Lots of flowers, poor yields in SC for Salavatski
Lots of flowers, poor yields in SC for Salavatski
Hi from a new member! I have a 10 ft tall, healthy 5 year old Salavatski pomegranate in Greenville SC that has been producing hundreds of nice blooms for the past 2 years. Unfortunately, I get only 2 or 3 fruit since everything else eventually drops. A few that dropped we're starting to mature but just fell off. I've tried pollenating via brush, going from male to female blooms but no improvement. I see very few pollinators on the blooms and the Clemson extension office thought a second bush might help with cross pollination. The bush is very thick with branches and I'm pruning it now - hoping to focus the plant energy on fewer blooms. It gets full sun but sits in the corner next to a 6 ft wooden, partially slatted fence, so I'm wondering if it needs better circulation. All fruit so far has come from the open side of the bush, away from the fence. Any tips for pruning (when and how), getting a second bush, companion plants, moving it, etc. would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
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alanmercieca
- Posts: 222
- Joined: Fri Nov 01, 2019 3:59 pm
- Location: North Carolina
Re: Lots of flowers, poor yields in SC for Salavatski
Pruning can easily eliminate a potential crop. Do you have clay soil, because that is the type of soil we have. Our Salavatski does not produce most years, and it took unusually long to get a first crop, ours is older than yours, ours has been in the ground for 12 years. I am starting to suspect that our soil has zero nutrition. I am going to start fertilizing and see if that helps. I have tried in the past although the heavy rains here seemed to just wash the fertilizer away before the plants could get it. The same thing is happening with all our pomegranates varieties, not just Salavatski. So it's not just that variety, and it's not due to a shortage of varieties. Pomegranates are water hogs and nutrient hogs when they are flowering, and when they are fruiting. If they don't get enough the flowers will drop, even the fruiting flowers can. I also suspect that when a pomegranate bush is stressed out it will only produce male flowers, or mostly male flowers. Not having enough water or nutrients can do that to a pomegranate bush.
I also suspect that the late frosts that we can get in the south shocks the pomegranate bushes, and forces the roots of the plants to grow more aggressively than the plant it's self, this happens to make the plant invincible, the plant can always come back up from the roots that way, if the roots are strong enough. Some of my pomegranate bushes clone themselves from the roots. This process takes priority over fruiting, especially if the plant is getting limited nutrition from the soil.
I have also learned that when a pomegranate bush fails to fruit a decent crop, a nice thick layer of mulch over the ground over the root area helps a lot. I will start getting mulch every single year.
I also suspect that the late frosts that we can get in the south shocks the pomegranate bushes, and forces the roots of the plants to grow more aggressively than the plant it's self, this happens to make the plant invincible, the plant can always come back up from the roots that way, if the roots are strong enough. Some of my pomegranate bushes clone themselves from the roots. This process takes priority over fruiting, especially if the plant is getting limited nutrition from the soil.
I have also learned that when a pomegranate bush fails to fruit a decent crop, a nice thick layer of mulch over the ground over the root area helps a lot. I will start getting mulch every single year.