Fruit Trees in Big Containers - What's Posssible?

[orangepippin]

hello,
thought I'd revive this thread to see how people are getting on with their mm106 in containers - particularly Orangepippin (you never did say which form you chose and did they ever fruit?)

I have a King Charles Pearmain and a Katy, both MM106 in large containers. Both have the central leaders retained. The quantity and quality of fruit is generally not good, and they both seem prone to catching infections.

This is my only King Charles so I have nothing to compare it against, but I have another central leader Katy on M9 growing in open ground, around 12ft high, and it is a heavy and reliable cropper, and disease free apart from aphid attacks.

Overall I am not convinced growing semi-vigorous trees in containers is a great idea, although it obviously has some advantages.

[boundtothesoil]

hello,
thought I'd revive this thread to see how people are getting on with their mm106 in containers - particularly Orangepippin (you never did say which form you chose and did they ever fruit?) and boundtothesoil (have yours outgrown their 10l pots?)

Anyone with any other thoughts on the idea of large trees in large pots, I'd be very interested. Still planning on putting a growing a mm106 in a 100l container, as a pyramid, to be planted in the ground in 3 years!)

I'm continuing to use 5 litre pots for seedling apple trees and 10 litre pots for grafted rootstock. I've been doing this for four years now, partly as I said in an earlier post , because I might want to transfer the stock if I move house. So, some of my pot-grown trees are in their fourth year of growth. The photos below show their condition in late June 2014.


These are trees from grafts (MM106 and M26) made mainly in 2011 and 2012, growing in 10 litre pots sunk into the ground. The trees are healthy and some have produced a few apples. They are very closely planted, really as if in a nursery situation.


These are seedling apple trees planted from pips sown in February 2011, growing in 5 litre pots, closely spaced and sunk well into a pretty damp clay soil. Each pot has 6 x half inch drainage holes in the base and I imagine that most of the seedlings have rooted through into the soil. It is a very heavy wet clay sub-soil, prone to waterlogging in the winter and of very low porosity.


These are seedling apple trees from pips planted in February 2012, again in 5 litre pots, showing the size they have reached after two and a bit years of growth. I am trying to grow them as single leaders as quickly and as tall as possible, in order to pass through the juvenile phase as quickly as possible. Unfortunately many have a tendency to produce lateral shoots very profusely and my pruning regime has been a bit haphazard, as I learn. Nevertheless, many are over six feet tall and seem to be doing OK in these 'tiny' pots. This summer I thought I might cut back most laterals on the taller trees to just three of four leaves in the hope they might produce flowering buds.

I like to think (probably fancifully) that one possible advantage of growing the seedling trees in tiny pots is that the stress may cause them to flower earlier than might otherwise be the case.

So far, so good, provided they are fed and watered sufficiently. I use a 9 month controlled release fertiliser applied in February and have to water every three or four days during the driest Summer weather. Otherwise, it's just a weeding issue where I haven't mulched to pots with grass clippings. My biggest problem so far has been pests (attacking the terminal bud/leaves) on the leader and powdery mildew, as I don't like to spray. Apart from caterpillars, I'm pretty sure that the worst damage to the terminal buds is due to thrips. This severely stunts the extension growth of the seedling which is exactly not what I want

[seneca196]

A 12ft m9 pyramid - that's good going! My idea was to start the mm106 or QA pears for the first few years in containers (max. 3 years) in order to develop a pyramid shape and sufficient height, in order to plant them in the ground after 3 years. Hopefully, they will move from their temporary home in a container, in less than ideal light conditions; into the ground, in full sun, in my new garden. I Would hate to have to dig them out of the ground after 3 years in my existing garden, so containers make it easier. Large containers may not be the ideal growing environment, but better than transplanting them. They would have a 3 year head start over planting a 1 year maiden where I get to my future garden.