2022 growing season goals

[pombazaar]

Hey everyone, happy new year! I hope everyone here is doing well and hopefully had some time for R&R. I wanted to share that between the months of January and March of every year I try to prepare some goals that I'd like to achieve for my research for the upcoming growing season. Because grow season is so short here, the time window to collect data is really small. Last year my goal was to determine the best method for rooting. Previous years attempts have been pretty poor because the stretch between February and March is still very cold and my home is very dry so rooting is always a mess. Humidity bins have helped but produce a ton of mold in my house and I end up losing about 50% of my cuttings.

But last year I discovered that cuttings planted outside root like magic with almost no failure. Parafilm the top of your cutting, place in a container of soil, and put them in a semi shaded area. I have read on other forums, people in regions similar to mine having the exact same outcome with things like figs. I am planning on testing this method this year and hope to have a complete collection of everything in UCD by the end of the season which will be used to create experimental hybrids in another 2-3 years. I also would like to start experimenting with drip irrigation because container management and watering is very time consuming. I will see soon if my in ground Wonderful seedling survives its second winter and will soon begin to trial other varieties in ground.

I'm curious what project and research related goals folks here have for their season ahead?

[greenfig]

Happy New Year!

A great post, I was just thinking about the same since for me February is a planting/grafting time.
This is also an evaluation time, what to cull since there are better plants out there.

My main project is to get rid of large pots and containers. Plant in the ground or give to friends.
The trees don't do well in pots in my climate, it's too hot for them. The ones that grow in containers, produce subpar quality fruit and the grow rates are very slow.

Some time ago I started planting two trees in a hole that proved to be very beneficial. The trees don't mind and share the space nicely. I will keep doing it.
Grafting also helps.

Speaking of which, I am looking for Ambrosia pomegranate cuttings. Anyone has a few sticks to share for grafting?

[pombazaar]

Last year I conducted a test concerning the placement of potted trees and fruit production. What I learned is that anything containerized needs shade coverage directly on the container so direct sunlight is not hitting the pot 12 hours a day. Because most pots are black, they absorb light which results in rising temperatures. The sun ends up frying the roots.

So I moved like 3 of these trees along my shed and the results were fantastic for potted figs. I think that this would also apply to pomegranates too. I have one pomegranate tree planted in ground that sits in a 60% shaded area and grows like a weed. I agree that containerized = sub par quality production compared to in ground. Some growers like myself are limited due to climate so we have little in ground options.

As for Ambrosia, I will check my inventory when I am back home to see if I have any that rooted this past year and have survived in my garage.

[greenfig]

Thank you for checking the Ambrosia, please let me know.
Have you tasted its fruit?

[JCT]

No new poms on the horizon for me unfortunately. I missed this year's CRFG scion exchange, so no cuttings other than some figs.

I have had great success direct rooting figs outdoors. Parafilm is a must as all those I tried to root without parafilm died. I have had good success rooting poms in DE indoors.

[chonas]

Root during which season, using hormone or none, if your cutting has 6 buds, how many do you leave above the soil surface?

[BizarrePom]

@pombazaar what time of year are you rooting cuttings outside? What temperatures? I have several dozen cuttings I've started at various times and have been having a constant struggle with humidity using plastic bags over the cups. Things get too wet they start to mold, then I remove the bags to dry them out and they drop leaves, etc.

My most recent starts are doing better because I'm removing bags when there's condensation, then turning the bag inside out and replacing it so the dry side is inside with the cuttings. But I still think it's going to be a serious challenge to wean them off the humidity. It's also very time consuming doing this with so many.

So I've been considering trying the method you posted here. Is this still your preferred method over the last few years?

At what point do you up-pot your cuttings? Do you ever fertilize like I've seen people do with figs? What media are you using?

[brain]

This may be worth trying due to it cutting mold and rot out of the equation, but haven't tried it:



There is also a shorter video without all the dumb jokes that shows up in a google search that he posted on faceborg.

[BizarrePom]

I actually did try this method, but I couldn't find the lid to my container, so I wrapped it in saran wrap. I struggled with keeping the humidity right so they basically went back and forth between moldy and dry. I might try it again in the future with some spare cuttings and a lid to see if that works better. Ultimately, though, I think if I can get them to root without having to do so much manual humidity control, that would be ideal, since it turns out I'm pretty bad at it .