How to ensure pomegranate blossom

Have you personally observed how pomegranate blooms? This is truly a grandiose spectacle, regardless of whether it is a sprawling shrub, a tall tree in the garden or a room dwarf on the windowsill. The abundance of bright large flowers cheers up and causes a well-deserved admiration.

Jugs with bells

This is not a line from a verse, not a children's reading room, but generally accepted comparisons of three-dimensional forms of pomegranate flowers with objects that are clear to us. The female bud looks "stable", has a wide base and is a fleshy tube.

Female pomegranate flower is very similar to a jug.

Its serrated edge is preserved on ripe pomegranate in the form of a miniature “crown”. Female flowers are long-pistil - the pistil is located at the level of anthers or above them (longer, simply put). They are formed on the shoots of last year. The ovary is multi-nested, formed from fused carpels (4-8 pieces). At the same time, their edges protrude inward, forming cameras or nests. In a ripe pomegranate, these chambers are separated from each other by a white film, and inside are filled with grains.

Cameras with grains formed from fused carpels

The buds of the male "bells" are conical, short-pistil - the pistil is short, below the anthers. These flowers are sterile and, surprising the world with their beauty, fall off; formed on the shoots of the current year. The balance between the number of female and male copies depends primarily on the variety. A certain role is also played by environmental conditions, agricultural technology. There is also an intermediate form of the flower, visually difficult to determine. Its shape varies from the bell and jug already familiar to us to the cylinder. The length of the pestle is also variable. But, even if it is long, it is not a fact that the fetus will be tied. In rare cases, when the granatine nevertheless has formed, it has an ugly shape.

Female and male pomegranate flowers

Are pomegranate flowers colorful

The color palette of pomegranate flowers is limited to scarlet, raspberry, white. And yet, blooming pomegranate trees are magnificent - the play of shades, the saturation of tones give the impression of luxurious multicolor. But there are also colorful specimens! And the shape of the flowers is so bizarre that at first glance it is not possible to determine their affiliation.

Photo gallery: such different flowers

When pomegranate blooms and why it depends

The pomegranate planted with a stone blooms in 3-4 years, and the cuttings in 2-3 years. With abnormally early flowering, flowers, usually 1-2, fall off. At home, pomegranate blooms in two sets: the first time in April-May, the second - in early August. And although each flower flaunts only 3-4 days, it is replaced by the next and so on ad infinitum. Until September, the bush is literally "doused" with luxurious flowers. Budding, flowering and the formation of ovaries are a continuous stream of events. The fairy-tale sight is a plant on which dense buds, luxurious bright flowers and crowned little fruits, pouring paint, are located nearby.

Baby pomegranate bush is still young, but the number of flowers is amazing

Flowering problems

If the pomegranate blooms “somehow wrong” or is generally on strike, there may be more than one reason. We will analyze standard situations.

Natural selection

Flowers fall during flowering, and quite intensively. The plant itself decides how many flowers it can withstand in order to prevent exhaustion. This is a natural process for all fruit trees. Remember the blizzards from the petals of apple trees, cherries or apricots. If your pomegranate variety bears fruit, intense blooming is inevitable. And do not forget that mostly male specimens fall off - empty flowers.

My grenade is already 4 years old. He never bloomed so abundantly. At the same time there were 3-4 flowers. This year, its branches were strewn with buds like bunches of grapes. Unfortunately, he did not extend them. Threw off about two-thirds. But even what remains is much more than usual - more than two dozen flowers at the same time.

sinichka Ekaterina

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Diseases and insects

Serious concerns are caused by the "flowering" in the first wave of flowering, this may be the result of the disease:

• powdery mildew - leaves and flowers covered with a whitish coating fall; the drug for treatment is Fundazole;
• gray rot - the defeat is fraught not only with falling flowers, but also with drying out of the shoots; for treatment using the antimycotic fungicide Topsin M;
• phomosis, in which skeletal branches die, cracks in the cortex ring the base of the shoots; the plant weakens, female flowers become sterile; eliminate the problem with the help of fungicide Horus.

The plant is also examined for insect damage. Whiteflies are quite common at home plants. They literally cling to the leaves, sucking their juice. Pomegranate fire-moth causes colossal damage to flowers, ovaries and fruits, eating away juicy flesh. Derris insecticide is used against whiteflies, the control of the moth is carried out in several stages with the help of Intra-vir, Fitoverm preparations according to the instructions.

Insufficient watering

During flowering, experienced mates practice underfishing. This exerts the lightest stress on the plant and stimulates it to actively carry out the life program. If you do not understand the essence of the matter, you can dry the plant so that not only the flowers fall en masse. The leaves will lose turgor (elasticity) and the plant will wither. Actively using the practice of underfilling is not recommended, because such an experience comes with time. It is only necessary to slightly reduce the usual portion of water and carefully monitor the reaction of the plant.

Return frosts

The topic is relevant for pomegranates grown in open field. Spring frosts are destructive both for the tree as a whole and for flower buds. If pomegranate survives after such a force majeure, then the flowering will either be postponed until the next season, or it will be late and not magnificent.

Low light

A tree that has permanent residence in the garden, or has moved to the open air from the room, needs sunlight for 8 hours a day. In the shade, pomegranates will not die, but will refuse to bloom.

Untimely crown formation

It is customary to form a pomegranate crown in late February - early March, and this procedure is more cosmetic in nature:

• remove the branches growing inside the crown, dry and weak;
• last year's shoots are shortened by 1/3 or 1/4, this stimulates lateral branching and speeds up flowering.

If you break the rule and start shredding the green crown, it will be irreparably damaged. A huge number of flowers are formed on the tops of the shoots, which (shoots) will be cut in pursuit of a beautiful habitus (appearance). And how much energy the shoot-restoration process will take from the plant! During the vegetative period, only the shoots formed in the lower part of the trunk are cut. A cardinal rejuvenation is carried out every 5 years: they cut the old trunk, replacing it with a strong young, give the crown the desired shape - spherical or oblong.

Pomegranate crown form any shape

Low humidity

Dry air in the apartment negatively affects flowering. To humidify the air:

• spray the leaves several times a day with standing water 3-4 ° C warmer than air; it is desirable that it does not fall on the flowers - when dry, the drops leave untidy stains;
• pick up a grenade of neighbors with large leaves (the larger the surface of the sheet, the more moisture it evaporates - ordinary physics);
• the pot with pomegranate is put in a pan filled with wet expanded clay, the bottom of the pot should be on the expanded clay, not in contact with water.

Drastic measures

If the pomegranate does not bloom under any circumstances, a graft taken from a fruiting specimen is grafted onto it.

How to improve flowering

Abundant flowering is provided by some agricultural techniques, not relying on miraculous drugs with a narrow focus.

Fertilizers

How can one not recall the top dressing that gives strength to the pomegranate bush and promotes flowering. They are carried out from March to August, every 10-15 days.

As fertilizers use:

• mullein solution in a ratio of 1:15;
• 1 g of nitrogen + 1.2 g of superphosphate + 0.5 g of potash fertilizers per 1 liter of water.

Priming

Of no small importance for indoor pomegranates is the soil mixture. To obtain a light and nutritious mixture take turf and leafy soil, humus. Old lime plaster, sand and bone meal are used as useful additives. The usual expanded clay drainage can replace dry cow manure. For transplanted plants, the composition of the substrate is slightly changed: clay-turf + compost + leaf soil (3: 2: 1) with the addition of sand and bone meal (respectively 50 and 25 g per 10 kg of substrate).

Transfer

For pomegranates, annual transplantation of bushes under the age of 3 years is practiced. Then the plant is transshipped as it is braided by the roots of an earthen coma. The new pot, of course, should be slightly larger in diameter (2-3 cm) than the previous one. But pomegranate blooms best in "cramped circumstances." Therefore, a spacious pot should be relatively spacious so that the plant blooms rather than fat.

Bud removal

Paradoxical as it sounds, it is precisely the first buds in the life of a pomegranate that they pinch off, preventing them from blooming. This technique helps young grenade gain strength and there will be immeasurably more flowers in the next season.

Relaxation

The pomegranate needs a good rest, on which, by the way, flowering in the next season depends. Pomegranate rests in a bright and cool place with a temperature of +16 ° C to +10 ° C. Watering is minimized up to 1 time in 10 days for pomegranates 4-5 years old and 1 time per month for older ones.

Outdoor grenades

In the former CIS, only Georgia, Abkhazia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan can boast pomegranate groves. The climate of these regions suits the heat-loving tree as well as possible. In resort towns along the roadsides and in landscape gardening compositions, decorative terry varieties (sterile) are used. Decorative flowers, as a rule, are large - 50-55 cm long with a diameter of up to 83 cm (!).

Pomegranate begins to grow in March, and a grandiose flowering time begins in May and lasts until the end of August. In order for the tree to bloom well in open ground, special attention is paid to watering. The soil should not be flooded or dried. In this case, it is difficult to deny the benefits of drip irrigation:

• the frequency of supply and the amount of water are regulated by a timer;
• constant air humidity is provided.

The mulching layer in the root circle protects the roots from drying out and overheating. During the growing season, a tree at the age of 10 years is fed with nitrogen. Young trees are seasoned with nitrogen fertilizers in March, May, July. Pruning is carried out in November with the aim of better lighting and ventilation.

Pomegranate in the open ground can be grown in our zone (Belgorod region - bus) according to the principle of cover grapes, but the main limitation is not frost, but spring weak frosts. It is very IMPORTANT to open the grenade "on" or somewhere "after" the May holidays (after the end of the dry winds) and immediately flood it with water, especially if the weather is dry. And carefully monitor the weather in May, if the temperature drops at night, you need to cover it with slate on top.

Shebekino Vladimir

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Growing pomegranates contrary to the rules in the "uncomfortable" climatic zone for him, you will most likely prove to yourself that there is no impossible. But will plants like this freethinking? Although pomegranate can survive a short-term drop in temperature to -20 ° C, it must be sheltered for the winter or a greenhouse is built. The use of hardy early ripe varieties (early Nikitsky, Nyutinsky, Chernomorsky) will give more chances to enjoy flowering and even get pomegranates.

For normal development and fruiting, a high sum of active temperatures is necessary, but heat in the middle zone of Russia is not enough for him. And with a winter shelter it is possible to grow it, but all the same it is necessary to think about how to extend the growing season, and for this it is necessary to fence a greenhouse. For about 10 years now, several seedlings of garden pomegranates have been growing in open ground with shelter for the winter, but not one of them has bloomed, although they winter quite normally. And not one of them died.

VVB Bushnev Vladimir

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Video: pomegranate winter shelter

A number of factors are important for the flowering of pomegranate in the open ground and at home: variety, agricultural technology, and protection from diseases. In regions with unpredictable winters, pomegranate bushes need shelter.