Growing you own fruit in the backyard or on the patio or balcony adds color and atmosphere to your home. It also supplies fresh fruit that you have control over how many chemicals, if any were used when growing the fruit. With the recent toxin scares this is an important factor. blueberries
photo credit: Jennie Faber

After you have decided what fruit to grow, your lighting and space is appropriate and you have selected the best container for the plant it’s time to make sure your fruit grow well and produces quality crops.

Soil for fruit containers

Most fruit prefer a nutrient-rich growing medium. Check the growing instructions that came with your plants and adjust the soil accordingly. When setting up your containers place small rocks or pebbles in the bottom of the container to help ensure proper drainage.

The top two or 3 inches of potting soil in the container should be removed each spring and replaced with fresh compost. This keeps the soil fresh and adds more nutrients to your fruit.

You may want to repot you fruit plants every two or three years. This should be done in the winter when the fruit is dormant. Repot the plant up one container size if necessary. You can tell by the rootball if this would be a good idea. (One size in a container is usually about 1 1/2 to two inches.)

Extra nutrition for your Small Space Fruit Orchard

You will need to feed and add nutrients to your small fruit orchard plants. Fruit grown in pots will need to be fed and watered more often than plants grown in the ground. And remember that container fruit produces less than a plant grown in the ground, but you will still get a nice crop.

Feed the plants a high potassium fertilizer (like pot ash) when the fruit starts to develop. In late summer you will want to switch to a fertilizer high in nitrogen. I like to use a weak tea on the container fruit about once a month for a quick pick me up for the plant.

If you are growing citrus fruits, feed them a high-nitrogen fertilizer starting in the spring and through to midsummer. Midsummer you will want to switch to a balanced fertilizer until fall arrives.

How much fertilizer you use will depend on the type of fruit you are growing. Check the growing instructions that came with the plant or ask questions at the local nursery. Too much fertilizer can create problems so use care and ask questions if you are not sure.

Watering

Keep the top compost moist, but not wet during the active growing season. This may require watering plants multiple times daily to prevent the growing medium from drying out. I have found that during the hottest days in summer the container plants will benefit from mulch on top of the compost to help retain moisture in the container.

Lighting for your small orchard

Your fruit will benefit from being placed outdoors during the summer months. This may be a patio or balcony if you live in a town. They should be outside in a warm, sheltered location with plenty of sun. Depending on the fruit, plants will need to be brought indoors and protected from cold in the winter.

The plants and fruit will benefit if you turn the plant container once a week. They will grow taller and the fruit will get equal sunlight.

If your planting containers are large it will best to have the planters on wheels or a plant carrier. Moving the plants will be fast and easy this way. As you move your fruit planters check for insects and any dead leaves.

And most important, enjoy your small fruit garden. The plants will provide you with beauty and fresh fruit for years to come. For more information on selecting the right container for your fruit orchard check out Small Fruit Orchard: Part One

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Small fruit varieties grow well in limited space garden designs. There are many fruit trees that you can train as espaliers or to grow in containers but strawberries, brambles, and melons will grow well in containers and on patios and balcony gardens with little care.
photo credit: quinn.anya

Raspberries are a good choice for fruit container for the small space garden. There are summer and fall-bearing varieties. Raspberries also cost quite a bit in stores and have been heavily sprayed for insects, so by growing your own you will save money and have a cleaner fruit

The summer bearing raspberry plants will produce fruits in early summer, with the season lasting around five weeks. The fall-bearing varieties, which are known as everbearing, will give you two crops each year – one in early summer and a late crop min fall. In my zone 5 this is late September and into October.

You can choose red, gold, purple or black raspberries for your fruit container garden. Some of the good red and yellow varieties of raspberries are named ‘Anne;’ and ‘Autumn Bliss.” If you want to go in for black or purple varieties, you can choose between ‘Brandywine’, ‘Munger’ and ‘Royalty are great selections in black and purple raspberry varieties.’ These varieties are summer bearing.

Blackberries also do well growing in containers. My suggestion for blackberry plants when selection a variety to grow is to get the thornless variety. The sting of a blackberry thorn seems to be worse than any other bramble bush. Brambles are usually spaced one foot apart when planted.

Another option for blackberries or raspberries is to train them to grow on trellises. You will make better use of the space and I also grow a small crop of lettuce or herbs in front of the berries for better use of space and to add color to the garden area.

Melons are also a nice fruit for the mini garden area, but they will take a large container. Melons will need plenty of water, fertilizer and soil that drains well. The reason for a large container is to ensure that the melon plants have enough fertilizer to produce a good crop.

Peach vine or Vine Peach is also a favorite heirloom fruit that I grow. It has a wide variety of uses and takes very little space. I grow this crop on a trellis and usually mix in a vining flower for color.

There are many fruits that will grow all year long. Strawberries are a perfect example. As long as they have fertilizer and decent lighting you will be able to harvest a crop all season long. I tend to grow most of my strawberries in hanging baskets. They take less space, look great and produce well this way.

Care of you fruit garden

I only use organic insect control on my fruit plants. By checking the plants regularly and making sure the plants have the proper water and fertilizer I rarely have an insect problem. I also check and remove any weak stems or leaves.

Raspberry plants tend to attract Japanese beetles so I grow an okra plant and place it 20 foot away from the berry brambles. It’s a pretty plant and Japanese beetles like the plant but the plant doesn’t agree with them. It’s a natural insect control for the raspberry plant.

Other insect controls are a homemade insect spray.

Most fruit varieties dislike frost and extreme cold and will damage easily if exposed to frost. Keep your fruit container gardening efforts in a cool place, away from the frost. And if they are located outdoors cover the crops during the late fall.

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