Learn effective methods for roof garden pomegranate cultivation. Discover essential tips and techniques for successfully cultivating pomegranates in your rooftop garden. From site selection to pruning methods, this guide provides valuable insights for growing delicious and nutritious pomegranates in urban spaces.
Introduction: Welcome to the world of rooftop pomegranate cultivation! With their vibrant color and delicious flavor, pomegranates make a fantastic addition to any rooftop garden. In this comprehensive guide, we'll explore the essential tips and techniques to help you successfully grow and harvest pomegranates in your urban oasis.
Anar or Bedana is the improved variety of pomegranate. Pomegranate is a very attractive, sweet, tasty and nutritious fruit. Anna or pomegranate also has many medicinal properties. With regular care, the Anna tree will bear fruit throughout the year. Pomegranate, Annar or Currant can be cultivated very easily in tubs or drums in roof gardens.
Before diving into cultivation, it's crucial to lay the groundwork for success:
Site Selection
Choose a sunny location on your rooftop garden for planting pomegranate trees. Pomegranates thrive in full sunlight, so ensure the chosen spot receives at least six to eight hours of direct sunlight daily.
Select large, sturdy containers with adequate drainage holes for planting pomegranate trees on your rooftop. Opt for containers made of lightweight materials to minimize strain on the rooftop structure.
A 20-inch color or dyed drum or tub should be procured for planting pomegranate and anar or currant seedlings on the roof. 3-5 holes should be made at the bottom of the drum, so that water cannot accumulate at the base of the plant. The holes in the bottom of the tub or drum should be closed with small pieces of brick. The tub or drum plant should be placed in a place of the roof where there is always sunshine. Now mix 2 parts of sandy loam soil, 1 part of dung, 40-50 grams of TSP, 40-50 grams of potash and 200 grams of bone powder and keep it in a drum or tub with water for 10-12 days. Then loosen the soil a bit and leave it again for 4-5 days in the same way as before. When the soil becomes moist, a strong healthy grafted seedling should be planted in the tub. At the time of planting, the root of the plant can be separated from the soil. The seedling should be straight and planted properly. Then the soil at the base of the tree should be raised a little and the soil should be pressed by hand. As a result, water will not be able to penetrate through the root of the tree. A straight thin stick should be tied to the tree. At the beginning of planting, water should be given sparingly. Then gradually increase the watering. However, water cannot be allowed to accumulate at the base of the tree. If there is a shortage of sap in the soil, the plants should be irrigated as needed.
Now that you've prepared your rooftop garden, here are some planting and care tips for pomegranate trees:
Soil Preparation
Use well-draining, nutrient-rich soil for planting pomegranate trees in containers. Amend the soil with organic compost to improve fertility and soil structure.
Planting Pomegranate Trees
Plant pomegranate trees in containers at the same depth they were in their nursery pots. Ensure the soil is firmly packed around the roots and water thoroughly after planting to settle the soil.
After 4/5 months of planting pomegranate or Annar or Currant seedlings, water should be given regularly after 25-30 days of mustard leaves. Mustard leaves should be soaked in water for 10 days. Then dilute the water of the rotten leaves and give it to the root of the tree. After a year, partial soil of the tub should be changed. 2 inches wide and 6 inches deep roots of the tub or drum should be discarded and the tub or drum should be refilled with new composted soil. This soil amendment is usually best done at the end of monsoon and before winter. After 10-15 days, the soil of the tub or drum should be slightly dug.
Pruning is essential for maintaining the health and productivity of pomegranate trees in a rooftop garden:
Train young pomegranate trees to a central leader or open vase shape to promote balanced growth and improve sunlight penetration into the canopy.
Prune mature pomegranate trees annually during the dormant season to remove dead, diseased, or crossing branches. Thin out crowded growth to improve air circulation and fruit production.
Proper watering and fertilization are key to ensuring healthy growth and abundant fruit production:
Water pomegranate trees deeply but infrequently, allowing the soil to dry out slightly between watering sessions. Adjust watering frequency based on weather conditions and soil moisture levels.
Weed Control in Pomegranate Cultivation: Care must be taken to ensure that no type of weed sticks to the root of the pomegranate tree. For this, weeding should be done regularly. Because if there is no clean cultivation of pomegranate, there is a high possibility of the tree getting diseased.
Irrigation and Drainage: Regular light irrigation should be given to fallen trees. The soil at the base of the plant should never be waterlogged and the plant should not be kept too dry. If there is not enough juice in the soil after application of fertilizers, irrigation must be provided.
Pomegranate branch pruning: Roof pomegranate and Anna tree branches should be pruned regularly. Pomegranate flowers grow on new branches of old branches. Branches need to be pruned to produce new branches on old branches. Also the sap coming out from the roots of the Anna tree needs to be pruned.
Pomegranate Root Pruning: Pomegranate flowers and fruits throughout the year. Usually the tree bears more flowers in spring and during monsoon. Fruits from spring flowers are produced in summer and are of very poor quality. But the fruits obtained from Monsoon flowers can be collected in October-November, the quality of which is very good. Therefore, in March-April, the roots should be dug to a depth of 15 cm and exposed for 15 days for flowers to come in the trees during the rainy season. Later irrigation should be applied by covering the soil with organic fertilizers.
Apply a balanced fertilizer formulated for fruit trees in spring, just before new growth begins. Follow the manufacturer's recommendations for application rates and timing to avoid over-fertilization.
Fertilizer application to plants: Fertilizer should be applied to the hole before planting. Also every year the tree should be fertilized regularly. After 8-10 days of making the hole, the hole should be filled by mixing the fertilizer with the soil of the hole at the following rate. Pomegranate seedlings should be planted 20-25 days after filling the hole.
Fertilizer Name Fertilizer Amount/Hole
Compost powder 500 grams
Urea 150 grams
TSP 100 grams
MOP 100 grams
Gypsum 70 grams
10 kg of dung, 125 g of urea, 125 g of TSP and 125 g of potash fertilizer should be applied to each 1-year-old tree. The level of fertilizer should be increased a little every year. 60 kg of dung, 1.5 kg of urea, 1.5 kg of TSP and 1.5 kg of MOP (Mureate of Potash) should be applied to 1 full-grown tree periodically. The above amount of fertilizer should be applied to the plant twice. 1st time (May-June) and 2nd time (September-October) should be applied at the root of the plant.
Preventing pests and diseases is crucial for maintaining the health of pomegranate trees in a rooftop garden:
Regularly inspect pomegranate trees for signs of pest infestation, including aphids, mealybugs, and fruit borers. Identify pests early to take prompt action and prevent damage to the fruit.
Practice good sanitation and avoid overhead watering to reduce the risk of fungal diseases like powdery mildew and root rot. Apply organic fungicides as needed to control fungal pathogens.
Special Care of Pomegranate Tree: Pomegranate tree keeps blooming little by little throughout the year. However, flowers do not produce fruit all the time. The flowers that bloom on the pomegranate tree in spring produce fruit in summer. But in this case the quality of this fruit is not very good. The flowers that appear at the beginning of the monsoon and the fruits from those flowers are suitable for collection in the months (October-November). The quality of fruits during this period is quite good.
Pomegranate butterfly or fruit borer: The deadly enemy of pomegranate fruit is pomegranate butterfly or fruit borer. The larvae of this species damage the fruit. Female butterflies lay eggs on flowers and small fruits. The larvae hatch from the eggs and bore into the growing fruit and eat the seeds and other parts of the fruit. Later, before turning into a caterpillar, it emerges from the fruit by making round holes in the skin of the fruit. As a result of being attacked by this insect, secondary infection can be caused by fungi and bacteria.
Remedy:
(a) Infected fruits should be removed from the tree or fallen on the ground and destroyed.
(b) If the fruit starts to grow after the fruit has been picked, bagging the fruit with cloth or polythene or paper will prevent the attack of this insect.
(c) Apart from this, malathion or carbaryl (Acicarb) or phosphamidon group insecticides should be sprayed on the plants and fruits after 12-15 days at the rate of one milliliter per liter of water.
Boll borers: Boll borer infestations are usually seen on neglected trees. The larvae of this insect penetrate the bark of the trunk and branches at night and eat the inside. During the day, the larvae hide in the hollows of the twigs and excrete waste matter. The attack of this insect can be observed by looking at small holes or waste material in the trunk or branches.
Remedy:
(a) Arrangements should be made to kill insects by inserting fine wire into the holes.
(b) Clean the excreta of the worm from the hole and fill the hole with kerosene or petrol with the help of an injection syringe or cotton and close the hole with mud, the insect will die.
Sap-sucking insects: Aphids, whiteflies, scale insects, thrips, jab beetles and spiders are considered as sap-sucking insects. Leaves, buds, flowers and small fruits fall due to the attack of these insects. Whiteflies and caterpillars feed on the leaves and young twigs. As a result, the affected area becomes discolored and deformed. Besides, a type of honey is secreted from the body of these insects, which sticks to the leaves. Later, a type of fungus grows on the secreted honey on the leaf. As a result, the food production process of the plant is disturbed. Spider mites and thrips damage leaves, flower buds, panicles and corms and feed on the sap that oozes from the wounds. As a result, leaf axils curl and flower drop, fruiting is inhibited.
Remedy:
(a) For the control of umbels and scale insects, the affected parts should be cut and burnt at the first stage of attack. After that, diazinon group insecticide should be mixed with water at the rate of 1 ml per liter of water and sprayed on the plants.
(b) Dimethoate (Tafgar) at the rate of 1 ml per liter of water or imidacloprid (Imitaf, Tido, Tido Plus) at the rate of 0.5 ml per liter of water should be sprayed on the plants twice after 10-12 days to control the jab beetle or whitefly. .
(c) For control of spiders, Vertimec/Sanmectin at the rate of 1.25 ml per liter of water and sulfur fungicide at the rate of 2 g should be sprayed on the plants.
Fruit spot disease: This disease is caused by fungi. When fruit trees are infected with this fungus, many small and irregular spots appear on the affected fruit. These spots are surrounded by greenish yellow spots. Later the spots become long spots. The seeds under the fruit peel turn brown. The market value of affected fruit is reduced due to quality loss.
Remedy: The diseased part should be cut and burnt. Mencozeb (Indofil M45/ Diethane M45) at the rate of 2 grams per liter of water or Carbandism (Noin/ Autostin/ Mcozym) at the rate of 1 gram per liter of water should be mixed with fungicide and sprayed 2-3 times from the root to the root of the plant after 8-10 days. .
Fruit Rot Disease: This fungal disease is usually seen during the rainy season. If the flower is infected with this disease, fruiting is inhibited and young fruits drop. The attack of this disease can be understood by seeing yellow or black spots on the fruit, especially on the buds. The attack of this disease causes the skin of the fruit to shrivel and the weight of the fruit to decrease. Infected fruits are unripe, small in size and lose their luster. Later the fruit becomes soft and rots.
Remedies: Remedies for fruit rot are similar to fruit spot.
Fruit Blight: Pomegranate fruit blight is a serious problem. It is not a fungal disease. This is usually due to nutrient deficiencies or variations in soil moisture. Fruit growth is stunted when the soil lacks moisture during dry weather during fruit growth. Due to this, the skin of the fruit becomes hard. Then, if there is a sudden rain, there is an excess of juice on the ground
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
A1: Yes, pomegranate trees can thrive in containers on rooftops, provided they receive adequate sunlight, proper watering, and well-draining soil.
A2: Water pomegranate trees deeply but infrequently, allowing the soil to dry out slightly between watering sessions. Adjust watering frequency based on weather conditions and soil moisture levels.
A3: Yes, pruning is essential for maintaining the health and productivity of pomegranate trees. Prune annually during the dormant season to remove dead, diseased, or crossing branches.
A4: While it's possible to grow pomegranates from seeds, it's more common and efficient to propagate them from cuttings or purchase young trees from nurseries for rooftop cultivation.
A5: Yes, common pests include aphids, mealybugs, and fruit borers, while diseases such as powdery mildew and root rot can also affect pomegranate trees. Regular monitoring and proper management are essential for preventing and controlling pest and disease issues.
A6: Pomegranate trees typically start bearing fruit within two to three years of planting, although this timeline may vary depending on factors such as tree age, growing conditions, and variety.
A7: Pomegranate trees thrive in warm, sunny climates, but some cold-hardy varieties can tolerate colder temperatures. However, in colder climates, it's essential to provide protection from frost and harsh weather conditions, such as covering the trees or moving them indoors during winter.
A8: With proper care and attention to growing conditions, rooftop-grown pomegranates can be just as flavorful and nutritious as those grown in traditional orchards. Adequate sunlight, soil quality, and proper watering and fertilization are essential factors in producing delicious fruit.
A9: Ripe rooftop pomegranates will develop a deep color and feel heavy for their size. Additionally, the skin should have a glossy appearance, and the fruit should make a metallic sound when tapped. Harvest carefully to avoid damaging the fruit.
A10: Yes, pomegranates can be grown alongside other plants in rooftop gardens, as long as they receive sufficient sunlight and spacing requirements are met. Consider companion planting with herbs or flowers that attract beneficial insects and promote biodiversity.
Pomegranate trees usually start bearing fruit at the age of four to five years. But the initial yield is not as expected. Generally, pomegranate trees give good yield from the age of 8-10 years. Not more than 20-25 fruits are obtained per plant at the time of first fruiting. Yield increases with age. A ten-year-old tree bears an average of 100-150 fruits. But with good care, 200-250 fruits can be obtained per tree. A pomegranate tree can produce profitable crops for up to thirty years. Cultivating pomegranates in your rooftop garden is a rewarding endeavor that allows you to enjoy fresh, homegrown fruit in an urban setting. By following the tips and techniques outlined in this guide, you can successfully grow and harvest pomegranates on your rooftop while adding beauty and vitality to your outdoor space. Start your rooftop pomegranate cultivation journey today and reap the delicious rewards!
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