Planting Fruit Trees in Pots

[WiZeR]

Hi Guys

Apologies if this is a 'done to death' topic. I took advantage of the Aldi Cheap Trees about a month ago now. I brought them home, stood them in the garden and they've sat there ever since. Due to some health problems, I'm unable to put them in the ground at the moment and probably wont be able to do it this season at all. I'm wondering if there is any mileage in planting them into large pots?? They are not dwarfing varieties. But as long as I only plan to plant them for one season, will they survive?

If so, any suggestions for size of pot and a source? I found these, but I could only really afford the 30 Litre size and even then the postage bumps up the price. Wilko had some biggish ones today, but I'll need to measure them to see if they are as big as those ones.

Any advice?

[starloc]

I have loads of them in pots, i tend to buy more vigorous rootstocks as being in a pot slows them down, so they grow better on vigorous rootstocks in pots

If you look on ebay and maybe elsewere you can get the plastic bag pots that used to be normal from uk nurseries, they cost very little and postage is very low as there just about a large carrier bag (but stronger and a better shape )

5x POLY POT POLYPOT PLANT POTS 40L 18" PLANTER POTATO on eBay (end time 29-Apr-10 10:05:11 BST)

last year i planted some in the 30L and the 50L, they seem to grow perfectly well, i got fruit last year and they seem fine still this year

If only for a short time, a year or so, you can plant in much smaller pots, ones from garden centers often come in 10L pots and usualy have fruit on them,other pots that are fine for a year or so are things like morrisons flower buckets, i have used these and also used cheap asda and b+q £1 buckets, all work fine unless the roots are massive you can trim anything off thet wont fit as most of the roots are usualy dead for most of the length anyway

[rustylady]

I would have thought that you could get away with planting them in flower bucket size pots for one year. As long as the pot is bigger than the existing rootball, and you keep them watered they should be fine. You probably won't get fruit, but you can at least keep them going until you get them into their permanent positions.

[WiZeR]

Thanks guys. That's the sort of nod I needed. I have some of the morrisons buckets, so they'll be fine for this year. There is only a tiny rootball on these trees. I thought they'd have died by now, but they have started shooting.

[FB.]

They'll be OK in pots for this year, but you should try to get them in the ground in September, so that as the leaves fall, the energy and nutrients get channeled into strong root growth while the ground is still reasonably warm.

At that time, you will have many circling roots that will need to be untangled. Some will get damaged during the untangling process, but the roots MUST be untangled or they will not grow outwards into the surrounding soil.
It is better to lose half the roots and not be tangled than to retain all the roots but have them fail to grow outwards.

Do not mess with the roots during the summer - wait until autumn or the plant will risk drying out as a result f the damaged roots.
Just make sure that the ground is moist when you plant the tree and that it remains moist through the autumn.

[chukiducks]

you can plant trees in pots/ all that will happen is the tree will restrict its growth until you whack it in the ground.

[WiZeR]

Thanks guys. I bought some 40cm pots at Wilko today and a couple of bags of compost. It turned out I only had enough compost for one tree! So I'll have to get a few more bags tomorrow. We have decided they will look good in pots on the patio. But I'm worried about what they will do, not being dwarfing varieties. I'll keep them going this year and I might take a gamble next spring and put them in larger pots and keep them pruned. We're only looking for a few fruit each year so as long as they crop a bit, we'll be happy.

It's funny what a bit of sun can do. Up til this weekend I haven't been a bit interested in GYO. Today I bought a few packs of strawb runners and potato seeds. Hard work on the back tho.

[northepaul]

I have 3 trees in pots - 60lt ones though and on dwarfing rootstocks. Its worth a try in smaller pots if the trees are still quite small? However you will need to repot them annually when they get big and you will have to prune them quite hard I would think.
You dont say what type of fruit trees?

[WiZeR]

I have 1 x Bramely Apple, 1 x Granny Smith Apple and 1 x Morello Cherry

It doesn't actually say which rootstock they are on. But suggests they might grow 12-15ft IIRC

[FB.]

I have 1 x Bramely Apple, 1 x Granny Smith Apple and 1 x Morello Cherry

It doesn't actually say which rootstock they are on. But suggests they might grow 12-15ft IIRC

Probably MM106 (a very common general-pupose rootstock) but may be a "full size" rootstock such as M25. Different nurseries have different opinions. Personally, I rate MM106 as 9-10ft and M25 as 12-15ft. But some nurseries rate MM106 as 12-15ft and M25 as 20-25ft.
Final size depends on your soil quality and also on the variety grafted onto the roots.

While MM106 may grow in a pot, it will not thrive and will probably suffer from sickness and a serious problem with pot-bound roots. In fact, I've sometimes seen MM106 roots "climb out" of a pot, growing over the rim of the pot and looking like an octopus!
MM106 wants to become a medium-sized apple tree, not a potted tree. The only time that it could be suitable for a pot would be with one of the old, small varieties grafted on top, such as Court Pendu Plat, D'Arcy Spice or Reverend Wilks.

Your Bramley, on MM106 will probably end up even larger than the size guide that you have been given; Bramley is possibly THE largest and fastest-growing apple tree in the UK; a very large and heavily-built tree that often reaches twice the size of your average apple tree. Unless on a super-dwarf rootstock, Bramley is a very difficult one to grow/fruit successfully in a container.
It is also a part-tip bearer which complicates restrictive pruning. It is very slow and reluctant to produce fruit spurs.
Additionally, it likes long distances between branches (because it's wanting to grow into a big tree). This results in lack of branching until the tree reaches a large size.

It has always been said that Bramley grows best as a proper, free-standing apple tree. I absolutely agree.

[WiZeR]

Ok thanks for that FB. In that case I will plant them in the ground in a suitable spot next spring and buy some dwarfing varieties for the patio.

Thanks everyone for top advice as always.

[El Greeno]

Any advice on an apple variety that will grow happily in an 18 inch diameter and depth tub-trug with minimal tree size (say 6-8 feet high)?
I'd like to have a small tree but have no ground to plant it in.
Obviously I want it to fruit as well, but I don't mind if the fruit is only small like the kiddies lunch box apples.

Is this even possible?
Thanks for any help.

[FB.]

El Greeno

It is possible.
Before jumping in the deep end and rushing out to buy one, what kind of apples do you prefer?

Cookers? Eaters? Early-ripening (August)? Late-ripening (November)?

Some rootstocks that I'd shortlist:
M27, M9, M26

Some varieties that I'd shortlist as being suitable for growing as an unsprayed small bush-tree in Essex/Cambs (in alphabet order):
Bountiful, Brownlees Russet, Court Pendu Plat, Crawley Beauty, Discovery, D'Arcy Spice, Grenadier, Meridian, Red Devil, Reverend Wilks, Saturn, Spartan, Winston.

For various reasons (vigour, disease etc), some varieties would be better on certain rootstocks than others.
Some are more fertile than others, which can be useful in bad years.

[El Greeno]

Thanks FB.

I'd be looking for an eating variety. Not too worried about ripening times but I suppose the earlier the fruit is ready, the earlier I'd get to eat them!

I am also interested in the possibility of making some cider, but I believe that eating varieties are not really up to the job?

[FB.]

You'd need the entire crop from a pot-grown apple tree to make just a small amount of cider.
Normally, cider will contain a mixture of acid and sweet varieties, to give the correct fermentation reaction and alcohol content.