Grafted Pomegranate (Bhagawa Anar variety)- Plant

Description

Grafted Pomegranate (Bhagawa Anar variety)- Plant

The grafted pomegranate is especially hardy and widely grown in pots. The flowers are scarlet, the fruit only 2 in (10-15 cm) wide but borne abundantly. Among other ornamental cultivars are ‘Multiplex’ with double, creamy white blooms; ‘Chico’, double, orange-red; ‘Pleniflora’, double, red; ‘Rubra Plena’, double, red; ‘Mme. Legrelle’ and ‘Variegata’, double, scarlet bordered and streaked with yellowish-white.

CLIMATE

The species is primarily mild-temperate to subtropical and naturally adapted to regions with cool winters and hot summers, but certain types are grown in home dooryards in tropical areas, such as various islands of the Bahamas and West Indies. In southern Florida, fruit development is enhanced after a cold winter. Elsewhere in the United States, the pomegranate can be grown outdoors as far north as Washington County, Utah, and Washington, D.C., though it doesn’t fruit in the latter locations. It can be severely injured by temperatures below 12º F (-11.11º C). The plant favours a semi-arid climate and is extremely drought-tolerant.

SOIL

The pomegranate thrives on calcareous, alkaline soil and on deep, acidic loam and a wide range of soils in between these extremes. In northern India, it is spontaneous on rock-strewn gravel.

1. Plant your pomegranate seedling in soil with a pH of between 5.5 to 7.0 and full sunlight to partial shade.
2. Irrigate your pomegranate tree every seven to 10 days. Hold off on your regular irrigation schedule if Mother Nature is adequately irrigating your pomegranate trees. Check that the soil around your pomegranate is evenly moist during late summer to early fall to help prevent fruit splitting.
3. According to the California Rare Fruit Growers, as the pomegranate tree matures, it’s best to switch from fertilizer to an annual soil amendment of compost or rotted manure.
4.  Since new fruit production occurs at the tip, the California Rare Fruit Growers recommends shortening the shoots every year for the first three years to encourage new growth and create a strong, sturdy plant. After the first three years, the occasional removal of dead branches is the tree’s only pruning requirement.