Q. We have a pomegranate tree which grows fruit but not to the size of those that sell in stores or larger, they are very small. This tree is growing on a slight hill and gets watered for about 20 to 30 minutes a day, plus my wife gives it an additional 2 gallons of water almost every day during the summer months. What can I do to get larger fruit and more of it?
A. Increasing the size of your pomegranatefruits is more about pruning, watering and fertilizing than anything else. Larger fruit will be produced on older wood so pruning a pomegranate to be more like a tree than a shrub will help.
During fruit formation it is very important to make sure pomegranate receives adequate water. Water shortages during fruit development will result in smaller fruit at maturity or split fruit before the fruit matures. Irrigations should not be daily but they should be applied in larger quantities but less often.
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| One fruit has already formed. The flowers arising from the same point of attachment are removed to cause the remaining fruit to get larger. |
We do some thinning of the trees when the fruits are about the size of walnuts. The only thinning done is when the fruits are arising from the same point of attachment. Then they are thinned to just one fruit. This has to be done all through the flower and fruit development period and not just thinning once but several times.
I looked at 5 other sites prior to yours. All say simmilar how ever only yours states larger fruit grows on older wood. All others say fruit only grows from new wood. Please explain. thx
ReplyDeleteI read the same thing many years ago and I was also confused until I started to work with pomegranates and prune them. Some varieties of pomegranates will produce fruit when they are younger than others. I have had pomegranate varieties produce fruit as early as the second year after planting. And as far as I can remember, I don't think I've ever had a pomegranate variety that did not produce by the fourth year it was in the ground.All pomegranates produce flowers and fruit on current season growth. This means that there must be growth in the spring before flowers are produced. And these flowers are produced only on this new growth. So technically, flowers and fruit are produced only on new growth. This new growth that produces flowers can originate from two-year-old wood or wood that is older than this depending on the variety. I have had a variety that produced fruit the second year after was planted. I have had others that produced to fruit in the third and fourth year after planting. In all cases the flowers and fruit are only produced on soft succulent growth that originates from stems that are at least two years old. I think there has been a lot of repetition by people about the term "old wood". Since the term "old wood" was never defined, it just got repeated and repeated without a good understanding of what it meant.
DeleteI have a pomegranate farm, and now size of pomegranate is 100 gm soil of farm is deep black so what can I do for increasing size and which fertilizer can I use for this
ReplyDeleteI have a pomegranate farm, and now size of pomegranate is 100 gm soil of farm is deep black so what can I do for increasing size and which fertilizer can I use for this
ReplyDeleteIf you are in the tropics or have planted on volcanic soils, the soils can be black but low in organic content. This will be important when deciding which fertilizer to use.
DeleteThe first is variety selection. Hopefully you selected a variety that is favorable to your market.
The second is winter pruning technique and producing fruit from the largest diameter wood. If this is not done correctly during the winter pruning season you will get lots of fruit but the average diameter of the fruit will be small and your income from the crop will be small. Proper winter pruning will produce fewer fruit but the average diameter will be larger and bring in a larger income.
Third is irrigation. As the fruit sets the soil must never dry out. Always keep the soil moist and schedule your irrigations according to soil moisture levels.
Lastly is fertilizer. One application of fertilizer as growth begins is enough for one season of production. If the soil is volcantic and maybe a Laterite with low organic content, apple compost at least every 2 to 3 years. Apply also a mineral fertilizer adjusted for the compost application or possibly judge how much to apply by observing last years growth. If growth was excessive, reduce the fertilizer application by half. If the growth was normal, use a full application.
I have a pomegranate bush in my yard (Phoenix, AZ) that per the previous homeowner is about 15 years old. What would you recommend doing with it to get good usable fruits? It flowered and formed fruits this year and last year but not very good ones. Currently they are greenish starting to turn red. Not sure what to do with an older plant like this.
ReplyDeleteMuch of what i say has to do whether you like pomegranates or not. Some pomegranates have a strong tanin flavor and others are sweeter and don't have as much. If you pomegranate has lots of tanins and strong flavored, then nothing you can do will change that. You need a different pomegranate variety. It is the variety you have that makes it strong tasting. If they are small and you like the flavor just want bigger fruit, you can increase the size by pruning correctly. This will be done in the winter. This means remove all the young suckers at ground level and have only up to five main, big stems coming from the ground. Remove all the small ones. Having large stems and removing the suckers will increase the number of larger fruit. You will still get some smaller ones but fewer of them.
DeleteI have pomogranate farm and there in problem in flower initiation n fruit setting. raining here is daily what can I DO.
ReplyDeleteIf it is raining there you will have other problems with your fruit (when they set) such as disease problems. Some of the varieties I have tried in the wet tropics (with stingless bees for pollination because Italian honeybees are not as efficient there) will set fruit but the fruit has disease problems. Some places are not cut out to be for pomegranate growing. The only other option I see is to cover them and use a pollinator common to your area. This might be beetles to flies if bees are not present. Not much to go on.
DeleteIf you are interested in some help, tell me where your farm is.
Deletepresent my fruit size 100grams and my soil red soil and stones please send to fertilizer for fruit size
ReplyDeleteFruit size is a function of the variety and how you are pruning. To increase size make sure they are getting enough water during fruit enlargement. Fertilizer is applied at the time you see flowers. When 1 to 6 or 7 years old use a high nitrogen fertilizer with lots of phosphorus. Fertilizers like 21-7-14 or something like that is a good choice. When they are older and fully established switch to a high phosporus fertilizer such as 14-14-14 or 16-16-16. I usually use a rich compost to improve the soil if it needs it. Where are you and what is the soil like?
DeleteI've had a pomegranate bush for more than 10 years and have always pruned it to five main branches in the winter. It bore fruit but maybe only 5 or 6 made it to October because of neighborhood squirrels. This year, I missed the pruning. It was very overgrown but I have never had as many poms as this year. I think I picked off 50. Should I still prune? I feel like not pruning to see how next year looks.
ReplyDeleteAlso, do you have any suggestions for controlling the leaf footed bug? This is the first year I have seen so many on my bush.
Its true that you will have more pomegranates when you don't prune and keep all the suckers flowering. The reason for pruning to five or fewer main stems is to increase the percentage of large fruit and not the total number of fruit. If you want lots of fruit but a high percentage in smaller sizes, then don't prune. If you want fewer fruit but larger in size then prune to five or fewer main stems.
DeleteI have left for flowering now, during this stage what fertilizers I should put, red soil
ReplyDeleteIt is helpful if I know where this is located and if you are a farmer or not. I will assume this is only a few pomegranates and a backyard producer. Right now, late fall and it is colder, there is nothing to do. The best your pomegranate will do is if the roots have some access to fertilizer when fruit is starting to develop, regular watering, and pruning. Some smaller benefit you will see from removing flowers that are very close together (if your variety does this)and occasional pest control. With that understanding, prune any time before new growth starts in the spring. Do your pruning from the base, at soil level and leave 5 or less big stems coming from the ground. Remove everything else. Clean these stems from side branches up to your knees. Also, as you see the first flowers then scatter two handfuls of rose or vegetable fertilizer in wet areas at least 12 inches from the base of the plant. I prefer to use compost instead of mineral fertilizer unless the soil is very rich and loose. If the soil is hard and light brown, apply compost instead. About one to two cubic feet of compost per plant and at least 12 inches from the main trunks.
DeleteI would add to that, spray pomegranate with dormant oil twice a couple weeks apart before new growth appears in the spring.
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ReplyDeleteI have a small pome farm , age 13/ 14 yrs , and prune every year to keep the canopy of about 5-7 stems but have never tip pruned . The tree has grown large and fruit size and yield small. This year I intend to tip prune to increase fruit size . Where should I cut the branches to make sure I don't cut off the portion where carbohydrates are stored . Secondly there are some leaves left on trees , can I prune before all the leaves have fallen or wait until then.
Soil is sandy .