2-3 drops, and no fungus or rot. Change the solution in the saucer every 12 hours. The seeds should lie in water for about 3 days, and they should not be allowed to dry out, otherwise the hard shell will crack and the grain will die.

You can cover the saucer with gauze or cotton cloth, which retains moisture well. Water intended for soaking should be passed through a filter to remove harmful impurities. Place the saucer in a warm place, away from drafts.

The bones practically do not change after three days of bathing appearance. Unlike other planting material, they do not grow in a plate, but in the ground. It is important to prepare in advance correct soil and pots, because the grains are placed in the soil directly from the plate.

Substrate preparation

Pomegranate takes root in almost any soil, but in order for the plant to be strong and develop quickly, one of three options should be used. The easiest way is to buy a special substrate designed for indoor flowers. It contains many nutrients, is quite loose and allows air to pass through.

The second version of the soil is prepared from peat and coarse river sand, which is pre-calcined or doused with boiling water to disinfect it. Take the ingredients in equal proportions, mix thoroughly and fill the pot with the mixture.

If there is no peat at hand, it is replaced with turf soil and humus. Combine the ingredients and leave for several days, and add river sand before planting the pomegranate seeds. The last component will make the soil looser and softer, and the humus will become a source of minerals.

Regardless of the composition of the substrate, you need to put a drainage layer in the pot. If it is absent, the water constantly stagnates at the bottom of the container, the roots of the tree rot, and it suffers from fungus. Expanded clay or small pebbles, pieces of polystyrene foam or crushed clay shards are suitable.

Tip: If the soil dries out quickly or becomes too compacted, it should be replaced with new soil, to which pine or other wood sawdust is added.

Planting seeds

1. Fill the pot with substrate, make several holes 1–1.5 cm deep in it and lightly moisten it with a spray bottle.
2. Do not make the holes too deep, otherwise it will be difficult for the sprout to break through the ground.
3. Place the wet seed and sprinkle with soil without compacting it.
4. Sprinkle with water and cover the pot with cling film or plastic bag. You will get a mini-greenhouse in which it is always warm and humid.
5. There is no need to add fertilizers or growth stimulants. Pomegranate seeds will take the necessary nutrients from the soil.
6. The main thing is that the pot with the future tree is constantly warm.

Natural selection

When the shoots hatch, it is recommended to move the pot to a south window. Young trees need a lot of light to grow and gain strength. Do not remove the film, but regularly ventilate the sprouts by opening the improvised lid for 1–2 hours and water them. The soil should not be too wet or water should accumulate at the bottom. In such cases, you need to stop watering for several days to allow the substrate to dry out, and then reduce the amount of liquid to moisten the soil.

If the seeds are planted in winter, the first leaves will appear on the sprouts in early to mid-spring. Then the film is removed so that it does not interfere with the trees stretching upward. Only one plant is left in the pot, the strongest and largest. The rest need to be carefully pulled out. You can simply pinch off the top, leaving the root in the ground. It will gradually decompose, providing the developing sprout with additional nutrients.

Important: Not all seeds planted in winter hatch in March-April. Some may take months to awaken, so it is recommended not to throw away empty pots without sprouting, but to set them aside and continue to water. If after 6 months nothing has happened, it means the seeds have not sprouted.

Picking

The seedlings do not need to be thinned out, but rather transplanted into separate containers. Pomegranate picking is carried out after the appearance of two true, non-cotyledon leaves.

How to carry out the procedure?

1. You will need several medium-sized pots. The quantity depends on how many trees you plan to grow.
2. Fill each pot with drainage and substrate with pine sawdust.
3. Make one hole 2–2.5 cm deep. Be sure to moisten the soil so that the pomegranate quickly takes root.
4. Carefully distribute the roots over the hole. Sprinkle the seedling with soil and compact the soil a little.
5. You can add water, but if the substrate is wet enough, watering should be postponed for several days.

It is recommended to throw away seedlings that are too thin, weak or crooked. They grow into sickly trees that are constantly attacked by pests or fungus.

Irrigation water and sunlight

Pomegranate comes from warm countries, so the tree loves the sun and tolerates high temperatures. The pot with the plant can be placed on a southern windowsill, closer to the light, but be sure to shade the delicate leaves from ultraviolet radiation. It is advisable to hang patterned curtains or blinds on the windows, which diffuse the sun's rays and make them softer.

In summer, it is useful to take the pomegranate tree out onto the balcony. Owners of summer cottages move the pot with the plant into the garden. In the fresh air, pomegranate blooms faster and develops better. It is recommended to bury the pot with earth, hiding the seedling under a taller tree.

In winter, water pomegranate 2 times a week, and in summer up to 4–5. If the soil inside remains wet and the top layer dries out quickly, it should be sprayed with a spray bottle. Water should not get on tree leaves and flowers. Use only warm, settled liquid, to which you can add fertilizers for indoor flowers or complexes for tomatoes and sweet peppers in spring and summer. Natural supplements include manure infusion and aquarium water. You need to fertilize the soil twice a month; before adding nutrients, the pomegranate is watered generously.

Other nuances

1. To make the tree fluffy, you need to pinch the fourth pair of leaves after the third pair of leaves appears. This will cause the pomegranate to grow with two crowns.
2. The plant will bear fruit if it is grafted. In other cases, a tree grown from a seed only blooms, but no fruit appears on it.
3. Closer to winter, around November or early December, the pomegranate sheds its leaves. When the last one falls, you need to take the pot to a cool greenhouse or cellar. The plant should overwinter at a temperature of +5–0 degrees.
4. From November to March, pomegranates are watered once every 1.5–2 months. No need to fertilize.

During the flowering period, you can try to pollinate the plant with a brush or cotton swab. No one guarantees that an ovary will appear on the pomegranate, but it is likely that by autumn several fruits will ripen on thin branches. Even if the tree does not bear fruit every year, it is worth planting for the beautiful pink buds that will appear every 10 months.

Video: how to grow pomegranate

Lovers exotic plants They will definitely want to grow a beautiful small pomegranate tree at home. While a dwarf pomegranate will no longer surprise anyone, an ordinary pomegranate grown from a seed is still quite rarely seen at home. Moreover, a plant grown at home is a miniature, abundantly flowering tree. Pomegranate blooms are quite large and very beautiful. pink flowers. At good care Small fruits appear on the branches.

Many lovers of house plants would like to have such beauty at home. But they don’t dare to raise it at home, because they fear that it will be very difficult. And completely in vain. There are no particular difficulties, since the plant is unpretentious and grows well at home. So how to grow pomegranate at home from a seed? What is needed for this? Now I will tell you about it:

Pomegranate from seeds

We will begin to implement our idea from the market. Buy there the very ripe, most beautiful, large fruit with a clean, healthy skin (no mold, rot, or dents). Break it up at home and eat it for your health. Leave only 3-4 whole grains. This is enough, since the germination rate of pomegranate grains reaches 95%.

Rinse the grains running water, wash off the remaining pulp. You should be left with fairly hard seeds that are not very light ivory in color. If they are soft to the touch and greenish in color, do not plant them. They are simply unripe and will not sprout.

If everything is fine with the grains, place them in a small amount of epin or zircon solution. To do this, you only need a couple of drops of solution per 1 tsp. water. The seeds should not be completely covered with it. Leave for 12 hours. Make sure the water doesn't dry out. The seeds must be kept in a moist environment, otherwise they will die.

Prepare for growing seeds suitable soil. A loose soil mixture made from fertile soil, with the addition of sand or peat, is best suited. If it is difficult to prepare the mixture yourself, buy a universal primer in the store. flower plants. The unpretentious pomegranate grows well in such soil.

Next, plant the seeds in a container with soil, shallowly, about 1-1.5 cm. Sprinkle with soil, cover with polyethylene. Such a kind of greenhouse will create favorable conditions for germination. The first shoots appear in different ways. For example, if they are planted in late winter or early spring, they usually germinate within a couple of weeks. Seeds planted at other times of the year can “sit” for up to six months.

When the first leaves appear, plant the young shoots in pots that you fill nutritious soil. Water generously as the soil dries out. Never pour water on tender sprouts. Try to water from a thin watering can under the roots. The soil in pots should always be slightly moist. If you planted grains in winter, most likely the sprouts will need additional lighting with special lamps (about various types such lamps, you will find information on our website).

The first flowering will begin approximately a year after germination. The abundance of branch coverage, the number, and size of flowers will depend on the regular, careful care of the tree, namely, on the amount of lighting received, the abundance of watering and some other things. Let's remember the basic rules of care

Caring for homemade pomegranate

Watering:

Water the tree with settled water, not cold ( room temperature). In summer, when it is hot, watering should be plentiful as the soil dries out. In winter, when the plant is resting, watering is significantly reduced.

The soil:

As we have already said, the soil should be light, loose, and with good air access. Therefore, more sand is added to the soil mixture. But for good growth, comfortable life trees at home, ready-made universal soil is quite suitable. You can buy it at any specialized store. By the way, don’t forget about drainage. Pomegranate also needs it, like all house plants without exception.

Trimming:

In order for your tree to have an attractive appearance, its crown needs to be looked after. Once a year, preferably in February, give it a haircut, shaping the shape of the crown. This is both beautiful and useful, because after pruning it begins active growth young shoots.

Feeding:

The tree loves feeding. Therefore, from spring to late summer, fertilize it every two weeks. For feeding, use ready-made liquid fertilizers, which are universal and suitable for any indoor flowers. But if you plan to eat the fruits, it is better to replace store-bought fertilizers with organic ones. Purchased universal nutritional mixtures contain a lot of nitrates, which will then certainly be present in the fruits.

Transfer:

Replant young trees annually as soon as you notice that the roots have filled the entire pot. Replant the pomegranate by choosing a larger (but not large) pot. When the plant is 3-4 years old, you can leave it in your favorite pot and not disturb it anymore.

With the onset of winter, the tree will lose its leaves, but this should not bother you. With the onset of spring, it will again be covered with young green leaves. With the onset of warm summer days, it is useful to take your pet out onto the balcony.

As you can see, it is not at all difficult to grow pomegranate from a seed. Good luck to you, dear flower growers!

This valuable plant It has long been cultivated by humans - scientists believe that at least four thousand years ago. Now pomegranate is cultivated in almost all countries of the subtropical zone and in some countries of the tropical zone of the globe.

Typically the height of the tree is 5-6 m, the crown is oval, dense, the branches are thin and curving; the leaves are glossy, oval, 3 cm long and 1 cm wide. Root system The pomegranate is superficial, well branched, spreading widely to the sides. Pomegranate is photophilous, undemanding to soil, resistant to dry soil and air, and tolerates frosts down to minus 12 degrees without serious consequences. Over 100 varieties of pomegranate are known. Some dwarf varieties

suitable for growing at home. For example:	Variety "Nana" It is a tree up to 1 m high. Pomegranate flowering begins in the 2-3rd year after planting and can be very strong. Ripe fruits are not very large in size - up to 5 cm in diameter.
This variety is distinguished by very early fruiting - already in the 3-4th month, plants grown from seeds begin to bloom, and up to a dozen fruits ripen on two-year-old specimens. In addition, unlike most other varieties, it practically does not shed leaves for the winter. Pomegranate's good tolerance to dry air in city apartments makes it an ideal indoor plant.	Variety "Uzbekistan" A low shrub up to 2 m high, cultivated in open ground and in. The fruits are large, spherical, bright red, 100-120 g. The peel is thin, underneath there are juicy grains of burgundy color, sweet and sour in taste.
Variety "Baby"	A beautiful indoor plant with a height of 30 to 50 cm. The flowers are single or collected in bunches of 5-7 pieces. The fruits are yellow-brown with a “blush”, reach a diameter of 5-7 cm, ripen in late December - early January. Requires artificial pollination.
Variety "Ruby"	Indoor plant up to 70 cm high. It differs from other varieties in its brighter ruby ​​flowers. With good care, the fruits reach a diameter of 6-8 cm and a weight of 100 g. The seeds in the fruits are colored red.

How to grow pomegranate from seeds (from personal experience)

Collect fresh seeds in February. Sow in 0.5 liter boxes with regular garden soil, add sand to it and place in a warm place - on a wide windowsill, closer to the radiator. The germination rate of pomegranate seeds is 50% and the seed germination time is extended (the author of the article sprouted 3 out of 5 seeds in 14 days).

This is how a plant develops. First, one stem with opposite leaves grows, and when it reaches a height of 15 cm, lateral branches begin to grow. Then (for the author of the article in July) the stem becomes woody, and the first flowers appear, which must be removed so as not to weaken the young plants. By October, the leaves wither and fall off, but half remain on the branches. The pomegranate's dormant time begins, which lasts until February-March. During this period, the plant should be removed from the windowsill, watering should be kept to a minimum so that the soil does not dry out completely.

At the end of February, when fresh leaves appear, transfer the plant to 1 liter pots with fertile soil and place it on a south window. Water more often - 1-2 times a week. After a month and a half, flowers begin to appear at the ends of the growing branches. Flowering lasts throughout spring and summer, the flowers are large, orange-red, bell-shaped, double with long fluffy stamens.

There are a lot of flowers, but only 2% of them bear fruit. They form continuously during the summer and mature in about 6 months. So, the first ones ripen in September, and the last ones in January. Ripe pomegranates are 4 cm in diameter and have a brown color. If they are not removed in time, they will crack, exposing the grains. Indoor pomegranates are just as tasty and healthy as store-bought ones.

Propagation by seeds

To propagate pomegranate by seeds, it is best to use fresh seeds, since over time the percentage of seed germination drops significantly. The grains are removed from the pomegranate fruit, placed in water for several days, then the pulp is peeled and sown. This should be done in the spring. Shoots appear in 10-15 days, and as soon as the seedlings have 3-4 pairs of true leaves, they are planted in separate containers. When propagated by seeds, strong seedlings grow, but the varietal qualities of the mother plant are not transferred to them.

Therefore, when the plants grow up, you can graft the desired variety of pomegranate onto them. Grafting is carried out by cuttings into the cleft and under the bark in early spring or sleeping eye (budding). Until the grafting site has completely grown together, the plant should be protected from direct sunlight.

Propagation by cuttings

Cuttings are cut from the current year's growth. In order for the branches to take root better, before planting it is better to place them in a solution of any root formation stimulator for 6 hours, and then rinse them with running water.

The cuttings are placed, buried by 2-3 cm, in coarse sand or perlite, which is poured on top of fertile soil in a layer 3-4 cm thick. The planted twig is covered with a liter jar.

Box with planting material Place on a warm windowsill, regularly water and ventilate. With this care, rooting occurs within a month. After making sure that the plant has taken root, remove the jar and add fertile soil instead of sand.

Suitable for indoor use ready-made composition soils for citrus fruits such as "Lemon". You can also prepare the soil yourself. To do this, you should take turf, humus, leaf soil and sand - in approximately equal volumetric quantities.

It is best to grow pomegranate in a spacious pot with a capacity of 3-5 liters. It is necessary to make 4-5 drainage holes with a diameter of 7-8 mm. A big mistake is choosing very bulky dishes. The fact is that pomegranate blooms profusely and bears fruit successfully when the roots become a little crowded.

However, this does not mean that the plant should spend its entire subsequent life in one pot. Every year, for young plants, it is advisable to increase the capacity of the container by 1-1.5 liters. Transplantation is carried out in early spring. Adult 4-5 year old pomegranates are replanted approximately once every 2-3 years.

In the spring-summer period, watering should be sufficient, but without drying out or waterlogging the earthen clod. Pomegranate is also responsive to fertilizers. In spring and early summer, nitrogen and phosphorus-potassium fertilizers are applied. From the end of August, watering is reduced slightly so that the shoots ripen. For irrigation, use only settled water at room temperature.

Feeding

The pomegranate tree is fed from early spring to October. Olga Ivanovna Kostrova prepares fertilizer with her own hands. Here's how she does it: she pours 1 teaspoon of droppings into 0.5 liters of boiling water and closes the jar with a lid. The next day, dilute the solution by half and water it in the evening or in cloudy weather, after moistening the soil. Depending on the age of the pomegranate and the capacity of the pot, the amount of fertilized liquid should be 10 times less than the volume of soil. The liquid that is not absorbed into the ground is drained from the pan after 2 hours. You can water the pomegranate monthly with a weak solution of potassium permanganate.

All the indoor pomegranate needs is regular watering and good lighting. It can grow in one container for years. Pruning is also important: it is necessary to trim off weak branches and shorten long ones. This should be done at the end of February - March, during growing daylight hours. The branches are shortened to fit the growing bud.

Pests and diseases

The most dangerous pest for home pomegranate is scale insect. An oil emulsion is effective against it. It is prepared like this: 1 tsp. machine oil should be poured into 1 liter hot water, add soap or powder, stir, cool to 30 degrees Celsius and spray the plant from all sides, covering the ground with plastic wrap. After 2 hours the plant should be washed warm water. If all the pests do not die immediately, the procedure should be repeated after a week.

Growing pomegranate in open ground (from personal experience)

When planting, choose the sunniest place on the site. They dig a trench from north to south, 70-80 cm wide and 30 cm deep, throw earth over the edges to form a kind of “parapet”. A hole is dug in the trench itself for planting a pomegranate seedling. Its dimensions are 40x40x40 cm. When planting, the soil from the hole is mixed with humus or compost and sand in a ratio of 2:2:1, which provides the plant with nutrition.

The trees are placed with a slope of 40-50 degrees (the tops should be directed south) and tied to pegs. If several plants are planted, a distance of about 2 m is maintained between them.

Subsequently, a bush is formed into 3-4 branches, using the resulting basal shoots. When a branch grows too high beyond the trench, it is removed. Its place is replaced by a branch grown from the root shoots. It is not advisable to leave more than 5 fruit-bearing branches that are 4 or more years old: then the development of the bush slows down and the fruits become small. Most best option for a 5-year-old bush, 3-4 fruit-bearing branches and 2-3 prepared for replacement.

Pruning is carried out in two steps. In autumn, before the shelter, branches that may interfere with the shelter are removed, i.e. do not fit into the geometry of the trench.

The second pruning is done in the spring, in April, after the plants open. Remove broken, rotten branches, as well as those that thicken the bush. The plants themselves are tied to a post, they are lifted from the ground and the branches are evenly distributed.

For the winter, the plants are covered with soil in a trench. To do this, the grenades are untied from the supports and carefully placed on the bottom, a sheet of foam plastic 5 cm thick is placed on top, then a piece of slate (to prevent damping off) and sprinkled with soil. As for Belgorod, a 15-20 cm layer of soil on top of the bush is enough for the plant to survive the winter painlessly.

In the spring, as soon as the snow has completely melted, they dig up the earthen cover and take out the foam. The slate is opened slightly to ensure ventilation and gradual hardening of the plant. The slate is completely removed only after the May holidays. At the same time, immediately water the plant generously, especially if the weather is dry.

A.S.Stulov, Belgorod

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