Pomegranate

There doesn't seem to be any mention of this species in the current IBC. This is my workshop tree for an upcoming workshop with Bill Valavanis. I did a little preliminary pruning, but there are some dubious branches that I left for expert advice. (I am an expert at killing pomegranates.)
I think the front is at 7:00.
I pruned off the existing flowers. From them, I would say the cultivar is 'Toyosho.' Is anyone familiar with it? However, 'Toyosho' is supposed to be a standard cultivar, & this one has the dwarf foliage & growth habit. Of course, it has been in an 8-inch pot for 12 years, so who knows?
My most urgent question is when can I repot it? I have tried growing dwarf pomegranate as a subtropical, with a winter rest, with poor results. The seller of this one grows it as a tropical, & keeps the dwarf pomegranates above 45 F all winter. It will be hot here for another month, & I will keep it at least above freezing after that. In the winter it will be under fluorescent lights.
I have a couple of turquoise blue 9 or 10 inch oval pots, & 10 inch ivory & dark blue oblong pots. 'Toyosho' or whatever her name is has peach colored carnation like flowers.
Being a dyed-in-the-wool anorak, geek, or whatever, I looked up the meaning of 'Toyosho.' Apparently it is an old Japanese military order, meaning something like Paulownia Leaves Medal. Paulownia leaves are a symbol of the Imperial Family. I assume the originator decided that his new cultivar deserved a medal.
Iris

I have also a Pomegranate planted 2 yrs ago on the ground and i noticed that the shoots are all over places, the trunk is as ramrod as it is and branches are all shooting for the stars.
Don;t what todo with it.... [Seeds came from Thailand]

Can't help much. Anybody?

We sound like the proverbial broken record here (for the younger generations, when the original 78 RPM discs were cracked or scratched, they would often play the same phrase over & over again without moving on).
We can't advise you very much because we don't know where you live. Put it in your profile. Presumably if you are growing a pomegranate in the ground, you are in a fairly warm climate, but that could be anywhere from South Carolina to Peru, as well as California, Japan, southern China, the Mediterranean, or western Asia. Please be more specific.
If the trunk is stiff, you are stuck with it. If it bends at all without cracking, you can put some curves in it with very heavy wire.
If you feel the pomegranate is ready for styling, maybe it is time to take it out of the ground & put it in a large training pot. Then thin out the branches, keeping the best ones. Then wire them. Don't try to wire the branches down too far, like an old conifer. Pomegranate branches tend to angle up a little.
Iris

I have since found out that Ren lives in the Philippines. I suggested that he find the nearest bonsai club & ask what they use for bonsai soil.
Iris

This is for Ren.
Bonsai Clubs and Societies in the Philippines

Sagay City Bonsai Club, Inc - Sagay City, Negros Occidental, Philippines.
Founded yr 2000. under the presidency of Dr. Diego De Ocampo.
Contact Persons: 1. Dr. Diego De Ocampo,
Cueva St., Sagay City, Negros Occidental, Tel: 034 488 0186
2. Mr. John Delleva Jr, Purok Pasil, Zone 1, Cadiz City,
Negros Occidental, Tel. No. 63 034 493 1624 Mobile. 63 921 489 3721
Email: landscape_johndel@yahoo.com.ph or bonsai_johndel@yahoo.com.ph

Northern Cebu Bonsai Society
The Northern Cebu Bonsai Soceity(NCBS) was organized on September, 2001 by a group of Bonsai enthusiasts. Its active members came from the City of Bogo, municipalities of Medellin, Daanbantayan and San Remigio. Northern Cebu Bonsai Soceity(NCBS) meets every first Sunday of the month. The venue is at the member's garden assigned by the group. contact details and more information is available on thier website.

Cebu Bonsai Society - Organized in l977 with officers are elected every 2years. The current president is Joselito M. Alansalon. We have close to 50 active members and we exhibit our collections every 2 years.

Mt. APO Bonsai Society - The goal of the Mt. APO Bonsai Society is to develop an appreciation of the art of bonsai in the Island of Mindanao. We are headquartered in Davao and meet on the last Sunday of every Month.
For the meeting venue or more information please contact Rudy Cuba
PO Box 80422, Davao City 8000, Island of Mindanao, Ph/Fax: (6382) 235-1159 Email: rudycuba@yahoo.com

Eastern Pangasinan Bonsai Club - A group of new dynamic artist in the eastern part of Pangasinan, particularly based in the town of Tayug and Natividad, headed by Mr. Melchor Noynay and Mr. Jomer Pascua. Ages of our Bonsai range from 2 years old to 70 years old. Our approach to Bonsai arts are inspired by our location, our towns, Tayug and Natividad, Pangasinan are on a scenic view of the mountain range Sierra Madre. The group offers seminars, materials, tools, etc. and also manufacture and sell quality standard bonsai pot at a reasonable price. Membership is open to everybody. The group meets every saturday. For more details Email jomeratsea@yahoo.com


Mindanao Bonsai Society - Formerly known as Kidapawan Bonsai Society, Incorporated wherein the reorganization last September 2006 resulted to Mindanao Bonsai Society composed of four (4) area chapters:
Metro Kidapawan Chapter (covering the 2nd district of North Cotabato)
Midsayap-PALMA Chapter (covering the area of 1st District of North Cotabato province)
SOCSARGEN Chapter (covering Southern Philippines)
Metro Davao Chapter (covering Eastern Mindanao)
Mindanao Bonsai Society (MBS) that banners the slogan: "For us, Bonsai is more than just having beautiful trees", aims to bridge all the existing bonsai clubs in Mindanao thru the spirit of friendship. One (1) entry from MBS, the "Dafedak", semi- cascade Desmodium sp was chosen among the Top 50 International Winner of 2006 World Bonsai Contest
MBS is a member of Bonsai Clubs International
MBS Officers: President - Herden Pedrajas, Vice Pres - Antonio Bacus, Secretary - Eliezer Varon, Treasurer - Marcel Calungsud, MBS Advisor - Atty. Poncevic Ceballos.


Angeles Bonsai Club - Bonsai club in Angeles City, Pampanga.

Angono Bonsai Club - Bonsai club in Angono, Rizal

Pangasinan Bonsai Society - headed by Michael Morden

Baguio-Benguet Bonsai Group - headed by Dr. Noel de Leon

Northern Luzon - based in La Union and headed by Cliff Coloma

La Union Bonsai Society - Bonsai Club in San Fernando City

Alas. I thought I was bringing up an unusual species, but my post landed with a dull thud. I am imagining the unwritten replies:
I'm not commenting on THAT tree. Let Bill straighten her out.
Pomegranate is not a real, he-man bonsai species like Ponderosa pine. It's a weibische toy for old ladies. Feh.
What a schmendrick, trying to grow pomegranates in Central New York, when she's still killing Serissas.
Toyosho? Isn't that a Japanese car?

Oh, well.
Here are a couple of side views. Since I took these pictures, I removed two more overgrown branches. Now that the plant has had time to adjust, I am thinking of repotting it next week, because the soil is very compacted.
iris

Left Side

Right side

Actually, I like dwarf pomegranate as a bonsai subject. Nice colorful flowers and fruit that are in good proportion compared to the size of the tree. Looks like there is some nice rootage showing on yours. I just wish I knew how to encourage backbudding a bit better. Barry

Barry M wrote: I just wish I knew how to encourage backbudding a bit better. Barry

Sorry, pomegranate just doesn't backbud reliably. In fact, a lower key branch will often die off just to spite you.
And I have not been successful with thread grafting. You just have to work around it.
Iris

I know nothing about these. I would want to cut it back really hard ,but what do i know

I am cutting it back gradually. My experience with pomegranates is that if you prune too severely, they die.
Iris

I like the look of the last picture.

I'm going though my gazillions of bonsai magazines, putting useful articles in a database so I can actually find information I want. All my books are next.

If you have the 2001 #2 issue of International Bonsai, Iris, it is filled with good info on Pomegranate.

Thanks, I probably do. I'll look.
Iris

Pauline Merth did a workshop on this species at the St Louis Shohin Conference. Re-potting time is mid-summer for the northern hemisphere. The workshop was in the spring, and heavy pruning was done. They do back bud. Since the plants she brought had been growing in a greenhouse, she said to expect the tree to lose its leaves, but new shoots would grow. Mine did, and now I'm letting them grow out. The tree I show here is the one from that workshop. I had no idea how to style it, until the woman sitting next to me turned it on its side. Here's my tree in a pot that is six inches at its highest.

I forgot to mentioin that when pruning, Pauline recommends leaving part of the branch, then later pruning it back all the way.

I just thought I'd mention that the pomegranate I grew from seed (not the dwarf variety) does back-bud quite readily. I've pruned it back quite severely several times, and the ramification is excellent on it. I'm training it to grow over a rock I found while out hiking one day, so unfortunately it's difficult to photograph, with only half the tree visible above the rim of the pot. I'll post a photo when I transplant it next year though.

Pomegranate make excellent bonsai, in my opinion, especially for beginners. I really like the fact that their leaves are already small so there's not much in the way of leaf reduction to be done. They form incredible root structures and gnarled trunks in a matter of 4 - 5 years, which is pretty remarkable.

At the beginning of the month I repotted it in a 9.5", 24 cm, oval Chinese pot with turquoise glaze. Not my first choice, but the one I wanted to use cracked. I used mycorrhiza and a very generous layer of coarse mix. I've been keeping it in partial shade. I treated it with iron tonic & Miracid. It sat there for three weeks, pale and chlorotic, but did not defoliate. Now it is approaching normal color & showing signs of growth. It is also growing flower buds, which will probably be cut off. I put wire on some of the branches in preparation for the workshop. Now it is time for the chopping, under expert guidance. I will post a picture when the deed is done.
Iris

I would like to know where Mountainrunner keeps his pomegranate in the winter. Also, I gather that dwarf pomegranates are much more sensitive than standard ones, except possibly 'Nejikan.' Or I've just been doing it all wrong. At one time, P. granatum var. nana was considered a separate species.
Here it is, first front then side view. The black tips on some leaves are just from the transition from greenhouse to outdoors. I now have it in almost full sun. As you see it has been pruned back hard, & is just beginning to respond. The old gnarly branches are very spindly. One broke off while I was wiring it. (I'm not Kimura ) The reason for two leaders is that on dwarf pomegranates, the top can die suddenly for no reason than to spite people. If the chosen leader lives over the winter, I will remove the extra one.
Please feel free to criticize. I have been a social worker and a student orchid judge, & I have a very tough hide.

PS. I didn't get the hosting exactly right at first, so the side view is first.
Iris

Hi,

I just wanted to respond to the question about the location I use for overwintering my Pomegranate. I use the attic of our house, which, while finished, is noticeably cooler in the fall/winter. I leave my Pomegranate tree outside until approximately the end of October, so that it can experience colder temperatures, and then I bring it inside to the attic. It will drop all its leaves gradually, and I reduce watering to a bare minimum through the winter months...about once every 3 - 4 weeks. I usually see the beginnings of new growth around late February/early March, at which time I increase the frequency of watering. I should point out that once the tree loses its leaves, I'm not much concerned about the amount of light it gets, but do keep it close to a window - I think the change in light intensity from the sun coming through the window triggers the tree to resume growth. When the weather warms up outside, I move the tree to a shaded location outdoors for a couple of weeks to acclimatize.

By the way, your tree looks great - I'm envious!

Thank you. I don't get a lot of credit, except for choosing which branches to cut off before Bill got to it. It came originally from Canada, and was in the nursery greenhouse for 12 years. There was some wire on it, mostly on branches that I cut off. It hadn't been repotted in a coon's age.
For those who don't know, Hamilton is on the St. Catharine's Peninsula, between Lake Erie & Lake Ontario. It is listed as Zone 6, warmer than here. My garage is too cold for a subtropical. I will keep the pomegranate in the semi-unheated sunporch perhaps until November or December. When the weather turns very cold & the sunporch goes below freezing, it will go under lights.
Iris

I quite like it Iris! If that is the same tree posted near the beginning of this thread then I really did not have a lot of hope for it. Wrong again

Yes, the very same, after pruning, wiring, feeding, repotting, & guiding by Bill Valavanis. There's a moral here. If it should live & be well, I will post another picture in the spring.
Iris

Just an update on my tree. So far it has exceeded my expectations. It has been under the lights all winter. There is no point posting a picture, since it is growing so rapidly it changes from day to day. I keep pinching and pruning, and recently rewired some of the branches. In contrast, a dwarf pomegranate in the same location just sits there & does practically nothing.
If you recall, I was puzzled because 'Toyosho' is a standard cultivar. This was sold as a dwarf, & that's what the foliage looked like at the time. After repotting, feeding, etc., it is obviously a standard. In fact, the leaves look exactly like the ones on Vetro's yamadori from the wilds of Spain.
I have been chasing it back gradually, and have gotten some sporadic backbudding. It was kind enough to bud out on the stub of an important branch that broke during the initial wiring. It is also giving me a first left branch lower down on the trunk. Dunno if it will ever get thick enough.
I still think 'Paulownia Leaves Medal' is a funny name for a tree, but there is an orchid named 464th Infantry, so who am I to criticize?
Happy Holidays
Iris

For those who want to know more about pomegranate mythology, go here:
http://www.paghat.com/pomegranatemyths.html
Iris