In the time that has passed since my last post about my pomegranate seedling (about a week), it has grown another two inches in height, bringing it to a full foot tall! This means that it is time for me to prune it back to six inches.
The reason I want to prune my pomegranate while it is still so young is so that I can keep it small. Pomegranates are very forgiving when it comes to pruning and shaping, and I plan to take advantage of that. I don't have a lot of room for large fruit trees; my one avocado is large enough! Right now my pomegranate is in a 4-inch pot, and I intend to keep it in that little pot for as long as I can.
Here are a couple photos of it, with a ruler for scale:
Here you can get another view of the growth pattern of its leaves. They grow in pairs, on opposite sides of the stem.
A part of me doesn't want to cut it down, because it's worked so hard to get to the height that it is now. But on the other hand, I have to remind myself that pruning is essential if I want to keep this little guy healthy in such a small pot. Plus it'll be exciting once the branches start growing.
And here we go! She's already much sturdier.
Now what to do with the part I cut off? I may just stick it in my nursery pot and see what happens. I'm not sure if pomegranates will grow roots from a stem like that but it's worth it to experiment!
I'll post again in a few weeks once she's begun to grow her branches.
Until next time,
- Jess
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