I was recently thinking about getting a cactus or something else as a potted patio plant, but of course I thought, why not a fruit ? It makes sense to me to get something either very low maintenance, or very high value. Iām not very familiar with high value or novelty fruits because i have always concerned myself exclusively with low maintenance fruits.
So any ideas for the high value/novelty side?
My first ideas were miracle berry or kumquat, though I donāt have a lot of material to work from in my mind-
It makes a big difference what growing zone you are in. If you are in zone 6 or colder you could try a gooseberry. If you are willing to follow directions very closely you could grow pink lemonade blueberries.
I find the big, hard seeds and glochids of Opuntias highly annoying. Hedgehogs (Echinocereus species) are less indestructible, but I think prettier plants. All have inobtrusive seeds and many are said to taste like strawberries. Cereus āperuvianusā (actually repandus, I think) of horticulture is hardy to Zone 8b and has large fruit that tastes like honeysuckle nectar. It will form a tree, so you might need to keep chopping off the top for cuttings. Usually you need 2 different clones (seedlings of same species are fine) for pollination, like with apples. Texas horse crippler is a low plant that also has big fruit. Pereskia aculeata, like dragon fruit (of which the best tasting is probably Selenicereus megalanthus; Hylocereus in my experience look cool but lack flavor), is strictly tropical (houseplant) and like a big, thorny, aggressive rambling rose, but it has edible leaves as well as fruit.
Not sure about high value, but for giggles I ordered a Yellow Jamaican Cherry(strawberry tree/Muntingia calabura, but with the yellow fruits) and Sherbet Berry tree(Grewia asiatica). My Meiwa kumquat does great in a pot(30 gallon) and doesnāt mind being rolled into a dark garage during <30F temps for extended periods.
Miracle berry is interesting to have. I grows slowly and doesnāt look ornamental. But the altered taste of other foods after eating the berries is truly bizzare. Enough of a novelty for me to keep alive through the winter. Donāt plant on having a beer following a miracle berry. It makes beer taste awful.
I also like my jabuticaba. It has never fruited for me three years in. But its a very attractive tree for a pot. It looks like a mini crepe myrtle, which we donāt have here. The trunk is pretty and you can prune it to show off the trunk without much effort.
Both of these stay green through the winter. A bit of a PITA for zone 5, but worth it for me.
Yeah high value doesnāt fit here. I like growing novelty fruits but very few have worked out for me. Still another is coming tomorrow. Mountain papaya. Apparently fruits easily in containers but only has a life span of about eight years. Fruit is the size of elongated bell peppers. Sure why not? Babaco is the common name. I also grow pomegranates in containers. I had my first harvest last year. Only three fruits I picked the day before our first freeze of the fall. They were excellent.
Define high value/novelty. Mulberries can sell for a very high price at a farmers market because they donāt sell them in stores. They are also low value. You could likely grow Girardi Dwarf in a pot. It will get about 6 feet so it will grow to be about the size of a fully grown man. If we are talking high value as in it grows a lot of fruit stone fruit can be grown in a pot. Raintree says cherries on their Gisala 3 rootstock only need 20 gallons and the cherries on Gisala 5 only need 25 gallons.
? It makes sense to me to get something either very low maintenance, or very high value. Iām not very familiar with high value or novelty fruits because i have always concerned myself exclusively with low maintenance fruits.