The Tropical Fruit Forum

Right on, thanks!

I have a few pomegranate propagation questions that I wanted to pose

I have been doing a little research (google searches) and I am not finding a lot of specific information on pomegranate propagation, mostly a lot of general info. Specifically, what is the best time of year for both harvesting scions / cuttings from donor plants and when the the best time to perform grafting / rooting?

1) Grafting onto a mature plant / rootstock, Grafting in this case is to perform a canopy change or to make a 'cocktail' pomegranate (does anyone do this?)

Questions:
- Pomegranate grafting is done with either a cleft graft or a whip and tongue graft, does this sound right? Who has experience with this, and what are the approx success rates.
- What size scion is used (e.g. pencil thickness x 6 in" long)? Are the leaves cut on the scion as usual, do you need swelling buds?
- When can grafting be done? Any time there is active growth or do you have to wait until it is dormant? When is the best time of year for a successful graft?

2) Grafting onto a seedling. Assume that the seeds have been sown after harvest (fall) and seedling has overwintered.

- Same set of questions as above

3) Rooting cuttings

It seems like pomegranate cuttings root similarly to fig cuttings. When is the best time of year to take the cuttings from the mother plant? What is the best practice to preparing a cutting on the mother plant (remove leaves, small side branches and wait for swelling buds like with mango or avocado, or is it not sensitive to that?).

All feedback is welcome. My Wonderful pomegranate is doing wonderfully (yuk, yuk) and I would like to increase my varieties slowly and inexpensively (I don't mind experimenting too). So I am open to grafting onto my mature Wonderful pomegranate, or grafting onto seedlings, or starting new plants from cuttings. I am looking for input for the relative success I can expect from each approach.

Chaunsa as sweet as Gary (brix29) with a chalky complex taste this mango is top 10....but imagine Manohar a seedling of Chaunsa is a better overall mango

Nice! Out of curiosity (and to be on the complete opposite end of what this post is about) what is the peak summer high temperatures where this tree was grown?

starch,
not sure if you had read, but i posted that Mallika has Dussehri as one of the parents.
the other parent is Neelam, which i think is also originally from  North India
I am in zone 9b also. i might buy a Mallika just to see...

I did read that. That is potentially very encouraging! I had a Mallika once, but it died in my summer. The plant was damaged in shipping so it already had an iffy shot of making it (maybe some root shock). But probably the biggest factor was my ineptitude in taking care of it. I was too eager to get it established, I really should have babied it more when I got it.

I think I will try to find some scions and give Mallika another shot, Thanks!

Rob,

Here are some more images to help with the ID

Pannicle closeup:



Another pannicle closeup:



Tree shot. This shows the 'lanky' quality better. The new flush starts as upright then as it matures and lengthens it starts to bend over, giving the tree a 'weeping' quality. Then it hardens that way. This is why some of the leaves look like they are growing sideways. The new growth from the node points on the weeping branches is vertical, as is the new growth at the top of the tree.

That is a beautiful flower and a beautiful fruit! I love the red on the edges of the flower scales.

Quote from: Dangermouse01 on July 17, 2015, 05:00:05 PM

First ever flower on my Cebra dragon fruit opening tonight.

Today.
DM

Mark,

That is great news if it pans out! That is also a great link, thanks for sharing!

Slicko,

I have a Floridaprince too, and it is a great peach! I have a young tree and it set 3 dozen fruits which I thinned down to a dozen. And when they started to ripen in April the birds got every one of them But I was able to get a few bites of of some of the peaches and they were very good. And they will only get better as the tree matures, so I am very psyched!

I did flash tape as a bird repellent, and it did nothing. I will definitely have to use aviary netting in the spring.

I wants me some more peaches!

Quote from: starch on May 25, 2015, 10:06:26 AM

Quote from: Diospyros on May 25, 2015, 07:47:32 AM

Quote from: barath on December 07, 2014, 11:29:25 PM

Interesting -- so his rootstock trees are actually airlayers from some new variety he bred?

Could it be that he's using etiolation instead of airlayering per se to propagate his rootstock.

Etiolation has been succesfully used to propagate avocado rootstocks resistant to salinity and PC accross the from CA, to Spain and South Africa!

This is a very interesting question. I agree with you about etiolation for avocado rootstocks. I believe this is the process that Brokaw Nurseries and other use to generate clonal rootstocks. It is essentially airlayering but I recall reading (awhile ago) that there was etiolation period before the airlayering process which produces a better airlayer. Please correct me if I'm mistaken.

I have also always read that mangoes are typically difficult to airlayer. It can and has been done (by members of this forum too), but the success rate is often low. But I think you might be on to something. Maybe an etiolation period could really increase the success rate.

One would point out that this is not the preferred way to propagate a mango tree, because the mangoes grow with very large and deep taproots and an airlayer will obviously not have a taproot. But this can likely be overcome by tailoring a watering schedule and treating it like a shallow rooted tree (more frequent watering) instead of a deep rooted one (infrequent very deep watering). However this means that the airlayered rootstock has to be very salt tolerant because any water salinity will be exacerbated by this watering approach.

Good insights, there is a lot to consider about these trees. Which I admit I am very interested in. Every winter I protect my mango trees with C9 Christmas lights and frost cloth (my winter lows tend to be 28-30 F). But if a mango was bred to have a few more degrees of cold tolerance, it would make a big difference to my growing area.

Hey Starch,


the etiolation technique also called the Froelich technique is indeed used by Browkaw Nurseries. In fact I believe they also perfected it.

As is the case with mangos; having a tap root is be the best option but plants grafted onto clonal rootstock they will eventually develop a strong root system after it's established.

Here's a link to better understand the etiolation technique : http://www.avocadosource.com/WAC4/WAC4_p217.pdf


Does a trees frequently watered need to be more tolerant to salinity? I mean unless you had high levels of salt in your water, I would have thought frequent water would on the contrary wash away any excess of salts?

Anyway, just like the rest of you, I'm curious about these frost hardy mangos.... I hope we get to see the day when mangos can be grown way past their cultivation zone....

OK OK growing mangos in Paris may not be possible anytime soon, but hey.... fingers crossed!! lol

Diospyros,

Thanks for the confirmation and the link! I will definitely check out the document.

Yes, good question. I should have clarified. My water here is high pH (about 8.0) with lots of dissolved solids, high Sodium and Calcium, etc. So for me I have to be very conscious about my watering schedule. My summers are very hot so I do need frequent waterings (which are not deep), however I need to do a deep flush watering about once a week so that any accumulated salts get flushed from the root zone.

Adam, That is an impressive writeup! You really covered all the bases in detail. This really does sound like it will be a game-changing low chill blueberry. I am super excited to try it out here! Thanks again for sharing all your discoveries here and for taking the time to document this so fully!

Adam,

I look forward to all the information to be coming about this blueberry on this thread. And you can officially put me on the list of one of the people who will buy a blueberry plant from you when it becomes available.

I think it might be worthwhile. The Ken Love / Hawaii Extension video (last part of the second video) : Grafting Avocado Part 2 talks about bending over the top part of the avocado rootstock to change the apical dominance.


mod edit: fixed video

That is excellent, thanks!