fruit in pots

[huxley]

We're not permitted to plant fruit trees at our allotment, but can anyone suggest something for a pot? (Pear, Apple, etc) It would be lovely to have more fruit

[momol]

Hello Huxley,

Try some patio fruit tree type such as cherry, plum, peach, apple, pear...
These dwarf fruit tree are becoming very populer in NL as people who don't have garden can grow them in pots at the balcony.
Sorry, not very helpfull I know... just wait till other grape with better info...

Momol

[Snadger]

I think most bare rooted trees that are supplied cheaply are on dwarfing rootstock and will lend themselves to being grown in a largish pot.

I made sure that the hard fruit I bought cheaply last year (£3.99 each)was self fertile. They are all in large pots and I even had a crop of a dozen apples off one tree. (It's not reccommended, but what the heck, we'll see what happens this year.)
I have:-

A Conference Pear
A Sunset Apple (Cox derivative)
A Morello Cherry
A Victoria Plum
An Apricot

I have recently taken the Apricot into the greenhouse as apparently they flower very early and the frost affects pollination.

All fruit trees have thrived throughout the year but they do need regular watering during the Summer months!

[Protea]

There is loads of fruit you can successfully grow in pots!

I have all my strawberries in pots (so much easier to look after!), and even my raspberries which did very well the last 2 years (i mulch the top of the troughs with cow muck every autumn). I also have 3 or 4 blueberries (they're best kept in pots anyway so you can keep the soil acid), and 2 dwarf apples. I got them from Ken Muir and they are his 'minnarette' types on extremely dwarfing rootstock so can stay in a container for years and just needs regular pruning. Last year i also had a patio nectarine in a pot, the fruit wasn't terribly successful last year but i'll try again in 2008!

Good luck, there's tons you can do in pots and still enjoy lovely fresh fruit

[gojiberry]

Blueberries, cranberries and goji berries all grow well in pots. The goji berry probably grows the largest. Figs need to have their roots constricted so do well in pots. I have an almond tree in a large pot only had it 2 years and had about a dozen nuts last year. Am looking to get either a damson or apricot this year. Probably apricot as it wont need a polinator.

[rustylady]

Main thing to remember if you are growing fruit in pots they need a big enough pot, and enough water, especially if you can't get there every day.

[andrewo]

An old way of growing fruit, which is still done at some old kitchen gardens, is to grow fruit in pots on gravel beds. Each year the tap root will grow out of the bottom of the pot and at the end of the season be cut off. I believe that the tap root can be cut off, it is the smaller roots that bring in water.

You could also plant brown turkey figs, which can be brought undercover in late summer and thrive in pots as they love to be constrained.

[southlondongardener]

I do better so far with strawberries in a strawberry container as the slugs don't get them.

Also blueberries will do well on the patio.

I am trying to grow apples but I can not say that I have been successful so far.

[huxley]

Thank you everyone. My sister loves Figs, so i bet she'll be happy with that idea!

[stigoftheplot]

My site rep says 3-4 trees per plot as ground is for cultivation, but I've got round that a bit as she agreed that I could put my minarette (single stem patio type) trees in a row as you would fruit bushes, they actually take up less space than many bushes and as the very dwarf root stock is designed to go in a 15+ inch pot they're not going to take over the ground. Fruit trees is a bit of a weakness & I could easily end up with an orchard if not watched, but I'm very tempted as I've got my 'quota' of 3 trees each plot, plus a fig sunken in a drum, and my 5 minarette ones, to think about something in a pot or 10 (possibly citrus). Hopeless case!