Fruit Tree's in containers?

4li5on

Just as a general note on the topic, if you are planning on growing fruit trees in pots, including raspberries, blackberries etc. it is vitally important that you water them regularly. Make sure the pots have plenty or drainage holes in the bottom and in the dry weather soak the soil until the water runs through. They need the water to produce fruit. I know it might sound obvious, but it does make a difference. If there are plenty of drainage holes, you can't overwater them.
Think how far a trees roots can spread, then bear in mind they are in a pot - they consume gallons of water.

As I've said above, I'm learning by trial and error, but this has worked for me

mi_jardin

I bought an apple tree for a big urn pot I had, and I got a specific root stock....I think it was m23 but you'd need to check...that is a dwarf tree and can be kept in a pot. The only down side of frit trees in pots are you dont get quite as much fruit off them.

ginvzt

I just wanted to let you know, that I took the plunge and ordered a miniature cherry from Ken Muir this morning. Will let you know how it goes! I just need to wait for it to arrive and buy a pot to plant it in!

lunar

My mum recently bought me 6 fruit trees from Ideal world, (she is not very MSE!) Included was one apricot and one peach tree which I have potted up in the large pots also from Ideal world. I was just wondering if these 2 trees would benifit from sitting in the greenhouse for a while as I think they like a warmer temperature.

I was thinking of leaving them in there until they start budding, will it cause them any problems being in there for a few weeks?

RAS

lunar

Certainly put those in a greenhouse. They are often left there until they flower. You need to hand pollinate.

lunar

RAS wrote: »

lunar

Certainly put those in a greenhouse. They are often left there until they flower. You need to hand pollinate.

Thanks for that, is it OK to use the same brush to pollinate both trees?

Farway

lunar wrote: »

My mum recently bought me 6 fruit trees from Ideal world, (she is not very MSE!) Included was one apricot and one peach tree which I have potted up in the large pots also from Ideal world. I was just wondering if these 2 trees would benifit from sitting in the greenhouse for a while as I think they like a warmer temperature.

I was thinking of leaving them in there until they start budding, will it cause them any problems being in there for a few weeks?

They will be ideal in greenhouse, especially as it will keep the winter rains off, which bring peach leaf curl to your trees, under glass there is no rain of course

Pollination, it is OK to use same brush, after all bees do not bother wiping their feet as they go from tree to tree :rotfl:

The only problem this could cause is if you were to try & grow one of the stones into a new tree it may not breed true, but as you are not likely to do this, no problem at all

How old are the trees? were they bare rooted? Just asking as they may need pruning come late March / April to form the basic framework of your trees, may already be OK of course

lunar

Not sure how old the trees are, they were bare rooted and are on dwarf root stock. How do I know if they need pruning? I can take some pictures tomorrow if that would be more helpful.

I cant imagine I will be growing any more trees from the stones, I am only just managing to grow vegies from seeds!

Thanks for all the advice so far!

Farway

lunar wrote: »

Not sure how old the trees are, they were bare rooted and are on dwarf root stock. How do I know if they need pruning? I can take some pictures tomorrow if that would be more helpful.


Thanks for all the advice so far!

Pictures would be useful, but generally if you have say one "leader" [the main shoot] and perhaps just two sideshoots the chances are they need pruning

If however they look like hedgehogs with loads of branches then all should be well

ginvzt

So, my cherry has just arrived. It is about 170-180 cm height, bare root (nearly 6ft). I can't plant it today, as I was going to get a pot from lidl tomorrow to plant it in. (it should be perfect, the instruction say to start with at 30cm diameter container for the first year, and that one is 40cm. I also have one of them from last year for my blueberry and it is holding up well). I just need to get a cane and I can plant it then!