Even the ancient Greeks and Romans cultivated small fruit trees in clay or wooden pots. Today, this form of cultivation is very suitable for roof or atrium gardens, but also for the balcony or, in general, for the terrace. The latter can not only be prettied up with a fruit tree in a pot, fruit trellises on the house wall also green up a boring "Lake Balaton".
Citrus fruits in particular are cultivated in pots in order to overwinter them indoors in winter
Types and varieties of fruit suitable for pot culture
Of course, not all types and varieties of fruit are suitable for growing in pots. Large fruit trees, for example, have no place in a cramped planter. Like fast-growing species and varieties, late-bearing species and varieties are not suitable for keeping in tubs, as they usually have to be made ready for the winter before the fruit ripens. Some apple varieties can be grafted onto a very slow-growing rootstock, as can peaches and apricots. A pear for the pot, on the other hand, should be refined on a quince base. Prepared in this way, these varieties are particularly suitable for pot culture:
- Apple: 'Discovery', 'James Grieve', 'Rubinola', 'Goldparmane', 'Alkmene' and others.
- Pear: 'Bunte Julibirne', 'Clapps Liebling', 'Williams Christ', 'Gute Luise', 'Alexander Lucas' and others.
Another elegant solution are the so-called ballerina trees or columnar fruit trees, which hardly produce any side shoots and where the fruit is almost attached to the trunk.
Potting and caring for potted trees properly
Of course, the fruit yield of a fruit tree grown in a pot cannot be too high. But the little tree compensates for this above all with its decorative effect. You can buy suitable wood in a tree nursery (sometimes also called "dwarf fruit") or you can grow it yourself.
Pot the fruit tree in a bucket
It is best to use normal potting soil for potting, although of course you must not forget the drainage. The roots are cut back so that they have enough space in the pot. Initially, a container with a top diameter of about 25 centimeters and a height of about 25 to 30 centimeters (i.e. a capacity for about 10 liters of soil) is usually sufficient. The next few years it is transplanted into 20 liter containers. During the cold season, place hardy fruit trees close together and cover them with protective foliage.
Fertilize the potted tree properly
In order to cover the nutrient requirements, give a slow-release fertilizer 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, it should be fertilized once in March / April, at the time of budding.
tips
If you protect the potted fruit trees from the rain as far as possible, fungal diseases such as scab or rust do not even appear.