Q. What should I do to increase the size of my
pomegranate fruit next year? My soil has a red color.
A. Red soil tells me you are probably not from around
here and secondly, your soil has a lot of iron in it. This type of iron is not
available to most plants because it is low in organics and the acidity is wrong.
I also assume you are a backyard producer and not a farmer. My recommendations
might be different if you had 50 or more pomegranate trees and were local.
Right
now, since it is late Fall and it is getting colder and there are still leaves on the trees, there is nothing to do. To
increase the size of fruit, focus on pruning, a fertilizer application, and don’t
let the plant get droughty. You will see some smaller benefits by removing a flower for small fruit growing right next to another, some thinning and pest control.
First, don’t
forget to sanitize your pruning equipment.
About a month before new growth
begins in the spring, prune the pomegranate to 5 or fewer (yes, as few as one)
larger stems coming from the ground. Remove all the remaining growth to the ground
as well. From the remaining larger stems remove all side branches up to your
knees. After this is done, spray the plant and the soil directly at its base twice
with dormant oil before it begins flowering.
When flowering
first starts, apply fertilizer to the tree 12 to 18 inches from the stems and
where the soil is wet. Use vegetable or rose fertilizer if you do not have a
fruit tree fertilizer available. Because your soil is red and not brown,
consider applying compost instead of mineral fertilizer. If you apply compost, apply
one cubic foot of it in a circle 18 inches from these large stems.
You
might see a smaller benefit by removing flowers during the first couple of
months which are produced very close to each other (if your variety does this alot)
and controlling pests when you spot problems. If you are an organic gardener,
consider using a Dust Buster for removing larger pests instead of insecticidal sprays.
