Just curious if anyone has had success growing tropical fruits in containers in colder zones. What has been productive for you and what sources would you recommend for purchasing plants?
Thanks
Rumor is you can fruit Owari Satsuma orange in a pot if you baby it. Lots of work. The long winters are hard on it. YouTube “NewEnglandGardening” is doing it in Massachusetts.
You can do figs if you overwinter them indoors or in the basement.
I don’t have any knowledge of US sources. I do mainly citrus, my meyer lemon and Cocktail grapefruit have both fruited in pots. They are not large so only a couple of fruit so far. I do have the Owari Satsuma orange it is young yet so no blossoms or fruit.
I live in Zone 6B. I don’t challenge the weather here to grow any fruit, because I don’t think any fruit is writhing of such hard work. I grow some Fragrant flowers here,such as Arabian Jasmine, gardenias, and osmanthus fragrant. A friend of mine will send me michelia alba，and Michelia figs. I will plant all of those tropical plants close to the southern wall of my house. There is a small window in the wall. I will build a lean to greenhouse by PVC pipe and plastic sheet in cold months and keep the small window open, which connects the house to greenhouse.
That’s not my greenhouse. But I plan to build one this coming fall when the weather turns cold.
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Thank you everyone for the info. If i decide to try something i will keep you informed if it succeeds or fails.
This nation was built on apples. You can grow an apple almost anywhere in America. They’re from the Kazak mountains and laugh off our cold winters.
Two of my three potted guavas look to be setting fruit. I imagine they won’t ripen this year, but maybe once the trees get a little bigger they’ll be able to set and ripen.
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Hopefully they will ripen indoor by the west facing window with supplement LED lights.
Some LED light only cause a few bucks of electricity per year
Tony
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My electric bill dropped by at least $75 when i unplugged my 3x4 grow tent that I use to overwinter my tropical plants.
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I grow figs ，citrus，papaya, star fruit, regular kiwi, and various tropical flower bushes in containers
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Citrus will have to be brought indoors or in a heated greenhouse in the winter in zone 6b. But they really do best outdoors so when it begins to warm up then bring them out on sunny warm days and back in if the forecast is for inclement weather or freezing temps. Any tropical fruit will pretty much require the same sort of winter protection.
Anthony
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