Q: I have a 4-year-old pomegranate. It is growing as a six foot tall multistemmed shrub. It appears lush and healthy, but it has never had more than two or three flowers and never any fruit. It gets sun from noon till late afternoon. Do you have some tips for getting it to flower and fruit? — Steve Preston, Decatur
A: First thing to do is to make sure you have heavy gloves. Pomegranates have thorns. My father, ungloved, had a pomegranate thorn in his palm that exited out through the back of his hand. Your second job is to make sure sunshine penetrates to the interior of your pomegranate. Remove dead, diseased or spindly limbs. You say your plant is lush and healthy. I suspect you have fertilized it too much in the past. Use your judgment as to how many of the limbs that are left should be removed to allow light to penetrate. In early March, cut the growing tip off half the twigs. You will catch the pomegranate at the prime time for new growth. The new growth will produce fruiting spurs that will have flowers and fruit next year.
Q: I have seen gold kiwis and green kiwis at the store. I bought two gold kiwis and tasted them. They were much sweeter than the other kiwis. Where are they from and what’s the difference? — Lurline Hypolite, Conyers
A: The gold kiwifruit, Actinidia chinensis, originated in New Zealand, growing from a batch of seed that had come from China. The seed was supposed to produce vines that bore green-fruited kiwifruit, Actinidia deliciosa, but one turned out yellow and was very sweet. After years of selective breeding the gold kiwi came to market first in other parts of the world and then America. Hundreds of acres were planted in New Zealand, but in 2010 a bacterial disease attacked that cultivar of gold-fruited kiwi. Scientists worked overtime to develop a new variety that was resistant to the disease. That’s the variety you bought in the store. Sadly, neither the yellow nor green kiwifruit are easy to grow here because winter cold kills the male vines. Without any partners, the female vine blooms in vain. That said, I have a friend in North Decatur who has the perfect situation for male and female vines. They are growing at the bottom of a low hill, surrounded by wind-blocking houses and trees. The vines yield bushels and bushels every year. If you want to try growing kiwi, don’t bother with the fuzzy kiwi you’re familiar with. Instead, investigate the hardy kiwi berry, Actinidia arguta. They taste the same as kiwifruit.
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