How to manage pomegranates before harvest? Pomegranate tree growing tips
Pomegranates are about to ripen now. How should they be managed before harvest? Can any readers share? For pomegranate management before harvest, you can refer to the following methods (for reference): Thinning branches and pinching tips of pomegranate trees: remove water sprouts, upright branches, densely growing branches and slender branches inside the canopy. Keep the interior of the canopy...
Pomegranates are about to ripen now. How should they be managed before harvest? Can any readers shareFor pomegranate management before harvest, you can refer to the following methods (for reference):
Thinning branches and pinching tips of pomegranate trees:
Remove water sprouts, upright branches, densely growing branches and slender branches inside the canopy to keep the interior of the canopy ventilated and well lit. For vigorous shoots that have not yet stopped growing but need to be kept for tree shaping, pinch the tips lightly to reduce nutrient consumption, make the branches grow plump and strong, and ensure they overwinter safely.
Promoting pomegranate coloring:
From late August to early September, remove the bags from bagged fruit in good time. The best time to remove the bags is 20 to 25 days before mature harvest, as removing them then is most beneficial for fruit coloring and increasing sugar content.
Bag removal should be done on a cloudy day or after 4 p.m. on a sunny day. If double-layer bags are used, remove the outer bag first, then remove the inner bag after an interval of 3 to 5 days. Pay attention to the weather when removing bags, and beware of fruit skin scorching caused by high temperatures and strong sunlight, which reduces fruit value.
After removing the bags, promptly spray fruit coloring agent to promote fruit coloring. Leaf removal and fruit turning are supplementary measures to promote pomegranate coloring. When removing leaves, combine it with bag removal, take off the leaves that block direct sunlight on the fruit surface, and thin out the small branches that shade the fruit. Turning the fruit exposes the shaded side to light and ensures even coloring of the whole fruit. For fruit in some positions, the fruit stalk is short and thick and cannot be turned, so the position of the bearing mother branch can be rotated by pulling, propping or hanging to expose the back of the fruit to light for coloring. Laying reflective film is also an important measure to promote pomegranate coloring.
From early September until harvest, lay silver reflective film under the pomegranate trees or within the tree rows. This can significantly increase light intensity in the inner canopy and the middle and lower parts, and increase the colored area and quality of the fruit.
Preventing pomegranate fruit cracking:
10 to 15 days before harvest, strictly control watering, especially in dry mountain and hilly orchards and in plains orchards with irregular irrigation. After a long drought followed by rain, harvest in good time. Spraying 25 mg/L gibberellin in late August and early September can reduce fruit cracking by more than 30%.
Building pomegranate tree vigor and promoting flower bud differentiation:
Pomegranate trees with a heavy fruit load, or with insufficient soil fertilizer supply and severe pest and disease damage, are very prone to premature aging. Mid-to-late September is the second peak of flower bud differentiation for pomegranate trees that year, and flower bud differentiation at this stage directly affects the next year's yield.
Therefore, it is important to take measures to promote healthy and vigorous tree growth. Apply quick-acting fertilizer in good time, with attention to combining nitrogen and phosphorus and applying potassium appropriately. Apply 0.25 kg each of urea and superphosphate per tree, and spray 0.2% to 0.35% organic potassium fertilizer or multi-element microfertilizer on the leaves.
Controlling fertilizer and water for pomegranate trees:
Maintain normal tree growth. In fertilizer and water management, follow the principle of "promote early, control late": ensure the tree's normal growth needs for various nutrients, while preventing excessive late-season growth.
Therefore, in the early stage, mainly use nitrogen fertilizer together with phosphorus and potassium fertilizers, and irrigate at the right time and in the right amount; in the later stage, mainly use phosphorus and potassium fertilizers and appropriately reduce the number of irrigations. For excessively vigorous pomegranate trees, spray 40% ethephon 2000 to 3000 times dilution after harvest to regulate tree growth.
Pomegranate pest and disease control:
The main targets for control at this stage are pests such as peach fruit borer, peach fruit moth, stem window moth, slug moth, Chinese golden-banded moth and golden hairy caterpillar, as well as diseases such as dry rot, fruit rot and brown spot.
Control methods: cut off pest-infested shoot tips, pick up and gather pest-infested fruit, bury them deeply or burn them in a centralized way, and kill larvae pupating on the trunks; spray 40% mancozeb 500 times dilution, or 40% thiophanate-methyl 800 times dilution, or 40% carbendazim suspension concentrate 500 times dilution plus 50% trichlorfon crystal 1000 times dilution to control diseases and pests. In the later stage, the use of toxic pesticides should be minimized.
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