Why Do Pomegranates Need Bagging? A Detailed Guide to Bagging Timing and Technical Points
In the crisp autumn air, it is once again the good season for eating pomegranates. During the cultivation of pomegranates, we can see that the pomegranates are all wrapped in bags, so why do pomegranates need bagging? When should they be bagged? What are the bagging techniques for pomegranates?
1. Benefits of bagging pomegranates
Bagging pomegranates is one of the tasks that growers often have to do when cultivating pomegranates. It not only ensures a clean fruit surface, but also effectively solves the problem of pests and diseases in pomegranates, improving fruit yield, quality and the rate of premium fruit.
Growing pomegranates is a long process, during which different pests and diseases will attack, so bagging pomegranates is a very important step. If pomegranates are not bagged, the skin will develop pitting, water stains, black mold, insect damage and so on, which not only affects the beauty of the fruit surface but also affects its economic value. Logically speaking, unbagged pomegranates photosynthesize better and have higher nutritional value, but would you be willing to buy unattractive pomegranates? Therefore, Huili pomegranates are generally bagged, and every year fruit growers have to spend a great deal of time and energy on bagging. After bagging, generally mosquitoes and insects cannot get in, damage to the fruit skin is relatively small, and the skin color is very good. Only a few days before sale is the bag removed to let sunlight hit the fruit, so the skin colors quickly, becoming red, bright and glossy, which is conducive to selling the pomegranates.
2. When to bag pomegranates
When using paper bags, the bagging time should be early rather than late. Generally, bagging is done after the fruit has completed the color-change period, roughly after mid-June. After bagging, thanks to the protection of the bag, pomegranates are spared from insect damage and the rate of insect-damaged fruit declines. Generally, do not bag when the morning dew has not dried, when it is raining, or when the spray liquid has not dried after pesticide application; weather that is clear and sunny is preferable. Because film bags are not breathable, the temperature inside the bag is high, and bagging too early easily causes sunscald, leaving disease spots and affecting fruit growth. However, bagging too late is also not acceptable, as it affects the bagging effect and fails to achieve the purpose of pest and disease control. Experiments have shown that film bags are best applied from early to mid-August.
3. Pomegranate bagging techniques
1 Types and characteristics of bags
There are mainly two types of bags for pomegranate fruit: paper bags and plastic film bags. Paper bags have good breathability and can be applied as soon as the fruit has set. After bagging, there is no need to spray insecticides on the tree, and the fruit matures early, has good color, excellent quality and stores relatively well. The drawbacks are that they tear easily, cost more, and the fruit must be harvested promptly after ripening, otherwise the fruit surface ages easily, affecting appearance quality and marketability. Plastic film bags have the advantages of low price, easy operation, a long harvest period (about 30 days), a fruit surface that does not age, reduced fruit cracking and a large yield increase. The drawbacks are poor breathability and, if used too early, an adverse effect on fruit development, so they can only be used starting in early to mid-August. Because there is no protection early on, pest and disease control in the earlier stage should follow bare-fruit management; because breathability is poor, fruit coloring is less good, affecting the appearance color. In addition, because the ripening period is delayed and harvest is late, the period for nutrient accumulation and tree vigor recovery before overwintering is shortened, lowering the level of nutrient accumulation and increasing the risk of cold damage to the tree in winter.
2. Management before bagging
(1) Fruit thinning and fruit setting
Pomegranate flowers are bisexual flowers. From spring to summer, as the bearing branches continue to sprout, they keep opening, and the flowering period lasts as long as 2 to 3 months. Fruit growth differs greatly among different flowering periods, so degenerated flowers that have not developed maturely must be thinned in time. Second, diseased and insect-damaged fruit, malformed fruit and damaged fruit should be thinned. At the same time, according to the standard of keeping strong ones and not weak ones, and keeping single fruit and not doubles, densely set fruit such as double fruit and clustered fruit should be thinned in time. Taking a high-yield orchard with a 3×4 plant and row spacing as an example, keep more than 100 fruits per plant.
(2) Applying sufficient base fertilizer
Before bagging, during the flowering period and the young fruit swelling period, topdressing should be applied in time. According to the size of the tree, apply 125 to 150 g of special fertilizer for fruit trees per plant to increase the fruit-setting rate.
(3) Killing insects and resisting disease
Before bagging, a comprehensive spray of insecticide and antibacterial agent should be applied throughout the orchard, because the period around fruit set is the key time for controlling pomegranate pests and diseases. For the control of aphids, stink bugs and other insect pests, water-emulsifiable cypermethrin EC or imidacloprid wettable powder can be used. For fungicides, lime sulfur mixture or a 50% carbendazim wettable powder 500-fold solution can be sprayed evenly. Do not use highly toxic, high-residue pesticides, nor the method of mixing pesticides with cotton or mud and plugging the fruit opening; only in this way can pesticide residues be reduced and fruit quality improved.
3. Bagging methods
(1) When bagging with paper bags, open the mouth of the paper bag, insert the left hand into the bag to prop it open, and use the right hand to gently press the fruit bag so that the bag puffs out round. Put the fruit into the bag from bottom to top, placing it in the center of the bag, taking care to keep the fruit from touching the bag as much as possible, then pinch the paper bag from both sides toward the middle into folds and fasten it tightly with the thin wire on the side of the bag. If the fruit stalk is pressed close to the bearing branch, the bearing branch should be bagged together with the fruit, and the bearing branch or the fruit bag must not be twisted and damaged.
(2) When bagging with film bags, open the bag mouth, put the fruit in, place it in the center of the bag, and leave 1/2 of the entire film bag length at the bottom. The direction of force should always be upward so as not to pull the fruit off. When sealing the bag mouth, hold one end of the film bag with each hand, wrap it once around the branch in opposite directions, and tie it tightly so that it is not blown off by the wind.
4. Management after fruit bagging and harvest
4.1 Bagging management
(1) Strengthen fertilizer and water management. After bagging, applying phosphorus and potassium fertilizer helps the fruit swell and improves quality. Generally, apply 25 to 50 kg of organic fertilizer per plant. Trench application is the better fertilization method, but do not place it too close to the tree, so as not to damage too many roots. After bagging comes the rapid growth period of the fruit; irrigate in time to promote an increase in fruit size and raise pomegranate yield.
(2) Timely summer pruning. Promptly prune away new shoots sprouting below 50 cm from the ground on the trunk, to benefit the growth of the trunk and fruit.
(3) Strengthen pest and disease control. According to field pest conditions, when larvae and eggs of peach fruit borer, fruit borer and the like appear, promptly spray a 30% Taoxiaoling EC 2000-fold solution, or a 20% mie-sao-li EC 3000-fold solution, or a 20% ju-ma EC 3000-fold solution for control, which can achieve relatively good results.
4.2 Bag removal and harvest
The fruit development period of pomegranates is generally about 120 days. About 110 days after petal fall, when the fruit enters the ripening stage, first tear open the seal at the bottom of the paper bag, and once coloring is complete and the seeds are plump and fully ripe, the bag can be removed for harvest. For fruit bagged with film bags, observe the fruit surface until it is fully colored, then pick the fruit together with the film bag.