After last week’s unexpected (but much appreciated rain) my pomegranate’s branches were heavily weighed down. I thought they’d spring up when they dried off but it didn’t happen. This is actually good to know because if they couldn’t support a little rain keeping fruit off the ground would have been more of a challenge. So at this point do I try to tie them up? I’ve seen online photos of a strap around the center like a belt. Or do I prune them more and wait for them to get a little stronger?
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Pomegranates bushes get stronger with age. How old are these bushes? How long have they been in the ground?
The first one was probably about three when we planted it two years ago, friends had it in a large pot and decided against keeping it. It wasn’t too root bound and adapted well to the soil. The second has also been in the ground for two years but I grew it from a cutting, I think it was about a year old when I planted it but has been a super vigorous grower.
The problem with pomegranate bushes is that they grow too fast for how thin they grow yet with age the new vegetation gets higher and higher, as the bushes start reacting to the cooler weather the new growth hardens off good. The branches will hang with the weight of the fruit no matter what you do. Them being off the ground is the important thing which will eventually happen. Do not worry about it unless you see flowers. the branches will get thicker and harder before they truly harden off. At their ages there can not be a lot of fruit or flowers so why try to go through the effort of dealing with each branch. It’s very rare for a pomegranate to fruit it’s first year of flowering. Have they flowered already?
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I don’t see a problem. I’ve been growing pomegranates for 26 years and this is just how many pomegranates grow.
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They are flowering right now. The second one fruited for the first time last year and the first one has fruited for the past two years.
@castanea when your pomegranates grow this way how do you keep the fruit off of the ground?