Things You'll Need:
- Fruit plants
- Mulch
- Containers
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Step 1
Decide whether the container and plant will be decorative or functional. Some fruits are perfectly happy in containers, but their growth habit makes them too untidy a choice for decorative planting. For example, raspberry plants grow tall, and need staking and netting.
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Step 2
Choose your species carefully when planting fruit in containers, especially if growing fruit trees. The plant should be clearly labeled in the garden center or nursery, with full details of its rootstock, how much space it requires, and whether it is self-fertilizing or will need other trees around it for pollination. For example, if you have the space and inclination for only a single apple tree in a container, you will need a dwarf rootstock, with a family of three or four compatible varieties grafted onto it so that no further trees are needed for pollination.
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Step 3
Choose your container with consideration to the needs of the plant you are growing. Fruit trees prefer a free root run, so will need generously proportioned containers. Cherries, plums, pears, apples and the like need containers that are at least 15 inches deep, preferably much deeper.
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Step 4
Take extra precautions for container fruit plants. The container fruit gardener needs to pay special attention to planting, watering, feeding and potting on, particularly if growing trees in containers. One useful way of reducing the effort involved in potting every 2 years or so is to plant in a container that is initially oversized, lifting up the plant when necessary and adding further layers of compost beneath the first until the plant eventually outgrows the container. Always use good organic potting compost when growing container plants.
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Step 5
Arrange some sort of permanent watering system for containers, to save work and ensure that the compost doesn't dry out. To give an idea of the watering needs of a container-grown fruit tree, you may find that in hot weather, it needs a drink three or four times a day. Invest in a system that makes this an achievable proposition. Watering is not generally needed during winter.
