When to plant pomegranate trees?

Pomegranate trees are highly adaptable to soil and climate and can grow in a variety of environments. After ripening, pomegranates can be stored at room temperature for a long time, or they can be refrigerated or made into products such as pomegranate juice and pomegranate wine. Let’s take a look at when to plant pomegranate trees.

When to plant pomegranate trees?

The planting time of pomegranate trees is usually chosen in spring or autumn, because the climatic conditions in these two seasons are conducive to the growth of pomegranate trees and the recovery of their root systems. Spring planting usually takes place from March to April, while autumn planting is from September to November. Due to the warmer climate in the south, planting can be carried out from late February to early March. Pomegranate trees prefer an environment with sufficient sunlight, good drainage and fertile soil, so when choosing a site, you should choose such a location.

Pomegranate planting tips

1. Carefully build the garden

In the process of building a garden, in addition to selecting high-quality seedlings, deep trenches or large pits should be dug according to the planned planting spacing. The depth and width of each pit should be 1 meter to separate the topsoil and subsoil. When backfilling, 10,000 kg of weed or livestock fertilizer and 500 kg each of phosphorus and potassium fertilizers can be applied in layers per acre of land. Considering that the pomegranate tree has a well-developed root system, in order to improve its drought resistance, it can be planted slightly deeper by 2-3 cm. When building a garden on a hillside, terraces should be built that slope outward, which helps retain moisture and increase soil thickness, while improving soil quality.

2. Planting density

In order to maximize light energy utilization and increase early yield, it is recommended to increase planting density appropriately. In plain areas, a plant spacing of 3 meters × 4 meters can be adopted, with 56 plants planted per acre. In production areas, it is common practice to plant two plants per hole. In hilly areas, a plant spacing of 2 meters × 3 meters can be used, with 111 plants planted per acre. The first two years after planting young trees are mainly devoted to tree growth and crown expansion, and it is generally not recommended to let them bear fruit too early.

3. Plastic and pruning

Shaping: After the first year of planting, allow the trees to grow naturally, but select 1-3 strong branches in appropriate directions as the main trunk for cultivation, forming a single-trunk, double-trunk or triple-trunk structure, and promptly remove the sprouts or suckers at the base. In the spring of the second year, select 4-5 vigorous branches for pruning to cultivate the main branches and side branches, and keep the other branches as they are. For branches that are too long or too vigorous, they should be pinched or pruned in summer to lower the branching position. In the spring of the third year, use methods such as supporting, pulling, turning and hanging to adjust the angle of the main branches to open the crown, promote the growth of effective short branches, continuously expand the crown, and form a semicircular or circular structure. For trees that grow too vigorously, pay attention to thinning out overgrown branches and competing branches, reducing nutrient consumption, promoting the formation of mixed buds, and increasing the number of fruiting branches.

Pruning: Pomegranate's mixed shoots grow mainly at or near the top of strong short branches. Except for pruning a few overgrown branches and developmental branches, thinning is usually the main approach. For fruit-bearing trees that are more than 4 years old, pruning is mainly carried out in winter, with an emphasis on removing root suckers and cutting off overgrown branches, overcrowded branches, thin branches, diseased and insect-infested branches, drooping branches, crossing branches, overlapping branches, etc. Selectively prune overly long branches and vacant overgrown or weak branches to restore tree vitality, cultivate fruiting branches, improve ventilation and light conditions, and achieve successive years of bumper harvests. During summer pruning, based on winter pruning, according to the fruiting situation, timely thin out overgrown branches, shorten thin and weak branches, and cultivate fruiting branch groups through methods such as bud removal and pinching.

4. Soil and water management

Soil management: Every year after fruit harvest or in autumn and winter, the garden should be deep-turned to a depth of 20-40 cm. In the early stage, wheat, beans, vegetables or Chinese herbal medicines can be intercropped. In summer, timely tillage and weeding should be carried out to keep the soil between plants or in tree trays loose and free of weeds. Implementing rhizosphere mulching plays an important role in retaining moisture, reducing temperature, conserving water and soil, and increasing organic matter.

Fertilization and irrigation: Fertilization is carried out three times a year. The first time is before flowering, with nitrogen fertilizer and phosphorus fertilizer as the main fertilizers, applied in furrows or holes, with 0.5 kg of urea and diammonium phosphate applied to each plant. The second time was in July, during the fruit expansion period, when 0.5 kg of ammonium phosphate was applied to each plant. The third time is after the autumn shoots stop growing, use radial furrow application, and apply 25-30 kg of organic fertilizer per plant. Irrigate in time according to the fertilization situation and the drought situation in the orchard .

5. Flowering period management

Spray fertilizer during flowering period: From the initial flowering period to the peak fruit-bearing period, you can spray fruit tree yield enhancer. Experiments show that this can increase the fruit set rate by 21.8% and increase the yield by 18.7%.

Bee release and artificial pollination : Bee release can increase the fruit set rate of tubular flowers by 30%, artificial pollination can reach 45.8%, while the fruit set rate of natural pollination is 21.5%.

Ring cutting or girdling: In the early stage of flowering, 2-3 ring cuttings should be carried out on vigorous trees with few flowers or at the base of large auxiliary branches, and the distance between the rings should be kept above 4 cm. Experiments have shown that this can increase the fruit set rate by 13.4% compared with not ring cutting, and can promote flower bud differentiation. For vigorous trees, ring barking can also be performed. The trunk diameter should be more than 5 cm. Choose a smooth part and make two horizontal cuts deep into the wood. To facilitate healing, the distance between the rings should be kept at 0.3-0.5 cm.

Flower and fruit thinning: Flower thinning can be carried out in two times. The first time is after the buds appear, and the underdeveloped "bell-shaped flowers" are removed in time; the second time is about two weeks later, and the focus is still on thinning out incomplete flowers.

6. Pest and disease control

Pomegranate stem moth: This is a major pest that harms pomegranate branches. Prevention and control methods include: (1) Starting in early July, regularly check tree branches and promptly prune off any damaged new shoots to eliminate the larvae in them. (2) After bud break in spring, completely cut off dead branches without leaves and burn them to kill overwintering larvae. (3) For 2-3 year old larvae in damaged branches, use 500 times diluted DDT or 800 times diluted DDT to inject into the lowest excretion hole, and then use drug mud to block the insect mouth to poison them. (4) During the peak hatching period, based on the characteristics of newly hatched larvae that they will crawl on tender shoots for 2-3 days before boring into new shoots, timely spraying of 1500 times diluted 40% omethoate, 50% methyl parathion or 40% long-lasting phosphorus can be carried out for prevention and control, with an effect of 84.9-98.4%. On the basis of good prediction and forecast, we have changed from injecting pesticides at insect mouths to spraying on trees. This not only saves labor and time and improves the efficacy of pesticides, but also can treat other leaf-eating pests such as the yellow stem borer. Generally, after the first spraying, spray again after 20 days for better results.

Peach borer: This is the main pest that damages pomegranate fruits. In severe cases, the fruit infestation rate can reach 50-70%. The main control methods are: (1) Clean the garden in winter to eliminate the overwintering larvae in the host. (2) Before budding in early spring, scrape off the rough and cracked bark, pick off the insect-infested fruits or collect the fallen fruits that have been infested by insects and burn them in a concentrated manner. (3) Use sweet and sour liquid or sex pheromones to confuse male adults and then kill them. (4) In the early stage of hatching of the first generation of larvae, spray 50% cypermethrin EC, 40% oxydemeton-methyl EC or 50% dichlorvos EC at a dilution of 1000 times for prevention and control.

Japanese wax scale, commonly known as scale insect, belongs to the family Ceroplastidae in the order Homoptera. The nymphs attach themselves to leaves or new shoots to suck sap and secrete mucus, which induces sooty mold, affects photosynthesis, weakens the tree, and causes massive leaf and fruit drop. In severe cases, it can lead to a complete loss of production or even the death of the entire tree.

In short, the planting and management of pomegranate trees requires comprehensive consideration of climate, soil, water, fertilizer, and pest and disease control to ensure the healthy growth of trees and a good harvest of fruits.