July 2016 - A&P Nursery

There’s nothing like having a beautifully landscaped yard. But it’s even better when parts of it are edible. You can’t run out and gnaw on your tulips. So growing a pomegranate tree in Mesa is a great option. That way you can have your yard, and eat it too. The pomegranate tree’s beautiful red fruit against the dark green leaves provides a wonderful contrast and interest to your yard. In addition if you already love pomegranate you won’t have to go pay the grocer to get your favorite fruit.

Pomegranates are native to Asia and Southeastern Europe. They have also been extensively cultivated in ancient Babylonia, Egypt, Iran, and India. As far as pomegranate trees history in North America they were brought here by the Spanish. First they were brought to Mexico and then to California and Arizona.

The pomegranate tree is easy to grow in your Mesa garden. It has beautiful flowers and is well suited to our Mesa desert environment. They might be called a tree but they are somewhere between a bush and a tree. Typically growing anywhere from 6 – 12 feet high they are a deciduous and will lose their leaves for the fall and winter. They relish the full sun and summer heat, but can withstand some pretty stout cold days. They can survive as low as 10°F. During the hotter, drier parts of the summer they might need a little tending. Pomegranate trees are mildly drought resistant, but better safe than sorry and help them out with some water during the harshest parts of summer. This will help ensure that you get more, better fruit.

What Pomegranate Tastes Like

Pomegranate flavor will vary some depending on the soil and amount of water they got during the growing season. However most will have a tart, sweet taste. Despite the tendency of the seeds to stain skin with a reddish hue, they are the favorite part of the fruit. Pomegranate seeds are bursting with flavor. They have a juicy, sweet taste that people in Mesa love.

What To Do With Pomegranate

Unlike fruits like the banana or orange where you simply grab a hold and peel the fruit, it takes a little more effort to get into a pomegranate. But you will be rewarded for your efforts with a unique flavor and a deliciously sweet fruit. Here’s how to get one open.

Opening A Pomegranate

The pomegranate typically has a leathery pinkish to red skin. It may look hard to open, but with a little knowledge it becomes very simple. Here’s the specifics on how to make it easy and get to enjoying the fruits of your labor. Always cut away from yourself and use common sense when handling your knives.

Pom Preparation

Cut off the top of the pomegranate
Slice down the edges or ribs of the pomegranate
Try to cut deep enough to crack the skin, but don’t score the seeds
Gripping the top where you cut initially pull outwards and crack it open
Enjoy the fruit of your labors

Ways To Enjoy Pomegranates

Not being one of the fruits they teach you much about in elementary and not being one of the best known fruits a lot of people are hesitant to plant one of these beauties in their backyard. Here are some ideas of what you can do with the fruit.

Here’s just a few ways that people love enjoying their Pomegranates:

Make A Stake Glaze With Pomegranate – After extracting the juice from your pomegranate you can combined it with some coarsely ground peppercorn, rosemary, olive oil, brown sugar, balsamic vinegar to make a wonderfully complex glaze to set your steaks apart.

Throw Some Seeds In Your Salad – After you’ve got your Pomegranate cracked open you can sprinkle them into your tossed green salad with some pear slices and blue cheese. The Pomegranate gives it that extra depth and flavor.

Toss Some Seeds In Your Breakfast – Many pomegranate lovers will add the seeds to a variety of foods. From throwing a few into yogurt to simply making a breakfast salad having some pomegranate seeds give

Planting A Pomegranate Tree In Your Mesa Backyard

While the most common pomegranate trees that are grown in Arizona and California is the “Wonderful” variety of Pomegranate, there are other varieties. The Wonderful pomegranate grows best in the Mesa area which is why it is so prolific.

Choosing A Site For Your Pomegranate Tree – Like most trees that thrive in hot dry desert like areas like Mesa the Pomegranate tree relishes the full sun. In fact a successful harvest of pomegranate is dependent on getting enough sun so it can grow properly. If you don’t have a backyard or spot that gets that full sun every day, pick the spot that gets the least amount of shade.

The soil in the site you pick needs to be a well draining soil, like a sandy soil. Loam soil also offers good drainage. They grow well in alkaline soils, but some growers believe that they must be growing in slightly acidic soils. The biggest problem is if you have a clay type soil, which will retain too much water and risk getting root rot.

Choosing A Site For Your Mesa Pomegranate Tree

Planting Your Pomegranate Tree – In some areas of the country that has frost problems they have to wait for spring and after the first frost. In Mesa you have a little more flexibility. But earlier in the year is better. This will help get the tree established with a healthy root system before the intense Mesa summers take hold. If you are planting the tree yourself you need to have a hole dug about 2 feet deep and about 2 feet wide.

Watering Your Pomegranate Tree – For newly planted trees an immediate watering is necessary to help the soil settle. Continue to do daily watering until the tree grows new leaves. This is a sign that your pomegranate is settled into its new home. After you’ve got new leaf growth you’ll want to start spacing you’re watering out and end up at about once a week. This can vary depending on the heat for the week, harsher weeks require a little more watering. When your pomegranate is flower or fruit is developing you will want to give your tree a deep watering every week.

Fertilizing Your Pomegranate Tree – For the pomegranate a ammonium sulfate fertilizer is a great option. Using about 1/3 of a cup sprinkle your fertilizer on the ground around the roots to enrich the soil with the nutrients that you tree needs to grow the best it can. You’ll want to do this about 3 times during the first year of growth. The best months to do this fertilization are February, May and September.

Fertilizing Your Pomegranate Tree in Mesa

Pruning and Weeding – Because the pomegranate grows a bit like a shrub some of the limbs will be closer to the ground. You don’t want weeds to grow up into the tree and strangle some of it’s health. When it comes to pruning the pomegranate tree some owners like to do more than simply pruning. They like to form the tree to be a shape they prefer. As much as the pomegranate tree grows as a bush you can make it look like a tree with proper pruning. Shortly after your tree is established you will want to use a pair of clippers or shears to cut the “suckers” from the base of the pomegranate tree. This is only for appearances, not a necessary step. If you let it grow naturally it will take on a more bush like appearance.

The only necessary pruning is removing dead or damaged sections. In the spring you will want to cut away sections that look like they are dying, dead, or struggling.

Pest Management – There are two insects that pose a danger to your pomegranate fruit. The aphid and pomegranate butterfly. The butterfly is pretty rare and can be guarded against by simply getting some butterfly spray from your local nursery. Some owners wouldn’t ever even imagine killing the butterflies and choose to coexist with them and sacrifice a little bit of their fruit. Ultimately the choice is up to the individual. The spray will make the butterflies stay away and avoid them laying their larvae on your trees. The aphids can also be managed using sprays that are available from your local nursery.

Mold Management – Apart from pests running your fruit you have to be careful not to ruin the tree yourself. Avoid over watering your pomegranate tree, follow the guide we have laid out to avoid root rot and problems with your tree. Too much water will mean that the soil cannot effectively drain and will leave the tree in danger of developing mold.

Nursery Palm Tree Mesa Arizona

If you’re ready to choose and have a pomegranate tree planted at your Mesa home contact the knowledgeable and helpful folks at your local A&P Nursery.

A & P Nursery
40370 N. Gantzel Rd.
Queen Creek, AZ 85240
480-655-5789

A & P Nursery
2645 W. Baseline Rd.
Mesa, Arizona 85202
480-839-5362

A & P Nursery
6129 E. Brown Rd.
Mesa, Arizona 85205
480-396-8800

A & P Nursery &
Lawnmower Shop
2601 E. Baseline Rd.
Gilbert, Arizona 85234
480-892-7939

Growing a fig tree in Arizona can be phenomenally rewarding. They grow two harvests per growing season, produce deliciously sweet fruit and are beautiful trees. Fig trees might take about 3 or more years to start producing a viable crop, but when they really start to produce you will have all the figs you can eat!

Figs being one of the oldest cultivated crops were a favorite of some of our oldest societies. The ancient Greeks, Romans, and even Egyptians enjoyed figs. Fig trees grow anywhere from 10 – 30 feet tall. The plants have leaves that make them look particularly tropical. The common fig tree is deciduous, so you can expect for the leaves to come off in the fall. Having all of its flowers as “female”, the fig does not require pollination to develop fruit. This means you will have bigger crops without having to rely on pollination.

In fact there are usually 2 cycles of harvesting figs per year. The first crop has the name “breba”. This is a crop that is the maturation of the previous growing year’s buds. The following crop is actually the main crop and is the fruit that develops from the buds that are set in spring and summer.

What Figs Taste Like

There are many varieties of fig trees, and fig flavors. A few of the most popular that have become mainstays of our pantries are; Brown Turkey, Black Mission, Sierra, Kadota, Calimyrna and King Fig Trees. Flavors can vary from nutty, caramel-coffee to maple syrup, caramel, honey and almond, and raspberry.

What To Do With Figs

Many new fig tree owners are surprised with the volume of fruit these trees provide, once they are properly matured. It does take a couple of years after planting to get your tree to produce its first fruit. However when the going gets good, it really gets going. Many fig tree owners scramble to hurry and start making jam. But there is so much more that can be done with these versatile fruits.

Here are some of the ways you can enjoy your figs:

Add Flavor To Your Meat – While cooking up a roast for your holiday or weekend meal toss a few figs in with the meat. As they cook they release an wonderful aroma and slowly release their savory juices into the sauce.

Figs In The Batter – When you are making cookies, muffins or scones throwing some fig into the batter can add some unique and delicious flavor. It will set your treats apart and give them a wonderfully unique taste.

Fig Chutney – Chop up some figs and simmer them with a couple sprigs of thyme. Toss in some caramelized onions for a deliciously rich fig chutney. This can be a wonderful addition to your cracker and cheese platters to add some depth and variety.

Planting A Fig Tree In Your Mesa Backyard

Choosing Fig Trees – Most types of fig trees will grow anywhere. But some do better in the hot dry climate we have here in Mesa, AZ. The Conadria and the Kadota fig trees are a couple of the best suited for the Arizona heat.

Conadria Fig Trees are one of the largest fig trees, and has a high sugar content to the fruit. The fruit a Conadria produces can be used to eat fresh or make great dried fruit. This fig type also resists spoiling in rainy weather and has a small eye size. The small eye size helps with insect resistance.
Kadota Fig Trees produce a medium to large size fruit. The fruit is yellow in color and deliciously sweet. The fruit from the Kadota fig tree ripen best with hot temperatures and full sun. The Kadota fig tree is grown extensively and is actually one of the most common types of fig to find in the grocery stores.

Choosing A Site – Depending on the type of fig tree you choose you will need to consider the width around where you are planting the tree. Fig trees can grow very large, spanning from 10-30 feet. In fact they can be wider than they are tall. Another consideration when choosing your site to plant your Mesa fig tree is the leaves it will drop. The fig is a deciduous tree and if you have a pool you’ll want to plant this tree in the front yard or as far as practical from your pool. Requiring at least 8-10 hours of full sun a day you’ll also want to keep your fig tree away from the house or anywhere that’s excessively shaded. Needing a soil type that drains well, the sandy soils you find here in Mesa are actually pretty ideal for a fig tree.

Planting Fig Trees – Like most trees that you want to plant in the desert, the time to plant the fig tree is in the fall or early spring. This gives the root system time to mature and be ready for the harsh summer weather we have here in Mesa.

Watering Fig Trees – During normal summer heat in Mesa fig trees require watering about every 3-5 days. If its unusually hot and Arizona is setting records you should water more often. If you’re unsure of if your tree needs water use a soil probe to find out. All trees should be watered to a depth of 3 feet each time there is a irrigation event. There’s no hard and fast rule for how much water it will take for it to reach 3 feet as different soil types will take longer.

Fertilizing Your Fig Tree – Many times fig trees that are planted directly in the ground have no need for fertilization. The exception is if they are planted in sandy soil. If you’re unsure if your soil has the required nutrients you can have your soil tested by a lab. If your soil is deemed to be low in nutrients get a half a pound of nitrogen and divide it equally into 3 treatments. Apply the nitrogen in the months of growth, May, June, and July.

Pruning Fig Trees – One of the greatest parts of growing figs from your own fig tree in Mesa is that they rarely require pruning. They produce two crops per growing season and are best pruned after the second harvest. If you wait and try to prune your fig during the winter risk removing some of the fruit already growing that would be in your first harvest.

Mesa Fig Tree Pests – Luckily in Arizona we don’t have as many pests to worry about as some regions in the United States. There are 3 pests you might encounter with your fig tree. The green fig beetle, birds and gophers are the most common pests for this area. To protect your figs from the beetle and birds you can cover the fruit with bagging or netting. There is little that can be done about gophers.

If you’d like to learn more about fig trees in Mesa or you’re ready to buy one come see the experts at A&P Nursery at one of their 4 convenient Mesa locations.