The ancient Greeks and Romans already cultivated small fruit trees in clay or wooden pots. Today this form of culture is very suitable for roof or atrium gardens, but also for the balcony or generally for the terrace. The latter can not only be made pretty with a fruit tree in a pot, fruit espaliers on the house wall also add greenery to a boring “Lake Balaton”.
Which fruit trees can be planted in containers?
Fruit trees suitable for container cultivation are mainly weak-growing varieties such as apple ('Discovery', 'James Grieve', 'Rubinola', 'Goldparmäne', 'Alkmene') and pear ('Bunte Julibirne', 'Clapps 'Darling', 'Williams Christ', 'Gute Luise', 'Alexander Lucas'). Columnar fruit trees are also a good option.
Fruit species and varieties suitable for container cultivation
Of course, not all types and varieties of fruit are suitable for keeping in a pot. Large fruit trees, for example, have no place in a cramped planter. Like fast-growing species and varieties, late-bearing species and varieties are also not suitable for keeping in containers, as they usually have to be prepared for winter before the fruit ripens. Some apple varieties can be grafted onto a very weakly growing rootstock, as can peaches and apricots. A pear for the pot, on the other hand, should be grafted onto a quince base. Prepared in this way, these varieties are particularly suitable for pot cultivation:
- Apple: 'Discovery', 'James Grieve', 'Rubinola', 'Goldparmäne', 'Alkmene' and others
- Pear: 'Bunte Julibirne', 'Clapps Favoriten', 'Williams Christ', 'Gute Luise', 'Alexander Lucas' and others
An elegant solution is also the so-called ballerina trees or columnar fruit trees, which hardly produce any side shoots and therefore the fruits are attached almost to the trunk.
Potting and caring for potted trees properly
Of course, the fruit yield from a fruit tree grown in a container cannot be too high. But the tree makes up for this primarily with its decorative effect. You can buy suitable trees at a tree nursery (sometimes called “dwarf fruit”) or grow them yourself.
Potting a fruit tree in a pot
It's best to use normal potting soil for potting, although of course you shouldn't forget about drainage. The roots are cut back so that they have enough space in the pot. Initially, a container with an upper diameter of around 25 centimeters and a height of around 25 to 30 centimeters (i.e. a capacity for around 10 liters of soil) is usually sufficient. The next few years will be transplanted into 20 liter containers. Place hardy fruit trees close together in the cold season and cover them with protective leaves.
Fertilize potted trees properly
To cover the nutrient requirements, apply a long-term fertilizer (€10.00 on Amazon) in spring according to the instructions for use or fertilize the fruit pots with a liquid complete fertilizer every two to three weeks during the main growing season until the end of June. In addition, fertilization should be carried out once in March / April, at the time of budding.
Tip
If you set up the potted fruit trees as far as possible protected from rain, fungal diseases such as scab or rust will not even occur.
