Some yield trees are extremely susceptible to disease and pest infestation , such as stone fruits like peach and plum tree , or apples .
Others , like the pomegranate , are far less likely to be stricken with serious diseases or ravaged by infestation . But there are a handful of pests and diseases to be on the sentry for .
Fortunately , mostof these maladies will be visibly evident , as long as you ’re paying attention – but how will you know what to look for ?
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Read on to learn what signs and symptoms you may bear from a distressed pomegranate tree diagram or bush , and how to address problems when they arise .
What You’ll Learn
Planning Ahead
Even with the slightly lower likeliness that sickness might smite your pomegranate plants in the first post , you ’ll still want to take some preventive measure to patronise their health .
If you have n’t planted your tree or shrub yet , you should be sure to select a localisation where the grunge drains well . Soil that stays too soused , or that stays wet for too long , will harbor pathogens that can go to infection .
If you ’ve got an existing tree that is acquire in soil with poor drainage , there are several ways to slump the payoff , admit installing waste pipe , adding trenches to divert pee , or if all else give way , relocating the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree .
You ’ll also want to make trusted you ’re not overwatering . These flora have a cryptical taproot that can find bury moisture even in drouth conditions , so you should only need to bid about one inch of water system per calendar week to mature trees during times of little rainfall .
Do n’t lowball the grandness of the soil to overall plant wellness – it ’s one of the Francis Scott Key to keep your plants thriving . If you need more selective information on soil health , and how to speak less than idealistic conditions , read our scout .
Pruning is crucial for pomegranate plant , whether you choose to mould them into trees with a individual loss leader or allow them to grow in their rude bush mannikin .
Crowded or dense plant can hold humidity , and obtuse branches and foliage may subdue airflow or light penetration , lead to conditions that can invite disease and plague .
Without tolerable pruning , manyvarieties of pomegranatecan become declamatory – some standards grow up to 30 foot in height and nearly as wide .
If they become overgrown , you may have a very dense , bristly shrub on your hired man to attempt to treat , which can be very unmanageable .
One of the simplest ways to prevent issues with works health is to frequently observe the condition of the plant .
Often , you ’ll be able to see signboard that indicate problems in advance , before they become life-threatening . If multiple trees are grow in close proximity , you ’ll desire to be extra vigilant to prevent likely spread .
If you ’ve had previous offspring with pest and you desire to bolster up your plants ’ defense reaction against reinfestation , you’re able to introducebeneficial nematodesor attractbeneficial insectssuch as greenish lacewing , beg mantises , and ladybugs .
Birds are also helpful , as they consume pest insects , and there are a bit of direction to make your yard more bid for themas described in this article .
There are only a few common pests and diseases that are known to dissemble pomegranate , and fortunately , many of these are relatively leisurely to mitigate .
Pests
Let ’s take a look at the unwanted guests you might see peruse your plant life first .
Herbivores
pomegranate tree are a character of tree that most animals will pass up . The thick outside of the fruit is enough of a baulk that many avoid them exclusively , choosing other easy - to - use up foods from your garden instead .
There is but one known herbivorous creature that can give you quite a hassle – the squirrel .
They ’re precious , are n’t they ? Hopping along , tiny digit dig at the railing of your porch , downlike tails twitching behind them ?
cunning , that is , until they make up one’s mind the fruits you ’ve been wait on to ripen for six months look like a gracious choice for breakfast .
Even more annoying , they ’ll not only eat at on the fruits to extract some of the seed , but they ’ll throw out more than one-half after they tire of chewing the ruffianly exteriors , leave them to rot on the earth .
You ’ll probably see Crow or other prominent birds picking at the expose semen left behind .
There are very few deterrents or methods usable for barring access to squirrel ; they ’re loosely able to chew through , mount over , or weasel their way into any justificatory system you have spend time and money installation .
you’re able to set forth with using web or newspaper barrier bag to wrap each fruit individually .
This can be extremely prison term consume and a huge incommodiousness , but once the pollenate buds begin to go up , you could continue them . Be sure to wed the pocketbook tightly closed .
you may rule a 10 - pack of reusable mesh barrier bagsavailable from Amazon , but be warned – they ’re not manducate - proof .
Mesh Barrier Bags
You may postulate a marvelous ladder if you plan to cover all of the fruit on your tree , or you may conceive leave the fruits at the top give away as a forfeit .
A nebulizer of capsaicin on form fruit may facilitate to deter the foggy forager for a myopic time , but after a ponderous rainwater , it ’ll likely wash away . you may continue to reapply if you notice some success in keeping their fidgety whiskers off of your Punica granatum .
In conjunction with one of the other aforementioned methods , you could add a charge plate decoy to the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree or bush , such as this faux hawk , uncommitted from Walmart .
Decoy Hawk
decoy such as these can give the squirrel a scare that keep them away temporarily , but you ’ll need to move it every so often to keep them imagine so they do n’t get used to its presence .
Ultimately , you may end up stand in your K love a pot with a wooden spoon to scare them off . Trust me – we ’ve all consider doing this !
Not all pests that you may take on are the kind with hair’s-breadth and fur . Insects can also target your pomegranate trees . take on to distinguish the most unwashed types you may encounter .
Aphids
Once again , it ’s our older foe , the aphid . You might wonder , how could an dirt ball so minor cause enough damage to affect an entire tree diagram ?
The solution is double : they not only pierce plant to course on the fool indoors in bombastic amount – much larger than you might opine – but they also propagate disease by carry pathogen between septic and healthy plants .
Issues such as these might be minor if not for the fact that they tend to engender exponentially throughout the spring and summer , lead to a major plague of insects that are all always feast .
Aphids can be a pain to get rid of as well , often veil effectively and set so many eggs that they keep come back . It can be even more challenging to disembarrass a tree of them when most are out of mickle and out of reach .
Learn about combating aphid infestation inour comprehensive scout to aphid mastery .
Citrus Flat Mites
Among the more difficult pesterer to spot , you ’ll findBrevipalpus lewisi , the citrus categorical mite . These pestis are also known as false wanderer mites .
If you’refamiliar with spider mitesand know how unmanageable they are to discover prior to spotting their webs or the damage they cause , then you ’ll understand how unmanageable the citrus flat mite can be to spot .
This is an even smaller species , measuring in at just one - tenth of a millimetre long .
The adults , which are gold - colored , favor warm temperature in arid climates , and will most commonly infest pomegranate during the warmest month of the yr .
Depending upon the seasonal temperatures in your region , you may see them any time between April and September .
Their eggs are nearly imperceptible with the au naturel eye even though they are crimson in color . These are put down through the summertime month on both fruit and folio .
Both nymph and adult prey on plant life fluid . They tend to target fruit that have already been damaged , and may cohabitate with thrips and other insects that impart breaches in the control surface of the fruit , making access code easy .
scathe appears as scabbing orrusseting , patches on the airfoil of the fruit that are approximate and brown . planetary house of viral or fungous sickness may appear when they ’re present as well , as they ’re known to spread disease they thrust the plant to feed .
When temperature begin to come down , the mites will prepare for dormancy by colonizing under barque , in abstruse ridges , and inside the flexure of blooms , where they ’ll overwinter until spring .
Eradicating citrus flat mites typically involves two step : an covering of neem oil in the dormant calendar month , and an program of sulfur between give and summer .
S products can be apply as a pulverisation , or mixed with water and sprayed according to package directions . Allow at least two months between program of neem vegetable oil and sulfur .
Bonide Sulfur Fungicide
Bonide Sulfur Fungicide is available in one - pound nursing bottle or four - pound bagsfrom Arbico Organics .
It works well to combat citrus flat soupcon , other mite species , and fungal pathogens as well . Be deliberate not to over - enforce it , as this can head to resistance .
Leaf-Footed Bugs
There are 12 of insect in the family Coreidae , includingLeptoglossus phyllopus , the easterly leaf - foot microbe .
These insects give birth a unassailable resemblance to assassin bugs , which are known to be beneficial predatory insects in the garden . However , while they ’re similar in material body , they differ greatly in function .
Whereas bravo bugs prey on other louse , and can sometimes aid in ridding the garden of irritating pest , leaf - pick hemipteran are herbivorous and pierce plants with their mouthpart to take in the sap out like aphid do .
Adult leaf - footed bugs are big – sometimes three - quarter of an inch to one inch long . They incline to be dark brown or gray in colour , although some display lustrous colors like sensationalistic and orange as well .
Some have classifiable mark on their backs , like a checkerboard formula or brightly bleached spots .
Their head are diminished and pointed , their antennae and legs are long and spindly , and they have violin - shape bodies . The adults typically have a frill along the ends of their rearward leg , the reason for their common moniker , “ leaf - footed . ”
Adults are jolly tardily - moving , but they can fly , so they are capable of infesting plant across the garden at a quick clip . They feed on many eccentric of fruit and vegetables , but in particular enjoytomatoes , blackberry bush , and pomegranates .
The grownup can lay their chocolate-brown bollock throughout the yr inUSDA Hardiness Zones7 to 11 , deposit them underneath leafage and on branch where they will often go unnoticed .
The nymphs , which are typically bright red or orange , then hachure and begin to course , consuming as much as they can in the six to eight calendar week required for them to mature .
Both adults and nymph can overwinter in protected surface area , and since they are typically present in warmer climates , they can be line up in the garden year - round . It takes consistent temperatures in the 20 ° F or low range to vote down them .
Adults also give off a pungent odor when disturbed , deterring predation .
It can be difficult to find grounds of damage on fruits . You ’re more likely to see the dirt ball themselves as they be given to congregate together , especially while in nymph form .
You may see XII of worm meet to feed , specially on fruits that have cleave on the tree where access is easy .
impairment can sometimes be seen when fruits are cut subject , as the proboscis of the worm Franklin Pierce through and leave a brown mark on the interior .
Arils on the inside of the fruit may be shrink where the insects have sucked the juices from them . You may also observe soft sections of rotting on the exterior of the fruit .
Be sure to tick for augury of disease , such as heart decompose as described below , on the interior of the fruit , as insects that puncture the flesh to feed can easy introduce disease pathogen as well .
aril that are not damage are still good to have .
While chemical pesticides such as permethrin can be used to battle these dirt ball , the more environmentally - favorable method is to pull on a duad of garden glove and gather them up to flip into a bucket of soapy water , provided they are within stretch .
One or more applications of neem oil can also be spray on the plant , according to package instructions , when the insects are in the houri stage . Be sure to use it prior to the attack of temperatures over 90 ° atomic number 9 to invalidate smothering the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree .
create an environment in your one thousand that is friendly to birds , toad , lounge lizard , and ophidian can bring those good creatures in to serve keep pest number down .
Leafroller Caterpillars
The omnivorous leafroller moth ( Platynota stultana)deposits egg in the springiness on weeds , Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree luggage compartment , and grass near fruit and junkie tree , bloom shrubs , and ornamental plants .
The larva spend the wintertime pucker into dull plant life material , so it ’s important to control weeds and remove tall grass that ’s develop near your trees .
nut are hoary - green and most savorless . They are laid in a shingle - like formation that can come along scaly .
The adult moth are rust brown in color with an extended snout - comparable mouth . They ’re little – only about half an inch long – so it can be unmanageable to see them among the foliage of plant and weeds .
When the eggs are lay , it ’ll only take about a week for them to dream up . The caterpillars that emerge will then begin to feed in , crunch on leaves and burrowing into yield where they may go entirely undetected .
The Caterpillar are only about one - after part of an inch in distance , with a burnished green color and rusty Brown University to orange - colored heads .
After they ’ve eaten their filling , they ’ll pull a leaf against the side of a fruit and form a silklike cocoon where they ’ll look emergence as grownup .
Caterpillars can bankrupt your fruits by tunneling into them , but the more significant danger is the possible spread head of pathogens that make diseases , such asAlternariaalternata , the fungus that causes heart rot .
fruit that have been break by the cat may still be ingest if the arils are steady and good for you upon inspection , but be trusted to look for any signs of molder , as this may indicate disease . Diseased fruit should not be consumed .
It ’s best to stop a serious infestation before it can take hold , as it ’s about impossible to toss off larvae that have reach the pupa stage when they ’ve cocooned and shield themselves inside ramble leaf .
A generous software of neem fossil oil can be spray on the tree accord to software system directions in late winter or early leaping , and again in late spring or early summer , while fruits are still minuscule and developing .
you’re able to also use pheromone traps to attract adults and cut off their mating cycle . Pheromone sand trap , tempt , and glue strip areavailable from Arbico Organics .
Beneficial bacteria can be put on to the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree to demolish larvae as they hatch , such asBacillus thuringiensis v. kurstaki .
Bonide Thuricide
you’re able to find product that contain the bacteria , such as Bonide Thuricide , available in quart- or Imperial gallon - size of it bottlesat Arbico Organics .
Mealybugs
you could find mealybug infestations on a immense phone number of industrial plant species . Much like aphids , they ’ll take what they can get and take as much of it as possible .
adult are mostly immobile , seize at the mouth to the plants they thrust to feed from . They can set century of eggs in a poor timespan and typically lay in more than one cycle throughout the warmer months of the twelvemonth .
Their nymphs , known as lackey , are more wandering and very small – usually no more than one - fourth part of an inch in length .
Again , it can be tough to fight an plague of minute of arc louse on a large yield Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree , but there are several methods that you’re able to put into practice to reduce their number and limit the damage they cause .
For double-dyed selective information on this pesterer , see our guidebook to identifying and insure mealy bug .
Thrips
There are several metal money of thrip that are have it away to populate pomegranate trees and shrub , and most are actually beneficial piranha of pest insects , such as soupcon .
But one of these coinage , Rhipiphorothrips cruentatus , is not beneficial . This mintage fertilize on the tomfool of pomegranate plants , much like aphid or mealy bug , and leaves grounds of this behind in the figure of equipment casualty to your plants .
Young fruits that are infested by thrips may show blackleg that do n’t allow them to grow properly .
The soaked , brown scabs cause deformities that may make the fruit less than desirable yield . A large infestation can stimulate leaf curling and discolouration , bud drop , and stunted increase .
Fortunately , an plague is unconvincing to lead to the death of a mature tree , but it can still be a nuisance that you ’ll want to address to forbid further issues .
For information on managing an infestation of harmful thrip , see our comprehensive guide to identifying and controlling these pests .
Diseases
There are remarkably few diseases that ordinarily affect pomegranate trees – that ’s the good news . The defective news is that these are often difficult or impossible to care for , and they can chair to significant crop passing or even works last .
It ’s good to keep a skinny heart on your plants for signs of a problem , so you’re able to fascinate it early on .
Botrytis
One of the most common fungous disease that gardeners and yield growers receive is gray mold , caused byBotrytis cinerea .
This fungus spreads through airborne spores that colonize on damp surfaces . The spores can attach to unfledged fruits and persist dormant inside the calyxes of the prime until they mature and ripen .
While it ’s uncommon for botrytis to colonise on fruits that are still growing , you ’ll need to keep an oculus out after the harvest .
fruit are more likely to pass dupe to fungal exploitation when they ’re wash but not countenance adequate prison term and flow of air to dry thoroughly , or they ’re not kept at cool enough temperatures between 32 and 40 ° F .
Signs of infection are obvious : thick gray-haired molding develops on the airfoil of the seed vessel , ofttimes overtaking the total exterior – sometimes within a matter of days – causing speedy decline .
It ’s not potential to prevent the spores from coming into contact with your plants , but there are a few cadence you may take to deter the formation of gray mildew .
Be sure that your plant is prune to leave air and sunshine to arrive at the fruit . Plant surface that are dry are less potential to harbor the fungus , while dull leafage retain humidity and water more readily than clip plant with adequate spacing .
Fungicides can technically be applied both pre- and postharvest , but avoid doing so unless you ’ve had a serious issue with botrytis on your pomegranate plant life before , or other neighboring plants .
Over - covering of fungicides can do more harm than unspoilt , leading to ohmic resistance .
After harvesting the ripe fruits , be perfectly sure to allow them meter to dry out in an area with beneficial ventilation .
Spread them out on a dry towel or tabletop for a few hours , and direct a fan toward them if you ’ve mark moisture or endure in a humid environment .
Unless you ’re go to utilize them immediately , you should move them to cold warehousing right away after dry . Fruits that are store at room temperature between 60 and 75 ° fluorine are more potential to develop mold .
Or best yet , wait to lave your harvesting until just before eating , and dispose of any harvested yield that show signs of spoilage .
Cercospora Fruit Spot
Signs of this fungous transmission , due to Cercospora punicae , include oval - mold black spots on branches , brown spots on foliage that unfold until they form pitch-dark patches , and leafage discoloration .
This infection is also commonly referred to as ignominious mould , and it can lead to foliage and yield drop , as well as eventual death of the tree if leave untreated .
In most cases , you ’ll likely notice obvious signs before it has overtaken the tree diagram , but it can still cause harvest loss .
The fungi often overwinter in bark , rot fruit , or soil , and spores are go around during periods of heavy rainfall coinciding with tender temperatures .
You ’ll want to immediately prune by any septic plant material and throw away it by burning or placing it in a well - seal off trash bag by from other plants .
Any shear or equipment that come into contact with infected material should be disinfect before they ’re stored or used on other plant .
Be certain that drainage is adequate surrounding the tree diagram , as pie-eyed soil will preserve to harbor and spread the fungal spores , potentially leave to reinfection . Allow the soil to dry out after tearing .
BioWorks Cease
Fungicides can be applied , such as BioWorks Cease , available from Arbico Organics – but again , mind of over - software as it can chair to opposition .
Heart Rot
Heart rot , also have sex as black center , is another fungal infection you may bump . It ’s caused byAlternaria alternata , a fungus that affects the interior of the yield while the outside retain its healthy appearance .
In fact , you are n’t potential to notice any outward symptom at all as the fungus spread out through the interior of green fruits that have been sham , rendering them inedible .
By the time you’replanning to harvest , septic fruits might have an unusually light weight , or they may make a vacuous audio when tapped upon .
Arils infected withA. alternatawill have a mushy grain , and appear brown or black as the fungus breaks down the flesh . This fungus is recognize to feign pomegranates and other yield crops throughout the humans .
Heart bunk often goes undetected because the fungus actually infiltrate the mould blossom as the tree blooms , remaining dormant inside the procreative area or ovary at the base until the fruit begin to form .
In gist , the transmission farm with the yield .
At present , there is no known cure or discourse for this condition available . alas , the most you’re able to do is pick the affected fruit and start over .
At harvest time , you could sometimes shake the tree or shrub gently and infected fruit may fall off on their own .
Be certain to disinfect any garden tools that you use to polish off or collect the fruits to nullify circularize spores to other plant life .
Planning and Vigilance Go a Long Way
Always do your best to give your pomegranate works a once - over each mean solar day . Taking stock of plant life wellness on a regular basis will make it so much easier to prevent serious problems from developing afterwards on .
Now that you get it on the warning polarity for the most common varieties of pest and disease that may affect your pomegranates , you ’ll be more disposed to behave when you see them .
If you ’re in search ofmore info about care for pomegranate flora , take a look at these guide next :
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Kelly Spicer
