You don’t have to live in the tropics to grow fruit trees in your home. If you grow fruits indoors in containers, you can move the plants to a sheltered spot for the winter easily.
You can grow indoor fruits (such as lemons, oranges, grapefruits, passion fruit, and figs) in a greenhouse, in a cool basement, or on a sunny windowsill. Many of these plants need care and more effort than the average houseplant.
Follow these tips to get the best of your fruit trees
Selecting the container
You should start by considering the size, durability, and weight. Smaller plants can grow for a couple of years in a traditional 8-inch-wide fruit container. Larger varieties may need to be moved to increasingly larger containers until they’re in 36- or 48-inch-wide pots. However, you should keep in mind that the bigger the fruit container, the harder it is to move.
There are many options for fruit containers: terra cotta, stone, and ceramic fruit containers are durable but heavy. Wood fruit containers are attractive and generally lightweight but can rot over time.
You can find fruit containers made of synthetic materials such as plastic, polystyrene, and other modern composites. These are lightweight, long-lasting, and fabricated to resemble many kinds of materials. Whichever container you choose make sure it has drainage holes.
Choosing a potting mix
The perfect soil for fruit trees is a combination of optimal aeration and drainage with good moisture retention and the ability to hold nutrients. Garden soils do well in a container since they rarely drain properly, are usually too heavy, and often contain disease organisms. But there are many potting mixes specifically formulated for growing fruits in containers.
Many of these contain no real soil at all. Use a mix that has moisture-control amendments and controlled-release fertilizer already mixed in to cut down on watering frequency and feeding.
Watering
When you grow subtropical fruits in containers, you should be aware that they require more frequent watering than those grown in the ground. Make sure to use enough water to soak the entire root ball. When you water, check the moisture that comes out of the pot. If it all seems to rush out of the drainage holes immediately, your plant has probably gone too long without water and the potting mix is shedding moisture instead of absorbing it. In this case, you should add small amounts of water slowly to help the potting mix take in the moisture.
Fertilizing
To compensate for nutrients lost from watering, feed plants at least once a month with a complete liquid fertilizer containing micronutrients. Many gardeners feed weekly in hot-summer areas where they have to water the plants more often. Start feeding in early spring and stop in late summer or early fall to avoid encouraging late growth in frost-prone seasons.
Granular fertilizers can also be used on container plants, but they need time to dissolve before nutrients become available to the roots. A slow-release fertilizer provides nutrients over time. It can be useful in maintaining a steady supply, but you may need to supplement with liquid fertilizer during peak growth.
Root pruning
As your indoor fruit plants grow, they’ll eventually run out of root space. Without root space, the dense root ball becomes harder to water, causing stunted growth and delayed fruit production. Although it may seem drastic, the best thing you can do is to prune the roots.
It is quite easy actually. Start by pruning the top of the plant by at least one-third to compensate for the roots you are about to prune. Next, remove the plant from the container and cut off one-fourth to one-third (no more than 2 to 3 inches, depending on the size of the pot) of the outside of the root ball with a sharp knife.
Then place the plant back in the pot with fresh soil and water thoroughly. If done properly, it can be the easiest way to help out a root-bound, indoor fruit plant.
Moving the container outdoors
If you keep your subtropical fruit plants and trees outside during the warm months and inside during the winter, you’ll need to acclimate your plants to the change in growing environment.
If you’re putting plants outside after a long winter indoors, do it gradually. Place them in a shady spot first, then slowly expose the plants to increasing amounts of sun over several weeks to help prevent sunburned foliage.
Move fruit plants from outdoors to indoors at an equally slow pace. Give them less and less sun until they’re ready to come inside. Before bringing a fruit plant indoors, hose it down to wash off dust or dirt on the leaves. If necessary, spray to control pests, which will multiply when brought indoors.
Once the fruits and fruit trees are indoors, they won’t need as much water, however don’t allow them to dry out completely. They won’t need much light, either, if you are trying to keep them cool and dormant until spring.
See also: Growing banana tree indoors
But if you are trying to ripen the indoor fruit plants, the more light the better. Adjust the feeding according to how you want the plant to grow, but in general feed lightly if at all.
Do everything possible to increase the humidity around the fruit plants: place the containers on a tray of rocks partially submerged in water or group the indoor fruit plants away from heat vents.
Source: www.bhg.com
