How to prune a pomegranate tree? Master the pruning methods and precautions

Pomegranate is one of the fruits we often eat in everyday life. Its sweet-and-sour taste and beautiful color attract many people's attention, and of course what is most sought after is its powerful effects and benefits. Pomegranates are delicious, but during the growing period there are many things to pay attention to, such as giving them proper thinning and pruning.

How to prune a pomegranate tree

1. For potted pomegranates, remove excess branches and untidy branches. For young seedlings, pruning is mainly tip pinching, usually carried out when they reach a height of more than 10 cm.

2. In spring, cut off the dead branches, diseased branches, weak branches, etc. from the overwintering period, and keep healthy branches and a good crown shape, which helps promote more new branches, more flowers, and more fruit. When seedlings reach 10 cm tall, begin pinching the tips several times to encourage branching and achieve a full crown.

3. For dense areas of new side branches, they can be cut off from the base, and at the same time this encourages full, plump side buds to form early in the leaf axils as a nutrient reserve. Dense short thorn-like branches can also be cut off.

4. When pruning, pay attention to keeping outer branches and not inner ones, and keeping straight branches and not horizontal ones. The cut should face outward.

5. The focus of pomegranate tree pruning should be water sprouts and root suckers, because water sprouts do not easily differentiate flower buds and interfere with the tree shape; while root suckers sprout from the underground root crown and grow faster than the crown branches, but mostly only consume nutrients, so both types of branches should be pruned off.

Precautions for pruning pomegranate trees

1. In spring, pomegranate trees should have the dead branches, diseased branches, weak branches, water sprouts, etc. from the overwintering period cut off, while keeping healthy branches and a good crown shape, which helps promote more new branches, more flowers, and more fruit. When seedlings reach 10 cm tall, begin pinching the tips several times to encourage branching and achieve a full crown.

2. When pruning pomegranate trees, pay attention to keeping outer branches and not inner ones, and keeping straight branches and not horizontal ones. The cut should face outward.

3. The focus of pomegranate tree pruning should be water sprouts and root suckers, because water sprouts sprout from latent buds in the cortex of the trunk or large side main branches, have strong vigor, and grow upright or diagonally upward, but do not easily differentiate flower buds and interfere with the tree shape. Root suckers sprout from the underground root crown and grow faster than the crown branches, but mostly only consume nutrients.

Cultivation techniques for pomegranate

1. Planting: Pomegranates can be planted from after leaf fall in autumn to before bud break the following spring. For ground planting, choose a sunny, wind-sheltered, slightly elevated spot, and the soil should be loose, fertile, and well-drained. For potted planting, use a growing medium mixed with leaf mold, garden soil, and river sand, and add an appropriate amount of decomposed organic fertilizer. When planting, keep the soil ball around the roots, appropriately shorten and prune the aboveground part, water thoroughly after planting, and keep it in a shaded place for care. After it sprouts and survives, move it to a ventilated place with sufficient sunlight.

2. Light: Light and temperature are important conditions affecting flower bud formation. During the growing period, full sun is required, and the more sufficient the light, the more numerous and vivid the flowers. A wind-sheltered, sunny, dry environment is favorable for flower bud formation and blooming. The suitable growing temperature is 15-20°C, and in winter the temperature should not be lower than -18°C, otherwise it will suffer frost damage.

3. Water and fertilizer: Ground-planted pomegranates must be given a heavy application of organic fertilizer once a year, and potted plants need repotting and fertilizing every 1 to 2 years. During the growing season, topdressing should also be done 3 to 5 times, and attention should be paid to loosening the soil and weeding, often keeping the potting soil moist, and strictly preventing drought and waterlogging.

4. Harvesting: For pomegranate seedlings propagated by cuttings or division, planting begins to bear fruit after 3-4 years, while seedlings propagated by seed need more than 10 years to bloom and bear fruit. Pomegranates bloom 3 times each year, so there are 3 fruit settings, and generally the first or second crop of fruit develops well. Timely harvesting should be done in stages according to variety characteristics, fruit maturity, and climatic conditions.

Pomegranate pest and disease control

1. For anthracnose, spray with 70% thiophanate-methyl 800-1000 times dilution, or Sportak 1000 times dilution, once every 7 days, for 3 consecutive sprays.

2. For branch blight, spray with a sulfur-multiplex suspension concentrate 600 times dilution, or copper oxychloride suspension concentrate + chlorothalonil 1000 times dilution, for 2-3 consecutive sprays, with 10-11 days between sprays.

3. For algal leaf spot, spray with copper oxychloride suspension concentrate 600 times dilution.

4. For scale insects, cut off severely affected branches and twigs and burn them, and spray the whole orchard with Jieshate 2000 times dilution 2-3 times, or spray with Jieshate 2000 times dilution + imidacloprid 1500 times dilution.

5. For aphids, spraying imidacloprid 2000 times dilution 2-3 times during the new shoot growth period can effectively control aphid damage.

Many things are hard-won, and this delicious pomegranate is no exception. The above has introduced in detail the pruning methods and some precautions for pomegranates during the growing period, and we hope it is helpful to everyone. In addition, its pest and disease control should not be ignored either.