Punica Granatum/Pomegranate

[BobbyLane]

Hi folks, i wonder if any of the pomegranate growers on the forum can shed some light here...

here i have a Pomegranate, small leaf variety, well suited to bonsai...
it was chopped down from a taller tree at the back end of march, re potted around the same time
Punica Granatum by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
Punica Granatum by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

the right side, smaller trunk had been growing strongly, but the main trunk....which is still very much alive has failed to bud out thus far, still green all the way to the tip, with plenty of nodes....

the small trunk, it was much bushier a week ago, i cut it back in the hope the main trunk would get started...
Punica Granatum by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

Punica Granatum by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

Punica Granatum by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

the right side has grown well, pomegranate's are strong growers from what ive seen so far in the small trunk, just look at that leader! im gutted the main trunk hasnt responded in the same way!

my future vision has been delayed for now
42118985764_390d04ba0b_o by Bobby Lane, on Flickr


plenty growing season left, so hopefully it will kick on.....its actually been just over two months since the chop, so maybe its just a little slow to recover from the trauma...
ive seen trees take two months or more to recover from a severe chop so i dont think its dead wood yet

ps close up of trunk nodes
20180616_173421 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
20180616_173356 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

its one root system, it has quite a decent sized root ball, essentially a twin trunk

 

[BobbyLane]

i took this image from the net, its a twin trunk, also something to aim for, they twig up very well. not so popular in the UK as the US

 

[bonhe]

Very nice material!
I am afraid that the big trunk will be gone forever! I don’t know what kind of care to which the tree received after transplant .
At this time, I would use the clear plastic bag with little moist sphagnum moss inside and cover the big trunk, until it sends out the new branches.
Good luck to you
Bonhe

 

[BobbyLane]

Very nice material!
I am afraid that the big trunk will be gone forever! I don’t know what kind of care to which the tree received after transplant .
At this time, I would use the clear plastic bag with little moist sphagnum moss inside and cover the big trunk, until it sends out the new branches.
Good luck to you
Bonhe

I was hoping you'd chime in @bonhe i know you know your stuff regarding pommys

ill tell you what though....im going to leave it in full sun and give it until next fri, before whipping out the clear plastic and stifling the main trunk!

ill let you know how it gets on, cheers mate

 

[bonhe]

I was hoping you'd chime in @bonhe i know you know your stuff regarding pommys

ill tell you what though....im going to leave it in full sun and give it until next fri, before whipping out the clear plastic and stifling the main trunk!

ill let you know how it gets on, cheers mate

Thank you. Please update it.
Bonhe

 

[BobbyLane]

well the main trunk didnt wake up, ill leave it until next season and then maybe peel away the bark. let it weather and rot, it will be used as a dead wood feature....ill continue to let the small stump grow out, this might go in the ground in next few weeks...

the good thing to come out of this is, ill have a new smaller tree with great taper, that central leader is off n away now
20180901_154104 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
20180901_154142 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

pretty strong growth since the first images, this one will be a keeper for sure, i love when trees respond like this

 

[BobbyLane]

this tree is in a grow bed growing like wild fire, has pretty red blooms too. the dead stump will eventually come off and my plan is an upright singular trunk with very good taper. maybe i can train it to look like the image below. will see.....

this is a pomegranate ive admired for some time, belongs to a chap on FB. such a wonderful, natural tree

 

[AlainK]

I remember pictures of an exhition in china with big pomegranates, but I've lost the link. Most of them, if not all of them were very twisted and displayed in full bloom, very spectacular.

What you've got may be Punica granatum 'Nana'. I had one in a pot, but it died a few years ago because of a harsh winter. But I bought another one and even took cuttings. This one I gave to my sister who lives by the Atlantic coast, near La Rochelle, where the climate is much milder - it never, or very rarely freezes, and it's just for one or two days of -1,-2,-3 at most. It's in her garden with other plants and flowers and flowers profusely. Here it was before I gave it to her :



This year, mine hardly flowered. I also have a potted one with regular sized leaves and pushed out only one flower. OK, it needs repotting, but I don't know why, this doesn't seem a good year for pomegranate flowers around here, which I found very surprising considering the amost mediterranean-like months we've had.

 

[BobbyLane]

I'll see if i can get some pics of the blooms tomorrow, think they're nearly spent now.
i hope this survives the winter, its the first time the tree has been in the ground. a chap grown it from seed and its spent all its time in a flower pot in the allotment in garden soil.

the grow bed has sturdy weed matting over the soil surface, over the winter ill mulch it with big bark chips.

 

[leatherback]

Wow, cool bonsai!!

 

[Paulpash]

I'll see if i can get some pics of the blooms tomorrow, think they're nearly spent now.
i hope this survives the winter, its the first time the tree has been in the ground. a chap grown it from seed and its spent all its time in a flower pot in the allotment in garden soil.

the grow bed has sturdy weed matting over the soil surface, over the winter ill mulch it with big bark chips.

I was going to ask you about hardiness. I've never tried it before because I always thought they were frost tender and wouldn't survive a stint in the ground. I'll watch yours with interest.

 

[AlainK]

I always thought they were frost tender

They are!

 

[petegreg]

I remember pictures of an exhition in china with big pomegranates, but I've lost the link. Most of them, if not all of them were very twisted and displayed in full bloom, very spectacular.

What you've got may be Punica granatum 'Nana'. I had one in a pot, but it died a few years ago because of a harsh winter. But I bought another one and even took cuttings. This one I gave to my sister who lives by the Atlantic coast, near La Rochelle, where the climate is much milder - it never, or very rarely freezes, and it's just for one or two days of -1,-2,-3 at most. It's in her garden with other plants and flowers and flowers profusely. Here it was before I gave it to her :

View attachment 257573

This year, mine hardly flowered. I also have a potted one with regular sized leaves and pushed out only one flower. OK, it needs repotting, but I don't know why, this doesn't seem a good year for pomegranate flowers around here, which I found very surprising considering the amost mediterranean-like months we've had.

Hi Alain, I've been playing with one starter plant for a few years. It flowered every summer here and there... These year I told myself to let it grow, but it had few flower buds forming and swelling at the tips... so in the name of enabling strong growth I removed that flower buds. The tree grew strong but formed more flower buds that I removed again... And it's gonna explode with flowers now, the sea of flowers. I think next time I'll remove fading flowers/forming fruit to see what will happen. My pomegranates are wintered in a cold room at 2-8 degrees C, when they drop all leaves, are watered once a week. I can share some pictures hopefully when I'm back home from vacation.

 

[BobbyLane]

this tree is in a grow bed growing like wild fire, has pretty red blooms too. the dead stump will eventually come off and my plan is an upright singular trunk with very good taper. maybe i can train it to look like the image below. will see.....

this is a pomegranate ive admired for some time, belongs to a chap on FB. such a wonderful, natural tree

this isnt a pom, but a wild tree in a similar form, the artist posted

Jurg Staheli, check him out on FB, amazing naturalistic trees

 

[AlainK]

My pomegranates are wintered in a cold room at 2-8 degrees C, when they drop all leaves, are watered once a week.

Excellent! I don't have a cold greenhouse or a room where I can put mine, so I put them in a sheltered place, with 5+ cm zelkova leaves, but if we have a very cold spell, I put them in the basement garage where it's between 13 and 16° C.

About the flowers, I think they must be repotted and fertilized, that won't hurt anyway.

 

[AlainK]

this isnt a pom, but a wild tree in a similar form, the artist posted

That's actually what I suspected. Thanks for making things straight. As I said before, almost all the pomegranates I've seen are rather twisted. But for a 'Nana', I think broom style is possible...

 

[BobbyLane]

That's actually what I suspected. Thanks for making things straight. As I said before, almost all the pomegranates I've seen are rather twisted. But for a 'Nana', I think broom style is possible...

yes i do believe it is nana, the dwarf variety. the one that develops the twisty trunk is Neji-kan.
both twig up very nicely and a well ramified canopy can be built in a number of years.

this is another one by same guy.. probably a nana

 

[AlainK]

... and it's a very nice one

 

[BobbyLane]

This one is going strong, second winter incoming now. it grew well all summer and had an array of orange flowers.

without leaves,


seems to be fine out here, havnt seen any dieback since planting in ground. I had an olive out here for a few years that did fine too i think the weed matting helps.
plus our winters are getting milder.

 

[Wilson]

Very nice material!
I am afraid that the big trunk will be gone forever! I don’t know what kind of care to which the tree received after transplant .
At this time, I would use the clear plastic bag with little moist sphagnum moss inside and cover the big trunk, until it sends out the new branches.
Good luck to you
Bonhe

Are pomegranate known for not responding to trunk chops?