The pomegranate belongs to the Derbennikovs. This is a low tree or shrub from Asia Minor, Iran. There are two types of plants - ordinary and Socotran. At home, they contain only the first variety. With proper care, the tree begins to bloom and gives delicious grainy fruits.
Description
Shrub shoots are covered with gray-brown wood. Leaf arrangement opposite, whorled. The plates are wavy, with smooth edges. The outer side of the sheet is glossy, the inside is matte. Blooms funnel-shaped scarlet buds on short peduncles. Fruits are formed only in place of flowers resembling jugs. Pomegranate blooms year-round.
For growing a house, ordinary pomegranate is suitable. In the wild grows up to 5-10 m. The diameter of the fruit reaches 8-18 cm. Breeders have bred a huge number of different forms and varieties from this species. Dwarf garnets are usually planted at home. It does not grow above one meter, has small leaves, gives fruits no more than 3 cm.
Popular varieties of pomegranate for home
| Title | Description |
| Carthage, Baby | In height no more than a meter. Similar to common pomegranate, but they are smaller. Grown for decorative purposes, the fruits are not eaten. |
| Flore Pleno | Grows in Persia, does not give a crop. It grows to three to four meters. Bright scarlet inflorescences are similar to carnations. |
| Flore Pleno Alba | Similar to Flore Pleno, but blooms snow-white flowers. |
| Double flower | In one inflorescence there are petals of various shades: reddish, pinkish, snow-white. They are monophonic or with stripes, interspersed. |
Socotran pomegranate grows in the wild, it does not contain at home. The birthplace of the bush is Socotra Island. The plant has abundant branching, small pink flowers, small fruits and rounded leaves.
Home Care
Pomegranate is unpretentious in the care, with home growing rarely there are difficulties.
Lighting
For intensive growth and year-round flowering, the shrub needs a lot of light. In the warm season, it is recommended to keep it on a loggia or street. Adult specimens grow well in the sun. Young plants need to be initially kept on the street for two to three hours, in the afternoon, rearranged at partial shade, so that ultraviolet does not cause burns to the foliage.
Pots should not be placed on the northern windowsills. During the sun, it is necessary to protect the bushes from ultraviolet rays.
With a lack of lighting, it is recommended to place the plant under phytolamps. In the dark, it will stop flowering and drop leaves. In winter, daylight hours are extended to twelve hours.
Ambient temperature
The optimum temperature is + 25 ... + 30 ° C. When these indicators increase, the tree must be moved to a cool place. The room where the plant is located should be regularly ventilated, spray the bush with cool, soft water. In the stuffiness, pomegranate loses foliage and buds, slows growth.
The shrub does not tolerate low temperatures. If the pot with the plant is outdoors, at + 15 ° C it must be brought into the room. With minus indicators on the thermometer, garnet dies.
Watering
The shrub needs moderate watering from the last month of spring to September. It is produced by drying the surface soil layer.
If a 5-6 year old tree is at winter dormancy, it is watered every four weeks. Young specimens - once every seven days. Pomegranate leaves its hibernation state in the last month of winter, before flowering it needs abundant watering.
Under natural conditions, the shrub blooms in drought and heat, excess moisture will lead to dropping buds, cracks in the fruit. But a disadvantage will lead to undesirable consequences: it will provoke the fall of the petals.
Air humidity
With dry air, you need to spray the flower and the space around. Nearby it is recommended to put a basin with cold water, and wipe the leaves daily with a wet rag, and wet clean the room.
Excessive humidity is not recommended. To reduce it, the daily ventilation of the room will help. In this case, drafts should be avoided.
The soil
A pomegranate tree needs a loose, breathable soil with medium acidity. It is possible to use a substrate for begonias and rose bushes. At the bottom of the pot you need to lay out expanded clay or chipped brick drainage.
Top dressing
From February to June, pomegranate is preparing for the growing season. During this period, he needs fertilizers containing nitrogen and phosphorus twice a month. In autumn, the tree is transferred to a potassium mixture.
Fertilizers are applied to the wet substrate. The most suitable time is the next day after watering. So that the root does not get burns, top dressing is best done in the morning or evening.
When pomegranate is grown for consumption, fertilize the bush with caution. It is better to replace mineral mixtures (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium) with organic ones (for example, manure or ash) so that nitrates do not accumulate in the fruits. In addition, an excessive amount of nitrogen supplementation can lead to a lack of flowering. If fertilizers are purchased in the store, it is recommended to give preference to fruit and berry mixtures.
Pruning
To make a room pomegranate look beautiful, bloom profusely and bear fruit, it needs pruning. The shrub is growing rapidly. Without pruning, it increases several times over the year. Moreover, the shoots create a crown randomly, so the plant loses its appearance.
The first time pruning is done at the beginning of the growing season. If the plant was sent to rest in a dark place in winter, after waking it must be cut. To improve branching, a shrub is trimmed above a bud looking outward, leaving only five internodes.
It must be borne in mind that flowers appear only on strong one-year-old shoots. Therefore, when pruning, you need to be careful not to damage them.
Pomegranate can be grown as a bush with three to five main branches. If you cut the basal shoots, you get a tree with four skeletal branches, a low stem.
In the summer during the vegetative period, pruning of unnecessary branches is also performed, there will be no harm from it. After flowering, if there is no crop on the branches, they are cut. Thin, weak shoots are also removed.
Transfer
Young bushes are not recommended for replanting for two to three years. When they get stronger and grow up, the root system will completely cover the earthen lump, transplantation is carried out by transfer to a pot 2-3 cm wider. Doing it better in March:
- Drainage and a small amount of substrate from turf, humus, leafy soil and sand in equal quantities are laid out. A bush with a lump of land is placed in the center of a new pot.
- The remaining space is filled with soil. At the same time, you need to make sure that no voids appear in the cache-pot.
Every spring, a transplant is made into a more spacious pot. When the bush reaches the age of six, it is transplanted (if necessary) in a cache-pot of identical diameter. In an adult pomegranate, you can only change the top layer of the earth.
Suitable pot
The roots of the shrub spread along the surface, so you need to choose a wide, but shallow pot. When grown at home, the plant prefers close containers. In such a cache-pot, pomegranate blooms more abundantly. For an adult bush, a 5 liter pot is enough. There must be holes in the bottom for drainage.
Pomegranate propagation
Pomegranate is propagated:
- by seeds;
- with bones;
- cuttings;
- vaccinated.
Seed propagation
When propagating by seeds, it must be borne in mind that only types of pomegranate are suitable for taking planting material. Varieties do not retain the signs of the mother bush. Seeds are collected from a flowering tree or bought in stores.
Landing is as follows:
- Seeds are soaked for 24 hours in Kornevin.
- Planting material is dried and sown in a container with loose, breathable soil.
- Seedlings are covered with polyethylene or glass, the container is placed in a greenhouse in a bright place. The seeds are ventilated daily.
- When the soil dries, it is sprayed with warm, settled water. The first shoots appear after two to three weeks.
- Shoots dive into individual pots when three leaves appear on them.
Bushes grown from seeds bloom and yield crops only after five to eight years. 
Propagation by seeds of indoor pomegranate
Seed propagation
Bones for growing are taken from large, ripened fruits. It is not difficult to select them: they are cream-colored, solid. Green and soft seeds for reproduction will not work. Landing recommended in April:
- The flesh is removed from the bones, they are washed in cool water (it is possible with potassium permanganate), and dried thoroughly. Thanks to this treatment, rotting is avoided, planting material retains germination for up to six months.
- Before planting, the seeds are soaked for half a day in a solution with two to three drops of Zircon or Epin. They do not have to be completely in the water, they need oxygen.
- Planting in a substrate to a depth of 0.5-1 centimeter in a pot with drainage.
- The container is placed in a warm place with good lighting. As the surface layer dries, the earth is moistened with warm soft water.
- When two or three leaves appear on the seedlings, they are moved into permanent pots with a circumference of up to six centimeters.
- Shoots of ten centimeters, having three pairs of leaflets, pinch to improve branching.
With this method of growing, flowering is observed only after 6-9 years. In addition, the bush turns out to be large, it may not fit into the size of the apartment.
Propagation by cuttings
This method is most suitable for indoor cultivation due to the high percentage of germination and preservation of varietal characteristics of the mother plant. When planting in summer, you need to take the ripened semi-lignified shoots 10-15 cm long, with four to five buds. In winter, the same planting material is selected, but the percentage of germination is reduced, it takes more time to root. Landing is as follows:
- Cuttings are treated with Kornevin.
- Two lower kidneys are removed from planting material.
- The processes are placed in a loose nutrient substrate at an angle of 3 cm in depth. Cover with a film or glass. Aired daily, sprayed, watered as necessary.
- Rooting occurs after two to three months. It must be borne in mind that some of the shoots die. After complete rooting, you can transplant bushes.
Flowering will begin next year. The pomegranate will bear fruit in two seasons.
Graft
Varietal cuttings are grafted onto the stock. It is taken from a healthy fruiting bush. Vaccination can be done in many ways. If the scion takes root, flowering will begin in three to four years.
Mr. summer resident explains: hibernation hibernation
Winter hibernation is necessary if it is not possible to create warm conditions and good illumination during the cold season. The dormant period lasts from late autumn to February, the flower is rearranged in a cool room, it is rarely watered and does not fertilize.
At room temperature and good light, hibernation is not necessary. You can extend the daylight hours with the help of a phytolamp. In this case, flowering and fruiting will be even in winter.
Diseases and Pests
Indoor pomegranate is prone to ailments:
| Disease / pest | Symptoms / Causes | Way to get rid |
| Powdery mildew | A white coating with dark brown plaques appears on the greenery. The pathological condition is caused by fungi. They begin synthesis due to lack of ventilation, a sharp drop in temperature conditions, and inappropriate humidity. | A solution of 5 g of soda, 1 liter of water, 5-10 g of soap will help. |
| Branch cancer | The wood on the branches is cracking, spongy swelling is observed at the edges of the lesions. The cause of the disease lies in mechanical damage, frostbite. | Affected branches are cut, the cut is disinfected, processed by garden var. |
| Leaf spotting | On greens spots of various colors are formed. This occurs with excess moisture in the soil. | The bush is transplanted into another container with new soil. If root decay is observed, the affected areas are cut off. |
| Whitefly and aphid | Insects eat leaves, the bush becomes weak. | If there are few pests, they are removed manually. With severe damage, the plant is treated with chemicals: Fitoverm, Spark, Karbofos and others. |
