Room pomegranate care. What kind of care does a room pomegranate need at home

Even at home today you can grow pomegranates, the dwarf form of which I really like. tree in room conditions develops well, caring for him is not difficult, although it has its own characteristics. If you follow all the recommendations, you will be able to grow a lush beautiful plant which will decorate your home.

In nature, pomegranate grows up to 10 m in height, at home its height varies between 30-100 cm, so it is easy to grow it in ordinary apartment or country house.

Among the plant varieties, the most popular are:

• "Carthage dwarf" up to a meter high;
• miniature kind of "baby", it grows up to 30-50 cm in height.

The shoots of the tree are strewn with oval glossy foliage. During the flowering period, which lasts from April-May to August, bright red pomegranate flowers up to 4 cm in length and 2-3 cm in diameter delight the eye. They have the shape of a bell or a jug, they are distinguished by self-pollination.

In autumn, small, round fruits up to 5 cm in diameter are formed, the shade of which can be either light orange or maroon. Fruits with a tough, thin skin are sour in taste, contain many small scarlet grains with stones.

Landing preparation

Indoor pomegranate is grown by planting the seeds of a house plant. Before you sow them, you need to prepare the soil.

For their planting, you need a neutral, fertile, loose soil. Suitable purchased composition for roses or begonias.

You can make the mixture yourself, using for this in equal proportions:

1. sand;
2. humus;
3. turf and leaf land.

At the bottom of a wide, shallow pot, drainage is laid, which is used as pebbles or expanded clay.

Landing

To grow a dwarf pomegranate, they take hard, cream-colored seeds. They are washed, kept in a weak solution of potassium permanganate for 12 hours, dried. You can store and use the bones for 6 months.

Planting is carried out in the spring, then the bones will quickly sprout. If you do it at another time, the process will be delayed.

The seeds are sown in the soil prepared in advance, deepening by 1 cm, covered with a film and waiting for seedlings. They appear within 2 weeks under the following conditions:

• good lighting;
• air temperature in the room 25-27 degrees;
• moist soil.

After the appearance of the first leaves, the seedlings are picked into separate pots. When the tree reaches 10-15 cm in height, pinch the shoots so that they bush better.

reproduction

At home, pomegranate is propagated by cuttings and grafting.

Reproduction by cuttings

This is the best method, because the cuttings take root and take root without problems, while retaining the properties of the mother bush.

To propagate a pomegranate, you need to cut off young shoots from it, which begin to become stiff, with 4-5 live buds. You can carry out this procedure:

• spring;
• in summer.

In this case, the cuttings take root faster.

Cut shoots are soaked using a rhizome growth stimulator. The lower part of the cuttings is cleaned of buds, stuck into the prepared soil. Landing is carried out at an angle, deepening the shoots by 3-4 cm.

When the rooting process is completed, new shoots appear. When this moment comes, each seedling is planted in a separate container.

Reproduction by grafting

It is an efficient, albeit laborious, process. For stock use any young indoor pomegranate. You will also need cuttings from a varietal, healthy, fruit-bearing tree.

Any method of grafting can be used, for example:

1. in a side cut;
2. in a split

Features of care

After planting or propagating a pomegranate tree at home, it needs to provide quality care.

A place

A pot of dwarf pomegranate is placed on the windowsill. If there is a lot of light, suitable:

1. southern;
2. eastern;
3. western side.

On cloudy days, the dwarf pomegranate is illuminated with a phytolamp.

Lighting

pomegranate loves bright lighting, without which it begins to shed its leaves.

In summer, you can take the plant to the balcony, in a private house - to the street. The first days he needs adaptation, keep a little under the direct rays of the sun, gradually increasing the duration.

Temperature

For the growing season, which lasts from spring to autumn, the plant requires an air temperature of 24-26 degrees. For the rest period, it is reduced to 12 degrees. Rest lasts 1-2 months, its duration affects subsequent flowering and fruiting.

If it is not possible to lower the temperature in the room, then a number of conditions must be met:

• reduce the number of waterings;
• place the grenade in a dark place;
• remove leaves from the tree.

Watering

The pomegranate tree needs a lot of water. It is watered as the soil dries.

It is necessary to ensure that there is no excess moisture, otherwise the plant will get sick. During the wintering period, the soil should not be allowed to dry out.

Humidity

To maintain the desired level of humidity, you need to carry out spraying. They are performed:

1. once a day during a hot period;
2. in warm weather - 2 times a week.

These procedures improve the appearance of the plant. For the dormant period, spraying is stopped.

top dressing

Decorative pomegranate definitely needs top dressing. It is carried out twice a month during the warm period. In doing so, they use:

• in spring - nitrogenous compounds;
• during the flowering period - mixtures with a phosphorus content;
• in the fall - potassium-containing fertilizers.

Once a month, you will also need a comprehensive mineral composition. In autumn, top dressing is performed less often, completely stopping it from December until the onset of spring.

pruning

To form a beautiful bush, its good development is pruned pomegranate tree. Forming is carried out in 4-6 main shoots. Thin stems are cut so that each leaves 5-6 buds for foliage, and a cut is made above the topmost of them.

In summer, only young shoots are pruned. This stimulates more lush flowering.

Do not get carried away with the process, so as not to lose a lot of crown. This will weaken the tree.

Transfer

Transplantation of young plants that have not yet reached the maximum possible height is performed every year. At the same time, each time the size of the pot increases, taking into account the volume of the rhizome.

Mature trees are transplanted every 3 years by transshipment. This will minimize the impact on the root system.

Room grenade does not need special care, and in terms of decorativeness and beauty it will surpass many plants, becoming an adornment of the home garden.

Indoor or dwarf pomegranate is the most unpretentious exotic plant that amateur flower growers grow at home because of its beautiful long flowering, and some still like to enjoy its exotic fruits, so healthy and tasty.

Pomegranate or, in other words, Pomegranate (Punica) belongs to the Loosefly family (Lythraceae). Their genus includes only two species of low deciduous trees and shrubs. The Russian name, due to its granular structure of the fruit, the pomegranate received from Latin word granatus (granular). And the generic name punica comes from the name of the area where the thickets of these pomegranates were first discovered (punicus is translated from Latin as Punic or Carthaginian, now it is the region of modern Tunisia).

According to legend, the pomegranate came to us from Carthage under the name of the Punic apple. Zeus's wife, Hera, often held a pomegranate in her hands, considering it a pledge of their happy marriage. In Greece, the pomegranate was a symbol of fertility. In ancient Persia, the pomegranate personified passionate love. At all times and everywhere, people appreciated the decorative qualities and beneficial properties of this exotic fruit.

Varieties of pomegranate suitable for growing at home

The most suitable for growing indoors is a variety of common pomegranate - dwarf pomegranate (Punica nana). This flower, both potted and seeded, is sold in flower shops under common name"Dwarf pomegranate" (Punica granatum "NANA"). On sale you can find seeds of indoor pomegranates of two varieties: "Carthage" and "Baby".

variety Carthage

Indoor pomegranate varieties "Carthage dwarf" grows at home in the form of a tree up to 80 cm tall. The leaves are quite small, no more than 2 cm in length. If the flower is grown from seeds, then flowering and, moreover, fruiting, will come no earlier than in 6-8 years. Seed germination of this variety of indoor pomegranate is very low. It blooms from May to August with red flowers, up to 4 cm in diameter. The fruits are small, no more than 5 - 6 cm in diameter, slightly sour, but juicy and tasty.

Indoor pomegranate varieties "Baby" are usually grown from seeds in the form of a shrub. A low bush, from 30 to 50 cm, has 5 - 7 skeletal branches. Elongated leaves grow on twigs in groups evenly, throughout the pomegranate bush. This variety of pomegranate blooms in the third - fourth year of life.

Baby variety

Its flowers are large, up to 7 cm long, bright red. They are single or collected in 5-7 pieces per bundle. In the first year of a plant's life, all its flowers are empty flowers. The following year, miniature yellowish-brown fruits with a red blush, 5-7 cm in size, may be tied. Fruit ripening ends in mid-winter. Pomegranates of this species require artificial pollination. If more than 5 fruits are tied on a pomegranate, the extra pomegranates should be removed.

But the indoor pomegranate does not always bear fruit, it happens that it does not bloom at all for many years. In this case, we recommend grafting a branch from a fruiting specimen onto it.

The height of different varieties of pomegranates is somewhat different, but they are all small in size, no more than one meter. With regular restraining pruning and proper care, any plant can be reduced to 30 cm in height without losing its decorative effect and abundant fruiting. The leaves of the dwarf pomegranate are small, oval, glossy, up to 3 cm long. In spring, young leaves have a bronze color, in summer they turn green, and in autumn they turn yellow. The fruits, the so-called pomegranates, also do not exceed 3-7 cm in diameter. They are colored orange-yellow and darker shades, up to reddish and brown. Pomegranate is a spherical multi-seeded berry, divided inside into 6-12 chambers. Its pericarp is leathery, thick, usually red-brown in color. The seeds are placed in red-burgundy capsules filled with pomegranate juice. Useful properties of dwarf pomegranate fruits are the same as those of ordinary pomegranate, but the taste is much worse.

Indoor pomegranates at home are cultivated more often in the form of a shrub with 5 - 7 strong stems, less often - in the form of a tree. They are grown for the long flowering of numerous bright colors, and try to remove the fruits almost completely. The pomegranates remaining on the plant (usually 2-3 pieces) ripen at room conditions in November-January. If you leave all the ovaries, fruiting can greatly deplete the strength of the plant, and on next year flowering will be less spectacular. When the plant grows up and gets stronger, after 3-4 years, you can leave all the ovaries on it in order to enjoy the exceptional spectacle of a profusely flowering and, at the same time, fruiting dwarf pomegranate at home.

The dwarf pomegranate was even awarded a diploma from the Royal Horticultural Society of Great Britain for its decorative effect and other exceptional characteristics.

home care

Room pomegranate pretty unpretentious plant care is simple and hassle free. We will acquaint you with the conditions of his content in the home.

Lighting

Fitolamp lighting

Good lighting is one of the main conditions for an excellent type of indoor pomegranate, its development and constant flowering. In summer, it can be taken out to the balcony or planted in the garden. An adult plant feels good outdoors in direct sunlight. But young seedlings should be accustomed to the street gradually, leaving no more than two to three hours a day in the sun, and at noon it is necessary to bring pots with plants into shaded places. This will avoid sunburn its young leaves. When placing pomegranate pots in a room, choose windowsills other than those facing north. At noon, it is necessary to protect plants from direct sunlight, especially young specimens, with blinds or curtains.

With a lack of lighting, as it happens in early spring or in case of prolonged cloudy weather in summer, we recommend using additional illumination with phyto lamps or fluorescent lamps.

IN winter period there is even less natural light, and indoor pomegranate can partially shed its leaves. But if you pick up powerful enough phyto lamps and organize a light day for a flower no shorter than 12 hours, then it will delight you with its flowering and fruiting even at this time.

Ambient temperature

Pomegranate is a thermophilic plant. In the wild, it grows at fairly high temperatures. But indoor specimens are quite satisfied with a moderate temperature in the range of 25 - 30 ° C. during the growing season. If the temperature in the room rises higher, then you should take the flower pot to a cooler place. In summer it is a balcony or a veranda in the garden. Spraying with cool water will help in the spring. In a hot and stuffy room, indoor pomegranate will begin to lose foliage and buds, and will slow down its growth. Ventilate the room, do not let the air stagnate.

The dwarf pomegranate also does not like low temperatures. At sub-zero temperatures he dies. When the ambient temperature on the veranda or balcony is below 15 ° C, the flower pot should be brought into the room.

Watering

Water the flower should be moderate, and after it dries well upper layer soil in a pot. Water for irrigation use settled, soft, room temperature. If you sent a pomegranate to rest in the winter, water it at this time no more than once a month. But this remark is suitable for an adult plant (for 5-6 years). A young pomegranate will need to be watered once a week. You will begin to water the indoor pomegranate more often and more abundantly from February, when you return the flower to its former light warm place on the windowsill. The soil will need to be completely saturated with moisture in order to activate all the vital processes of the flower. Abundant watering of the flower is needed before flowering. But during the flowering of pomegranate, from May to September, watering the plant should be reduced.

In the wild, it blooms during the hottest and driest period of the year, and excessive moisture can provoke the pomegranate, and it will drop all the buds. But, you should not forget about watering the pomegranate for a long time - prolonged drought will stress the root system, which can also lead to the complete loss of all buds and the loss of decorativeness of the flower.

That is, water the indoor pomegranate regularly and when the topsoil is completely dry - and everything will be fine.

If fruits ripen on a pomegranate tree, it should be watered with caution in the fall, as abundant watering can lead to cracking of the fruit.

Air humidity

Humidity should be moderate. If the humidity is too low, we recommend spraying the flower and the surrounding air with cool water. Will increase the humidity by installing next to a wide-capacity pot with cool water and wet cleaning premises. Wipe the leaves from dust with a damp clean cloth.

High humidity in the room is also useless; frequent ventilation will help reduce it. But drafts are not allowed.

The soil

Everyone knows that the pomegranate in the wild grows on poor soils in arid regions of the Earth. But, to grow a beautiful decorative indoor specimen, you will have to choose a more nutritious soil mixture. It should be loose, moisture and breathable, with a neutral pH = 7. Suitable purchased soil for roses and begonias. At the bottom of the pot there should be a good drainage layer of expanded clay or large river pebbles.

top dressing

Dwarf pomegranate is grateful for regular feeding. From February to summer, he needs nitrogen-phosphorus fertilizers. At this time, the buds are being laid, the pomegranate is preparing for abundant flowering. Top dressing is carried out once every two weeks, not more often. Closer to autumn, fertilizing with nitrogen fertilizers is replaced with potassium fertilizers.

It must be remembered that fertilizers can only be applied to moist soil, for example, the next day after the next watering. Preferably in the morning or evening hours root system didn't get burned. In cloudy weather, you can feed the plant during the day.

If indoor pomegranate is grown for the sake of fruits, then it should be fertilized with extreme caution. It is better to feed it not with mineral fertilizers, but with organic matter, so that excess nitrates do not accumulate in the fruits. If you already feed it with purchased fertilizers, choose fertilizers for fruit and berry crops and follow the recommendations on the package. In addition, if the pomegranate is overfed with nitrogen supplements, it will not bloom and there will be no fruit.

pruning

Pruning indoor dwarf pomegranate has a beneficial effect on its decorative appearance, ability to bloom and bear fruit. A pomegranate bush or tree grows very quickly. During the season, it, without pruning, will more than double in volume. At the same time, its numerous thin crooked shoots will form the crown in a chaotic way. To make the pomegranate look not only neat and compact, but also healthy, it should be well cut.

The pruning procedure is carried out several times a year. The first time - at the beginning of the growing season. After hibernation, if your pomegranate rested in a dark, cool place, you move it to a bright, warm place and cut off all the dry branches, as well as some of the small and unnecessary shoots. To encourage branching, trim the young shoot above the outward-facing bud, leaving no more than 5 internodes on it. Strongly cut the plant is not worth it, it can weaken. Leave no more than 6 skeletal branches that are stronger.

It is important to know that buds form only on well-developed annual shoots. Try not to break them when cutting!

You can grow a pomegranate in the form of a bush with 3 - 5 skeletal branches. But, if you cut off the entire root shoot, you get a pomegranate tree, with a low stem and four to five skeletal branches. Over time, four to five branches of the second order are laid on each skeletal branch, and after that branches of the third order are formed on them. Excess shoots are cut out, like old branches, on which there will no longer be a crop. Pomegranate sets fruit only on the shoots of the current year.

In the summer, during the active growing season of indoor pomegranates, it is also possible to prune extra branches - stretched out or growing inside the crown. Don't worry - pomegranate tolerates such pruning well.

After flowering, if there are no fruits on the branches, the pomegranate is cut again, for the third time. Remove thin weak branches, thin out the inner space of the crown.

Transplantation of indoor pomegranate. Suitable pot

Young specimens of dwarf pomegranates, it is advisable not to transplant the first two to three years into other containers. When the pomegranates grow and get stronger, and their root system fills the entire space of the pot - transplant your flower into a new pot, a little bigger size. Moreover, it must be borne in mind that the roots of a pomegranate grow more in breadth than in depth. Therefore, the pot requires a wide, but not very deep. Pomegranate at room conditions likes to grow in a cramped pot. Transplantation is carried out by transshipment.

It is best to do this in early spring. In a new pot, 2-3 cm wider than the old one, lay a drainage layer of expanded clay or clean pebbles, some fresh soil (buy ready-made soil with a neutral pH 7 in the store, for example, soil for growing roses or begonias). Remove your flower from the old pot along with a clod of root earth. Pomegranate roots grow superficially, excess, depleted earth will remain in the old pot, it must be thrown out. Place the pomegranate in the middle of the new pot. Fill the free space with soil, while gently shaking the flower container to fill all the voids inside it. For the next three years, every spring, transplant your pomegranate into a new container with a slightly larger diameter. At the age of 6 years, indoor dwarf pomegranates are considered adult plants. Now they are rarely transplanted, if necessary, and in pots of the same size. Or they don’t transplant at all, but only replace the top layer of the substrate in the old pot with a new one. Usually, a 5 liter pot is enough for an adult plant. Too large a pot for a pomegranate is not good - it will bloom more abundantly if the root system is in flower pot it will be tight.

reproduction

Indoor pomegranates propagate with the help of seeds, seeds and layering.

Propagation with seeds

Only species forms of pomegranate are suitable for propagation by seeds, because the seeds of varieties do not retain the characteristic properties of the mother plant. This method is mainly used to develop new selections. Seeds can be collected from a flowering pomegranate at home or bought in special stores. Before planting, they are soaked for a day in a solution of some kind of growth stimulant (for example, in Kornevin). Then they are dried and sown in containers with suitable loose soil under the lid. Put the greenhouse in a bright warm place. They make sure that the soil in the container does not dry out, spray it in time with warm, settled water using a spray bottle. Ventilate. Wait 2 - 3 weeks for germination. Seedlings dive into separate cups when the first three true leaves appear. It should be remembered that pomegranates grown from seeds will begin to bloom and bear fruit only after 5 to 8 years.

Reproduction with bones

Seed planting

If you want to grow a pomegranate from the seeds of your home-ripened fruit, there is no problem. To do this, take the seeds from the largest, well-ripened fruits. Such bones are creamy in color, they are firm to the touch. Greenish and soft seeds are not suitable for sprouting! Carefully prepare the bones for planting. Remove all the pulp from them, rinse them well in cool water, possibly with potassium permanganate, then dry them properly. This will prevent the seeds from rotting during storage and germination. Dry pomegranate seeds remain viable for up to six months.

In the spring, better in April, plant the seeds in a loose nutrient soil to a depth of 0.5 - 1 cm. in a pot with drainage under the film. Can be soaked before planting planting material in a small amount of water with the addition of 2-3 drops of Zircon or Epin to it for 12 hours. This stimulates the germination process. The solution should not completely cover the bones, in addition to moisture, they need oxygen.

Choose a well-lit, warm place for the pot. The seed germination temperature is 25-27°C. Keep track of soil moisture. As the top layer dries, the planting should be moistened with warm, settled water using a spray bottle so as not to accidentally wash out the soil. Seedlings appear quickly enough in spring, and seeds planted at other times of the year can sit in a pot for several months.

Plant the strongest specimens in the phase of two or three true leaves in separate small pots, up to 6 cm in diameter. Shoots, 10 cm long and forming three pairs of leaves, are pinched for better tillering of the flower. Place pots of young pomegranates on the warmest, lightest window sill. They need daily sunbathing and at least two hours a day. Still protect from the midday sun with blinds. Ventilate the room - grenades love fresh air.

If pomegranate sprouts appeared in winter, they will have to be illuminated with a phyto lamp.

You need to know that a pomegranate grown from the seed of an ordinary large fruit bought on the market will bloom only after 7 to 8 years. And the plant turns out to be large - it is unlikely that it will fit into the dimensions of your house. In room culture, it makes sense to grow only compact decorative dwarf-sized pomegranates.

Reproduction by cuttings

Indoor pomegranate cuttings

We recommend this particular method of pomegranate propagation due to the high survival rate of cuttings and their complete preservation of the genetic characteristics of the mother plant. If you are going to root cuttings from your pomegranate in the summer, choose for this well-ripened semi-lignified shoots about 10 - 15 cm long, so that they have at least 4 - 5 buds. In winter, usually in February, lignified pomegranate shoots of the same length are used for rooting. But their rooting takes much longer and with greater losses. In any case, treat the prepared cuttings with root growth stimulants (Kornevin, for example), remove a pair of lower buds from them and then place them in a container with nutritious loose soil at an angle, to a depth of 3 cm, cover it with a film or jar. Daily airing, spraying, if necessary, watering is necessary. The rooting process is rather slow, and some cuttings may die. Therefore, we recommend that you cut them immediately with a margin, 4-5 pieces. Rooted cuttings after two to three months can be transplanted into pots prepared for constant growth. The next year, a young seedling will delight you with its flowering, and fruiting will be in a couple of years.

Indoor pomegranate can still be propagated by vaccination. A varietal cutting is grafted onto a pomegranate rootstock grown from seed. It is taken from a healthy adult plant that consistently bears fruit. Get vaccinated different ways, depending on the thickness of the rootstock and cuttings, there are a great many of them.

The simplest for beginner flower growers are vaccinations by simple copulation, behind the bark, in a split, in the butt and in a side cut. You should choose your own type of vaccination and try to implement it. You can use the services of a specialist. If the varietal cutting takes root, the pomegranate will bloom in three to four years.

Winter hibernation indoor pomegranate

Do you need indoor pomegranate hibernation?

If you are unable to provide your pet with constant good lighting, it makes sense to talk about the winter rest period of the pomegranate. Usually, it happens from November to February. At this time, it is necessary to place the flower in a cool room, water less, do not feed, wait for spring. Lowering the temperature in a city apartment is problematic. You can put a flower pot close to the window glass, separating it with polyethylene from the rest of the room. Or you can take out the pomegranate for this time in a heated basement.

But, we argue that in winter, at normal room temperature, good lighting until 12 noon per day (with the help of a powerful phyto lamp), pomegranate will feel cheerful and comfortable. Formation of numerous flower buds will not stop at this time.

Indoor pomegranate diseases

If your pomegranate grows in unfavorable conditions for it - high humidity, mustiness of the room, low temperature, he might get sick. More often than other diseases, powdery mildew is found on the pomegranate.

With frequent abundant watering, the leaves of the pomegranate may turn yellow. Perhaps the roots of the plant could not stand excess moisture started to rot. Take the flower out of the pot, remove the rotten parts of the root system, wash the healthy roots in potassium permanganate, dry them, sprinkle the cuts activated carbon, and plant the pomegranate in a new nutritious loose soil. The pot should contain a good drainage layer. Water sparingly. In order for the root system to take root and cope with the loads, trim the crown of your diseased plant by one third.

If the pomegranate began to fall leaves, the reasons may be different. If it happens at the end growing season, then that's fine. The pomegranate is preparing for winter dormancy. If the leaves fall during the active cycle of the plant, you may not be watering your flower enough or feeding it poorly. Analyze your plant care actions - perhaps the room is too hot, even stuffy - the pomegranate loves fresh air, frequent spraying, nutritious soil, a cramped pot with a good drainage layer.

Pests of indoor pomegranates

Indoor or dwarf pomegranate is a very interesting exotic plant. If you follow the simple rules of cultivation and care at home, the pomegranate will delight you all year round with its bright green glossy leaves, large purple flowers and miniature fabulous fruits. Caring for a pomegranate will not take you much time and effort, but you will get full pleasure. Try experimenting with its appearance. You can give the pomegranate any shape - he is very grateful for pruning and pinching his shoots. You can even master the art of bonsai using the example of a pomegranate. But it has been noticed that it is better to grow a spectacular decorative dwarf pomegranate, constantly blooming and hung with fruits, for caring and good-natured people who are interested in taking care of their pet, enjoying every flower and tiny fruit.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that almost every apartment or house in our country is decorated with indoor flowers. Most often, their range is not particularly diverse, but there are exceptions. How do you like indoor pomegranate, for example?

Basic information

Pomegranate (Punica) feels quite comfortable at home. However, in this case, it is not nutritional properties its fruits, and the ornamental qualities of the plant's flowers. Important! In room conditions, it is still better to grow a dwarf variety of pomegranate (Punicanana). However, many scientists and gardeners believe that the pomegranate houseplant is just a separate form of the parent plant. Judging by the appearance and features of the vegetation process, it is so.

Brief historical background

Oddly enough, but indoor pomegranate has been known as a houseplant for a long time. This circumstance is mainly due to the amazing unpretentiousness of this plant. In the subtropics and tropics, it is widely grown in open ground, and in our conditions, ordinary pots on windowsills or even indoor greenhouses are preferable. By the way, for the excellent decorative qualities of pomegranate flowers, it has long been awarded an Honorary Diploma of the Royal Horticultural Society of Great Britain.

Ancient legends say that once this fruit was known under the name "Punic apple". In legends, the pomegranate was a symbol of fidelity in marriage, in Greece it was used as a symbol of fertility, and the Persians honored it as the personification of passionate and passionate love. However, all this is trifles, since the beneficial properties of pomegranate have been known since ancient times.

In general, so useful plant worthy of becoming a decoration of any home or garden. Moreover, it (as we have already said) is distinguished by its rare unpretentiousness, it can grow on brackish and arid soils.

Description of the pomegranate

It should be noted that the original indoor pomegranate was described as early as 1803. Its height in the maximum case does not exceed 120 centimeters, and in the form potted plant it only grows up to 0.9 meters. The leaves are light green, oval in shape, no more than three centimeters in diameter. They differ in short cuttings that have a slightly reddish tint. In spring, the leaves take on a beautiful bronze color, in summer they are light green, and by autumn they turn yellowish.

Note that the most decorative are special, cultivated varieties of indoor pomegranate. From May to September, these plants are strewn with beautiful purple flowers in abundance. They are located in a single order, formed already in the first year of cultivation. Tellingly, their size exceeds that of the leaves - about four centimeters. Please note: only flowers with long pistils can bear fruit. The percentage of those is very low, since the houseplant pomegranate is purely decorative.

Each flower lives for a maximum of three days, but new buds are tied and bloom every day. Gardeners testify that there are no more than three or four ovaries per hundred flowers. The room pomegranate has a special uniqueness for the reason that both buds and already ripening fruits can be on the plant at the same time.

Separately about the fruits

The fruits themselves, by the way, can be painted in the most different colors: from orange to brown-red. Alas, they are far from the taste of the "ordinary" pomegranate, and in diameter they are a maximum of six to seven centimeters. You can taste them from November. The fruiting season ends around January.

Since pomegranates are most often grown at home for their flowers, the fruits are usually removed. This is due to the fact that abundant flowering already greatly depletes the plant, so to save decorative properties pomegranate is better to remove the ovaries that have appeared. However, one or two fruits can still be left on one tree.

And it’s worth doing this not so much for culinary purposes, but to get your own seeds. We note, however, that the varietal qualities of plants can by no means always be indulged in this method of reproduction. And only once every three or four years you can make yourself a gift, leaving all the fruits on the tree. The beauty of a pomegranate that blooms and bears fruit at the same time is simply indescribable.

What varieties are best to use?

On sale, you will probably find only dwarf pomegranate (Punicagranatum). Occasionally, a room grenade "Baby" or "Carthage" comes across on store shelves. The last two varieties are artificially bred, designed specifically for indoor cultivation. Their height rarely exceeds 30 centimeters, while the usual dwarf variety often grows up to one meter.

Lighting Requirements

Despite its general unpretentiousness, the houseplant pomegranate is demanding on the lighting conditions in the house. That is why you can choose any windows in the house for its placement, with the exception of those that face north side. However, on hot and sunny days, it is still necessary to cover the tender leaves of the plant from direct sunlight.

Note that the ideal place for a pomegranate in summer is a loggia, attic or veranda. Important! The plant should be accustomed to "sunbathing" gradually, since with an excessively sharp course of the process, the formation of sunburn on the leaves is not excluded. As soon as the duration of daylight begins to decline, and the nights become colder, this southerner should be immediately brought into the house.

Temperature Range

As you might guess, the pomegranate needs warmth, and for the entire period of flowering and fruiting. In general, its normal development is possible at a temperature of about 20 degrees Celsius. Important! If the temperature in the room exceeds 25 degrees, it must be taken out to a cooler and more ventilated room, otherwise the shoots may begin to dry out. In the case when this is not possible, regularly spray the leaves with water at room temperature (settled, of course).

But! For normal fruit ripening, a pomegranate needs a temperature of approximately 16-18 degrees Celsius. From November to March, the plant has a dormant period, during which it is required to maintain temperature regime at 10-12 degrees. By the way, these indoor plants can easily withstand frosts down to minus six degrees Celsius.

Requirements for the composition and other characteristics of the soil

Although we said that in nature pomegranate is extremely unpretentious to soils, at home, to create the most ornamental plant, characteristics soil mixtures should be maintained at the right level. Please note that they must be neutral (pH 7). We would recommend the following features:

Half sod land, ¼ good leaf humus, 12% peat, and 13% sand.
. Half sand, ¼ parts loam and peat (watch the pH!).
. Two parts of clay-soddy soil, one volumetric part of leafy soil, one share of sand and humus each.
. Especially for young plants: humus, sod, sand and leafy soil are taken in equal proportions.

About watering and humidity

As you probably understand yourself, competent watering of any plant is a guarantee not only of its decorative appearance but also survival. In our case, there are following rules glaze:

At rest (we talked about it above), the number of waterings is reduced as much as possible: no more than once every one and a half to two months!
. When houseplants come out of hibernation, you can gradually increase the frequency. Gradually move to frequent watering well soaking the top layer of soil in a pot. Moisturize it as it dries.
. Please note that during flowering, moisture intake should be limited, since under natural conditions this time coincides with a dry and hot period. But be careful! With a lack of moisture and nutrients you may well be left with nothing, as the plant will simply drop all the buds and ovaries.
. As we have already said, in hot weather and in stuffy rooms, it is necessary to spray pomegranate leaves with settled water.
. As soon as flowering ends, the plant must again be watered abundantly, otherwise abundant flowering in the next year will be in question.
. If you need to grow fruits, then the issue of soil moisture should be approached as carefully and carefully as possible. If you overdo it with water, then the fruits may well crack and even rot.

We feed

Any indoor flowers need feeding. Pomegranate is no exception. "Feed" it should be at least twice a month. In the spring, any nitrogen fertilizers can be widely used. When the pomegranate blooms, phosphorus top dressing is mandatory, and in the autumn - potassium. However, once (per month) the use of complex fertilizer is quite acceptable. Important! Top dressing should be done only in cloudy weather.

Fertilizers must be applied exclusively to moist soil, but all excess water from flower tray at the same time, it is mandatory to merge. In the autumn period, the frequency of top dressing is gradually reduced, preparing the pomegranate for the dormant period. Most often, it occurs in December-January, when the last flowers have faded and all the fruits on the plant have fully ripened.

rest period

You can easily find out about its onset, since at this moment the plant begins to shed its leaves. As we said, during this period, the ambient temperature should be maintained within ten degrees Celsius. Important! As for young pomegranates that have not yet reached the age of three, a dormant period is not necessary for them, but the temperature at this time should still be lowered to about 16 degrees Celsius (as when the fruit ripens).

Of course, in a city apartment it is far from always possible to create optimal conditions for “hibernation”. A simple measure will help to sufficiently reduce the temperature: move the pot of pomegranate close to the glass, and then isolate it from the rest of the room with ordinary plastic wrap. It will be enough to keep for three to four weeks. However, the most optimal results can be achieved by pulling the plant into the basement for this time.

Trimming procedure

Around February, the pomegranate is taken out of the cold room and, while the buds have not yet blossomed, they are pruned. The plant tolerates just such a pruning procedure best. Most of all small young branches should be removed. To stimulate branching, it is necessary to cut the branches outside the bud at an acute angle, leaving no more than five internodes on the shoot. Important! When forming a room pomegranate (the photo of which is in the article), never forget to leave within the six skeletal branches that form the basis of the whole plant.

If you get carried away with pruning, you can significantly weaken the tree. By the way, it is precisely for the formation of the tree form of the pomegranate (including bonsai) that all the young shoots in the pot must be mercilessly removed. When forming branches and pruning, you need to be extremely careful, as the shoots are fragile. Excess shoots formed during the current growing season can be harvested in the summer. In this case, it is desirable to seal the wound garden pitch.

How is the transplant done?

Up to three years, it is necessary to transplant pomegranates annually. After reaching three years, the frequency of the procedure is reduced to once every two to three years. It is best to do this in the spring. The transplant itself is simple, as it is done by conventional transshipment. To do this, take the soil with the mandatory addition of sand. Of course, the presence of drainage in the pot is extremely important.

Despite the developed fibrous system, the grenade does not need an exceptionally wide pot. An increase in capacity should be carried out at the rate of two to three centimeters per transplant, no more. By the way, the flowering of the plant is the more abundant, the closer the roots in the pot (but do not overdo it!). Here's how to care for a potted pomegranate.

Reproduction of pomegranate seeds

We immediately warn you that successful cultivation it is extremely important to buy plants from seeds in specialized stores or from trusted suppliers. However, all flower growers who grow indoor flowers will tell you about this. A pomegranate grown from normal seed material will allow you to enjoy flowering in the first year, and you will be able to taste your own pomegranates in about two to three years.

However, no one forbids trying to grow a tree using seeds from an already ripe fruit. Note that they remain viable for up to six months. You need to choose seeds only from the largest and well-ripened pomegranates. After that, they are cleaned of pulp and dried properly in a warm and dry room. They can be sown in April, to a depth of approximately 0.5 cm. Attention - the pomegranate, the fruit of which appeared on the tree for the first time, is absolutely unsuitable for use for seed purposes, since its seeds may be too weak and will not sprout.

The substrate for this is made from equal parts of sand and peat, after which it is moistened to an average extent. Germination occurs at a temperature of about 25-27 degrees Celsius, the development of seedlings begins quickly. As soon as two or three true leaves appear, the strongest and healthiest-looking seedlings are distributed into pots with a diameter of approximately six centimeters. In order for plants to grow and develop faster, during this period they need heat and moisture. For better bushiness, they need to be pinched. Here's how to get indoor pomegranate from seeds.

Important! If you buy a pomegranate in the market or in a store, deciding to use its seeds for sowing, then keep in mind that you can expect flowering from it in seven years at best. In addition, the size of such a plant will be too large (two or three meters) for an average city apartment. Recall that indoor pomegranate, the cultivation of which does not cause particular difficulties, rarely grows at least up to a meter.

Propagation by cuttings

Cuttings should be taken from mature and well-bearing plants. In summer, you need to take those of them that are half stiff, and in winter (in February), respectively, stiff. You need to cut the branches into pieces with five to six buds. The soil for planting is made from equal parts of sand and peat, landing is carried out at an angle, to a depth of approximately three centimeters. Here's how cuttings are propagated indoor pomegranate.

Cuttings should be covered with a cut plastic bottle or jar, watered frequently to maintain high air and soil humidity, as this is necessary for rooting. It is highly desirable to treat the cuttings before planting with some kind of humic fertilizer, since this measure dramatically increases the likelihood of successful rooting. After about two or three months, young plants can already be seated in separate pots. The buds may appear as early as the first year, but they should be cut off for the first two seasons, as the plant is not yet fully grown to fully bloom.

In a word, pomegranate is a plant that every lover of flora must have!

The healing properties of pomegranate fruits have been known to people since ancient times. For centuries, its grains and juice have been used as a tonic that improves blood quality. And in our time, doctors recommend using ruby ​​grains of the fetus to increase hemoglobin, as well as to give strength to people weakened after a serious illness.

This plant is known to grow and thrive in subtropical climates. Nevertheless, many gardeners manage to grow it in central Russia. And some plant lovers have learned to grow it at home from grains. Properly planted, a small ornamental plant will grow that blooms with pretty orange flowers resembling bluebells. Well, in the fruiting season, small fruits grow on its branches.

The plant will decorate any home, and besides, decorative fruits, although small, but also quite edible. So now we will talk about how pomegranate grows, growing from seeds and caring for it at home, we will discuss it.

Growing a pomegranate from a seed

Now is the time to start planting seeds, as it is recommended to do this in November. It is best to use indoor pomegranate seeds for breeding, already adapted to home conditions. But if there are none, take the seeds from an ordinary fruit bought on the market. Only the pomegranate should be ripe, undamaged, rather large.

Before planting, put the seeds in a saucer of water. Stay there for a couple of days. Then fill the plastic container with soft, light soil (peat with sand), pour water over it, and then plant seeds there to a depth of 1.5 cm. Then cover the container with polyethylene film or cover with glass. The main thing is to get a mini-greenhouse. Put your greenhouse in a place where it is very warm. The best temperature for germination is from 25 to 30 degrees.

Seeds usually germinate in 2-4 weeks. But sometimes they sit in the ground for a very long time - up to six months. But they sprout anyway, so just wait, periodically moistening the soil. When the seedlings grow a little, they will give 2-3 leaves, they can be transplanted into pots. To do this, select the largest, strongest sprouts, plant them in separate, preferably ceramic pots. The diameter of the pots is approximately 8 cm.

For pots, when growing pomegranates at home, universal soil for indoor plants is perfect. Water transplanted young pomegranates periodically when the soil begins to dry out. If the room is very hot, water them more often, more abundantly.

Approximately 10 months later. after germination of pomegranate seeds, young plants will bloom. You need to understand that it is unlikely that you will grow a tall plant with large fruits. But with good, systematic care, at home, it is quite possible to grow a very beautiful exotic fruit-bearing bush, up to half a meter high.

home care

We have already discussed many important points that pomegranate needs, home care for this plant is also equally important to get a crop. And it's not even about watering and feeding, as it seems at first glance. The temperature regime during which the tree should not be in the usual room environment is also very important ...

Lighting, watering

Place your homemade pomegranate to the brightest place in the room so that it is well illuminated by the sun's rays. But the constant hit of direct rays on the leaves will be harmful to him, so make sure that the plant receives them moderately, preferably in a scattered form. When the warm summer season comes, be sure to take your pet outside, to the garden, or take it to the cottage. If there are none, put a pot of pomegranate on a balcony or loggia. Even just an open window will suit him perfectly. The main thing is that it receives fresh air and sunlight. Do not forget to water it regularly, and spray the leaves.

A haircut

To keep your plant beautiful, give it regular haircuts. It is necessary to form the crown of a homemade pomegranate annually, from the end of February. Then in the spring the active growth of the bush will begin. Moreover, you can make the shape of the crown as you like. Be sure to cut off weak shoots, dried twigs, cut off the remaining leaves.

top dressing

Be sure to feed your pet. From the beginning of spring to the end of summer, feed him every 2 weeks. To do this, use a ready-made universal liquid fertilizer intended for indoor plants. But if you are going to eat the fruits of your homemade pomegranate, it is better not to use chemical dressings. After all, all nitrates from fertilizers will be deposited in the fruits. Keep this in mind.

Transfer

young house plant a transplant is needed. It should be done annually, as the root system grows. Take a slightly larger pot, fill it with fresh soil. Do this for the first 4 years. Then the pomegranate bush can not be touched. It will do just fine in the same pot. Only add fresh soil annually.

Wintering

With the onset of cold weather, pomegranate, like all other deciduous plants, will begin to shed foliage. At this time, it becomes not very attractive, so some flower growers are afraid of this. But this is a completely normal, natural process. With the onset of leaf fall, you need to send the plant for wintering in a cold room. It is ideal to take it out to an uninsulated loggia.

During wintering, you do not need to water your pet often. Give him peace until spring. Add water little by little when the soil is completely dry, about once every 10 days. This applies to young plants. If the grenade is already more than 4 years old, water it once a month. Good luck, dear flower growers!

Planting and caring for a pomegranate (in a nutshell)

• Bloom: three years after planting.
• Lighting: bright ambient light.
• Temperature: during the period of active growth - 18-25 ˚C, during the rest period - 12-15 ˚C.
• Watering: during the growing season - often and plentifully, but during flowering, watering is reduced. In winter, watering is infrequent.
• Air humidity: in the heat, evening spraying of leaves with warm water is recommended.
• top dressing: from spring to autumn twice a month with mineral complexes for indoor plants with a low nitrogen content. In winter, the plant is not fed.
• rest period: from late autumn to February. A plant in need of rest begins to shed its leaves.
• Transfer: young plants are transplanted annually, and those that have reached the age of three, only when the roots fill the earthen ball.
• pruning: in February, to stimulate branching and shape the crown.
• reproduction: cuttings, grafting and seeds.
• Pests: affected by mealybugs, spider mites, scale insects, aphids, codling moths and whiteflies.
• Diseases: branch cancer, root rot.

Read more about growing pomegranate below.

Home pomegranate - description

The pomegranate plant is a deciduous long-liver from the subtropics up to 5-6 m high in nature and rarely more than two meters in room conditions. The branches of the pomegranate are prickly and thin. Oval and glossy light green pomegranate leaves reach a length of 3 cm. Pomegranate flowering begins at the very end of spring and lasts all summer. Red-orange pomegranate flowers are of two types: the bisexual and pitcher-shaped pomegranate flower sets the fruit, and the numerous bell-shaped flowers are barren. The spherical fruit of the pomegranate is large berry with a leathery pericarp and can reach a diameter of 18 cm. The pomegranate peel can be yellow-orange, red-brown, or any shade in between. In a berry, divided into 6-12 chambers or nests arranged in two tiers, pomegranate seeds are enclosed in an amount of up to 1200 or more pieces. Each seed is surrounded by a juicy cover. Pomegranate usually begins to bear fruit at the age of three. Full fruiting lasts from 7 to 40 years.

The indoor pomegranate is as popular today as the indoor lemon. a coffee tree, orange, mango, date palm and other exotics that cannot be grown in gardens due to the inconsistency of our climate with the usual tropical and subtropical fruit trees conditions. But growing homemade pomegranate is an occupation for enthusiastic people, and you must understand that your efforts may not bring the expected result. Pomegranate from the stone at home is a very real goal, but it can be realized only if the optimal conditions for the plant and timely and proper care are observed.

Indoor pomegranate from the stone

How to grow pomegranate at home.

How to grow a pomegranate from a seed? As seed, you can use fresh seeds of a ripe, healthy and beautiful pomegranate. You should be aware that pomegranates sold in stores and markets are hybrids, so the fruits of homemade pomegranate grown from their seeds will not save palatability parent variety, although the decorativeness of the plant can be beyond praise. It is best if you get a ripe and tasty pomegranate fruit. Bones are removed from the fruit and cleaned of pulp. Seeds should be creamy in color and feel firm to the touch - soft and greenish seeds are unsuitable for growing. Soak the seeds for 12 hours in water with the addition of two to three drops of Zircon or Epin to stimulate the germination process. The solution should not completely cover the seeds - they, in addition to moisture, need oxygen.

How to plant a pomegranate.

Pomegranate cultivation is carried out in a loose substrate consisting of fertile soil, peat and sand. For this purpose, you can purchase a universal soil for flower plants in the store - pomegranate is unpretentious to the composition of the soil. Prepared and dried pomegranate seeds are buried in the substrate by 1-1.5 cm, lightly watered, cover the container with polyethylene or glass and placed in a place well-lit by the sun. If the pomegranate is planted at the end of winter or the beginning of spring, then in a couple of weeks shoots can be expected, and seeds planted at other times of the year can sit in the ground for several months.

How to care for a pomegranate seedling.

Growing a pomegranate at home requires creating optimal comfort for it. The conditions for growing pomegranate include maintaining the temperature in the room within 25 ºC, regular ventilation and spraying the substrate with warm water.

When the first true leaves form at the seedlings, plant the seedlings, shortening the root by a third, in small separate pots with nutrient soil and with a drainage layer under it. Place the pomegranate on the lightest window sill - it needs to be in direct sunlight for at least 2 hours a day. For sprouts that have sprouted in winter, you will have to arrange additional lighting.

After the seedlings have formed three pairs of leaves, pinch them to stimulate the growth of the pomegranate with two crowns. When three pairs of leaves form on each shoot, pinch them too so that the pomegranate grows into a lush tree.

Keep the temperature in the room in which the young pomegranate grows within 20 ºC, arranging regular ventilation for it. In summer, it is better to take home pomegranate to a balcony or terrace, as the plant loves fresh air and sunlight very much. Ten months after germination, you can see pomegranate blossoms.

In autumn, the tree will shed its leaves and go dormant. You can, of course, make it grow in winter, but the tree quickly gets tired and exhausted from this - everyone needs rest, and pomegranate is no exception. Transfer the indoor pomegranate to a room with a temperature of 10-12 ºC, stop feeding, reduce watering to the required minimum and let the plant rest for a month or two. After a dormant period, leaves will appear on the pomegranate again, and it will become more beautiful than before.

Caring for a pomegranate in a pot

Watering pomegranate.

Water pomegranate seedlings under the root so that water does not fall on the leaves - for this it is better to use a watering can with a narrow spout. The substrate in the pot should be barely damp at all times. During pomegranate flowering, watering is reduced, but it is impossible to allow the soil to dry out in a pot. Water for irrigation should be non-cold - 1-2 degrees warmer than the air in the room, and settled for at least a day.

Reducing watering can be compensated by spraying the leaves of the plant with non-cold boiled water.

During the dormant period, watering the plants is reduced significantly.

Pomegranate fertilizer.

In the seedling period, to stimulate the development of seedlings, you can dilute half a teaspoon wood ash in half a liter of water and water the plant with this nutrient solution. From spring to autumn, the pomegranate tree is fertilized every two weeks with universal liquid fertilizers for indoor plants. If you grow pomegranates for the sake of its fruits, which are going to be eaten, then it is better to feed not with mineral fertilizers that contain too much nitrates, but with organic fertilizers - slurry or a solution of chicken manure. But keep in mind: if the pomegranate is overfed with nitrogen, it will not bloom, which means it will not produce fruit either.

Pomegranate transplant.

Pomegranate at room conditions should grow in a cramped pot - the more spacious the container in which it grows, the more it forms barren bell-shaped flowers. The first time the pomegranate is transplanted after a year. In the future, transplantation is carried out no earlier than the pomegranate root fills the entire pot. Each subsequent container should be 2-3 cm larger than the previous one in diameter. When the grenade is 4 years old, it is no longer transplanted, but the top layer of the substrate in the pot is replaced annually.

Pomegranate cut.

A pomegranate is formed in the form of a bush with 3-4 skeletal branches or trees with a low trunk and 4-5 skeletal branches. In the future, on each skeletal branch, 4-5 branches of the second order are laid, on which branches of the third order can subsequently be formed. Excess and fatty shoots are cut out, as well as root shoots. With age, old branches that will no longer produce a crop are cut out. Pomegranate bears fruit on the shoots of the current year.

Pests and diseases of pomegranate

Home pomegranate, like any indoor plant, can be affected by pests - mealybugs, spider mites, scale insects, aphids, codling moths and whiteflies. Diseases of domestic pomegranates are root cancer, phomopsis, or branch cancer, gray rot and leaf spot. Aphids are destroyed with a two-day infusion of 40 g of tobacco in 1 liter of hot water, which, after infusion, is diluted with water 1: 2 and 4 g of grated tobacco are added to it. laundry soap. Whiteflies, spider mites and scale insects die after pomegranate is treated with garlic or onion infusion: 20 g of husk is poured with a liter of water, insisted for 5 days and filtered. You can get rid of the codling moth only by collecting the fallen fruits affected by the pest and removing the diseased pomegranates from the tree that have not yet fallen. Chemical agents can also be used to control pests: from mealybugs get rid of the triple treatment of the pomegranate with an interval of 5-6 days with Confidor, Mospilan or Aktara, spider mites - with Aktellik or Fitoverm acaricides.

Root cancer, like branch cancer, is manifested by cracking of the bark and the formation of wounds with spongy swellings, drying of shoots, branches, and in case of severe damage, the entire tree. At the first signs of the disease, it is necessary to clean the wounds to healthy tissue, treat them with a solution of copper sulfate and cover them with garden pitch. If there are many such areas, cut down the tree to a stump - perhaps this way you will be able to save it. Most often, the disease occurs due to mechanical damage to the bark and wood of the pomegranate.

The pomegranate turns yellow.

Readers are often asked why the pomegranate turns yellow. If you did not find pomegranate tree pests, in particular spider mites, then it may suffer from too high an air temperature. The pomegranate also turns yellow in case of a lack of water in the soil, however, yellowing in this case is accompanied by the appearance of dark spots on the leaves.

The pomegranate falls.

If the pomegranate leaves fall off, then this may be a consequence of their yellowing, and the reasons for this phenomenon are the same as for the sudden yellowness of the leaves - spider mites or other pests, diseases, too high air temperature or insufficient watering. Leaf fall begins and for a natural reason - the pomegranate is a deciduous tree, therefore, both in room culture and in nature, pomegranates fall at the end of the growing season, when they are preparing for wintering.

The pomegranate dries up.

Pomegranate leaves dry due to insufficient air humidity or due to problems with the roots that have arisen because you have repeatedly violated the watering regime. Smell the soil in which the pomegranate grows, and if it smells strongly of mold, immediately transplant the plant into a new substrate, inspecting its roots and removing rotted areas if necessary. Wounds on the roots are treated with crushed coal.

Indoor pomegranate - reproduction

How pomegranates are propagated.

Indoor pomegranate is propagated by seed, as well as vegetatively - by grafting and cuttings. We have already written that a pomegranate grown from a seed does not always retain the varietal characteristics of the parent tree, but a varietal cutting can be grafted onto these seedlings. Pomegranates grown from cuttings and layering retain the characteristics of the mother plant completely.

Pomegranate from cuttings.

For cuttings, cuttings are harvested from the growths of the current year about 10 cm long. Cuttings can also be cut from basal shoots. First, the cuttings are placed for 6 hours with the lower cut in a solution of a root formation stimulator, then washed under running water and plant them in a substrate consisting in equal proportions of peat and sand, deepening the lower cut by 2-3 cm, and cover the cuttings to create a greenhouse effect with a transparent dome or plastic bottles with cut neck. Keep the cuttings on a light windowsill. When they give roots, and this can happen in 6-10 weeks, they can be planted in separate pots with soil for citrus plants or with a mixture of sand, humus, sod and leafy soil in a ratio of 1:1:2:2. If you provide good care for a pomegranate from a cutting, it can bloom as early as the second or third year after planting. It is also possible to propagate the pomegranate with lignified cuttings, but they take root even longer, and many of them die.

How to plant a pomegranate.

Pomegranate at home can be propagated by grafting. To obtain a varietal plant, a varietal cutting is grafted onto a pomegranate rootstock grown from a seed. Only a fruit-bearing pomegranate can give the cutting necessary for grafting. Grafting is carried out in different ways - it all depends on the thickness of the stock and the graft. Currently, more than 150 types of vaccination have been developed, and which one to choose, you will have to decide for yourself. The simplest, and therefore the most common, vaccinations are considered to be simple copulation, copulation with a tongue (English), behind the bark, in a split, in the butt and in a side cut. If the vaccination was successful, pomegranate flowering occurs in 3-4 years.

Types and varieties of homemade pomegranate

Only two types of pomegranate are known - common pomegranate (Punica granatum) And Socotrans pomegranate (Punica protopunica), which is endemic to the Yemeni island of Socotra. The flowers of the Socotrans pomegranate are not crimson, but pink, and the fruits are not as large and sweet as those of the common pomegranate. You could read the description of the common pomegranate at the beginning of the article.

The dwarf pomegranate, which has a hybrid origin, is singled out in separate view Punica nana, because it is he who is most often grown in room culture, including in the form of bonsai. The species is characterized by low growth - no more than 1 m - and early fruiting. Plants bloom already for 3-4 months, and two-year-old trees form about a dozen medium-sized fruits up to 5 cm in diameter. The nana pomegranate's resistance to dry air makes it an ideal plant for growing indoors. This species, unlike common pomegranate varieties, almost does not shed its leaves for the winter.

Breeders have bred more than 500 varieties of pomegranate, many of which can be grown in room culture. For example:

• – Uzbekistan- under room conditions, this variety of pomegranate grows up to 2 m. Its fruits are spherical, bright red in color, weighing up to 120 g, the peel is thin, sweet and sour grains of wine burgundy color;
• – baby- a plant only up to half a meter high with single or bunched flowers of 5-7 pieces and yellow-brown fruits with a red blush 5-7 cm in diameter, ripening by mid-winter. Plants of this variety require artificial pollination;
• – Carthage- pomegranate, blooming from May to August with red flowers up to 4 cm in diameter and juicy, tasty, slightly sour fruits;
• – shahnar- a variety of Azerbaijani selection with round or pear-shaped red fruits in a peel of medium thickness and with small grains of a pleasant sweet and sour taste;
• – Ruby- trees of this variety grow up to 70 cm in height. They differ from plants of other varieties in brighter ruby-colored flowers. Fruits at good care reach a mass of 100 g and 6-8 cm in diameter.

Varieties of Kzyl-anar, Vanderful, Ulfi, Lod-Zhuar, Ak-Don, Guleisha red and pink, Purple, Salavatsky and others are also common in horticultural culture. If you want to have a pomegranate at home, you can grow any, even a vigorous variety of ordinary pomegranate - at home, it is still unlikely to grow above 2 m.

Pomegranate properties - harm and benefit

Pomegranate is one of the healthiest fruits. Its fruits contain vitamins P, C, B12, B6, fiber, sodium, iodine, phosphorus, iron, potassium, manganese, calcium and magnesium. Pomegranate juice contains sugars - fructose and glucose, malic, tartaric, citric, oxalic, succinic, boric and other organic acids, sulfate and chloride salts, phytoncides, tannin, tannins and nitrogenous substances.

The presence in the fruits of all these substances necessary for the human body determines the beneficial properties of the pomegranate. It quenches thirst, improves hematopoiesis, promoting the production of hemoglobin and the formation of red blood cells in the blood, strengthens the walls of blood vessels, the nervous system and immunity. An infusion of pomegranate fruits and flowers is one of the oldest hemostatic agents. For the elderly, pomegranate is recommended for recuperation after surgical operations.

Pomegranate is rich in vitamin K, essential for metabolism in connective tissues and bones, and in particular for the absorption of calcium. Pomegranate slows down the development of osteoarthritis, relieving inflammation and swelling of cartilage tissues.

Pomegranate juice, which contributes, among other things, to the normalization of blood pressure, is shown as a hematopoietic agent in diseases of the heart, circulatory organs, kidneys, lungs and liver, and the estrogens contained in the pomegranate alleviate the symptoms of menopause and help fight depression.

Pomegranate is an essential product for vegetarians, since its juice contains 15 amino acids, almost half of which is found mainly in meat products. Thus, one who deliberately refused animal food by eating pomegranate may not feel a lack of animal proteins. Pomegranate juice has a diuretic and choleretic effect, as well as analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects.

The benefit of pomegranate is also that it is an excellent remedy for scurvy, uric acid diathesis, atherosclerosis, headaches and gastrointestinal disorders. People who have undergone irradiation, live in a zone of increased radiation and work with radioactive isotopes, are strongly advised to use pomegranate juice. It is also indicated for anemia, hypertension, malaria, bronchial asthma and diabetes.

The pomegranate peel containing alkaloids has a strong antihelminthic property. A decoction of it is also used for inflammation of the liver and kidneys, joints and eyes. It also helps as a gargle for an inflamed throat, and for intestinal disorders. And lightly toasted with olive or butter, pomegranate peel powder is used as a mask for oily facial skin, as well as for the treatment of burns, cracks and abrasions.

Pomegranate seeds are an effective remedy for increasing intestinal motility and a source of the most valuable pomegranate oil, which, due to the high content of fat-soluble vitamins E and F, promotes the speedy healing of wounds, regeneration of epidermal cells, rejuvenates and protects the human body from cancer. And pomegranate extract restores the skin after too long exposure to the sun.

The white films separating the chambers with seeds inside the pomegranate fruit are dried and added to tea, as they have the ability to balance the state of the nervous system, relieve excitement, anxiety and relieve insomnia.

In traditional medicine, decoctions and tinctures are made from pomegranate fruits, flowers, peel, bark and seeds to treat anemia, stomatitis, diarrhea, burns, conjunctivitis and other diseases.

Pomegranate - contraindications.

Pomegranate juice saturated with acids is contraindicated in gastritis with high acidity, gastric ulcer and duodenal ulcer. If necessary, it is strongly diluted with water. For the same reason, the harm of pomegranate can be manifested by erosion of tooth enamel, therefore, after drinking pomegranate or juice from it, you must brush your teeth and rinse your mouth thoroughly with water. The fixing property of pomegranate can cause constipation in people with problems digestive system, and the toxic substances contained in the peel, in case of an overdose of the decoction, can cause a strong increase blood pressure, weakness, dizziness, convulsions, a sharp deterioration in vision and irritation of the mucous membrane, therefore, before using decoctions, be sure to consult your doctor.