8 Tiny Fruit Trees For Container Gardening

Hey friends, if you've been wanting to grow fruit trees, but you feel like maybe you have too small of a space to grow them, I've got the perfect eight trees for you today that will grow in a small space or even in a container. Yeah, you heard that right. A container. And if you're down here in Florida, like me, or maybe another warm weather climate, I have three honorable mentions that we're going to do at the end. So don't miss out on that. Number one right here. And in no particular order is going to be a fig tree. Please don't mind the spots on the leaves. We're getting ready to head into fall. So she's going to shed all of her leaves. Now figs can grow naturally outside in planting zone seven through 10. If you want to grow them further North than seven, you do have to grow them in a pot. Thankfully figs grow very well in containers and specifically a five gallon bucket, like a five gallon bucket can house a fig tree, which is just shocking because it's probably one of the smaller containers we're going to talk about today. The thing you really need to consider if you want to grow a fig tree is you are going to have to prune it pretty aggressively. Now the cool thing is is you can pretty much prune it almost to the ground. These things just love to re pop up. So what I usually do is I will clip it above where it's making most of its leaf and leave a few branches at the bottom that will make sure to keep the tree fairly small. And it will also control the root system. The smaller the top of the tree is the smaller the root system typically is. And that's why you can grow it in a five gallon bucket. Next one on our list is going to be mulberries and mulberries are outstanding because there is a variety for every single zone. Well, maybe not every single zone four to 11. That is, that is pretty much all the zones in the United States. So you have three different kinds. There's a black, a white and a red mulberry. The red one is the native kind. The white one is the invasive kind. And then you have a black one, which is a little less known. The ones I'm growing here is a world's best and a Thai dwarf. They are white mulberries, but they're white hybrids. So they're less likely to spread as badly as the regular invasive white mulberry is something to keep in mind. The other thing to think about is there's many different varieties. Mine are both dwarf or semi dwarf, and that's how I can keep them small. So you don't want to go out and get a Pakistani mulberry. That's going to get like super huge. You want to get a mulberry variety that is known to be small. The Thai dwarf is probably the most popular one. But that is more for a warmer climate. If you do have a lot of space, you can grow very large mulberries. But you do want to take into account the different flavor profiles because some are better than others. This next one is going to be for our growers in zone seven to 10. It's going to be this one. I know it looks like a monster. Let's see how high up it goes. Yeah, it's a, it's a little tall. You don't have to let them get this tall. This is a Yehuda loquat. You don't have to allow it to get this big. I put mine in the ground and I figured out very quickly that I absolutely love this fruit. Took about three years for it to fruit. But once it did, and I tried it, I was like, where have you been all my life? Anyway, so I'm allowing it to get super big because I want a lot, a lot of loquats, but you can keep them small by pruning the top. The one thing to consider with this guy, especially if you're going to grow this in a climate that is lower than zone nine. So, you know, eight, sevens, or even above that, if you keep it in a pot, it does flower and fruit during the winter. This is the first tree that I pick every single year. So I usually harvest the fruit around December or January. And so it's flowering and fruiting during the coldest part of our season. If you leave it outside, the blooms and the fruit are impacted by the cold weather. So then they'll die off and drop, and then you won't get any fruit. So you do have to like bring this guy inside, which is why he would be a good candidate for keeping in a container, unless you're zone nine or below. The tree itself is absolutely fine with cold weather. It's just the fruiting process and the timing would put it right dead smack in the middle of winter. And then you wouldn't get any. The next one is going to be these guys behind me and they're in different size containers. So these are about, I think they're like four or five gallons. And then this one back here is I think 20 or right under 20 gallons. And I think when you get to mature height, you need this size gallon. And these guys are our lemons, limes, and also this little one right here, which is a calamondin. They can grow naturally outside in nine to 11 zones. But a lot of people grow these guys in more Northern zones because they can totally handle being in containers. Probably the one that absolutely loves container growing the most is going to be these lemons, limes and calamondin. The cool thing is they are evergreen. So they're not even going to lose their leaves. So when you bring them inside or into a greenhouse or, um, you know, by a window in a protected area during the winter, they're still going to look really, really nice. And you would be shocked at how much these guys can produce in a container all on their own with just like not even the correct conditions. It's actually pretty phenomenal. Now, if you're here in Florida, and you want to know which fruit trees to grow in our climate, you definitely want to check out my book, the Florida fruit garden. There is this index card section that talks about all of the different needs of each one of the fruit trees, including which ones can handle being in a container versus which ones can't. It also has all of the varying areas for Florida from North central and South Florida. So you definitely want to check this out on my website, homegrownfloridagarden.com. Now this beautiful tree right here is probably the most unique variety that we're going to talk about today. And that's a jabotacaba. They naturally grow outdoors in between nine and 11 zones. They are by far a very tropical tree. The cool thing about this tree though, is that it is one of the fewest ones that gets actually very large in nature that we can grow in a container. And it's absolutely fine that way. And the reason why it works for this very large tree is because it grows so slowly, so slowly. Here's the downside, right? It does take anywhere from five to eight years to fruit. It's a long time and it grows super, super slow in that process. I have some babies over here that are, I call them babies, but they're two years old. And if you've grown fruit trees, you know that a two year old tree should be quite sizable. This is my two year old tree. It kind of looks like a fern. It's so tiny. I mean, it's looking great for two years old. It's probably the best ones that I've done, uh, that are that age. But, uh, yeah, it's still pretty small. They grow so incredibly slow, but that's why they work for containers. Now if you're not super familiar with this particular tree, the fruit actually grows on the trunk of the tree instead of like on the tips of the branches, like you used to. Um, and it looks like a very large grape or cherry. It tastes kind of like a grape cause it's got the jelly like consistency on the inside, but it's very like the inside sweet and the outside has like this tart wrapper. It's very, very good and very unique. I love this tree. The next one on our list is a mandarin or an orange tree and it's in a bit larger of a container. I usually go for 30 or 40 gallons with these bigger ones. The zone for mandarins and oranges are usually nine to 11 if you're growing them outdoors, but I like to grow them in containers. I know that's crazy cause you're probably going to think like Petrina, you're in Florida, you are nine to 11. Like why are you growing in a container? Well, here in Florida we have an awful disease called citrus greening disease. It has spread to some other States as well. It's spread through a bug that came over here called the Asian. Um, there's another variety, but it's a psyllid and it basically comes and it bites the leaves and when it bites the leaves, it contracts the disease. This happens for all citrus here in Florida, including the lemon lime and Kalamondin that we talked about earlier. Because of that, I like to keep it in a container inside my pool cage so that there's less likelihood that that bug is going to bite into my tree. Now I also grow resistant varieties. This is a special sugar bell mandarin resistant variety that the University of Florida has come up with. So if you do live in an area that does have citrus greening disease, I highly recommend looking at our University of Florida, um, different varieties that they have built. They're hybrid varieties. They're not GMO, but they're hybrid and they've developed them over decades to try to get them to be resistant. It's not completely foolproof. This tree probably does have the disease and you can see it a little bit in the coloring of the leaves, but it doesn't affect the fruit and it doesn't affect the longevity of the tree. It may not make it to like 30 years, like the old school citrus did here in Florida, but it should last a long time. And I should get some really good fruit from it in that time. There's also an orange variety that they have developed. Um, so you definitely want to check those out if you're in a state that has those kinds of problems. And this lovely little baby right here is a Ruby supreme guava. And there's actually guavas that grow in zones eight to 11 with the eight zones. You really need to kind of aim for the cold hardy varieties of pineapple. Guava is probably going to be one of the cold hardy varieties that you can grow in those upper zones. It is a tropical fruit. Some people love it. It's kind of one of those fruits that like some people love it or some people hate it. It's a very weird distinction as to how people describe the flavor. Guava is a very popular fruit here in the Tampa Bay area where I live. I'm not sure why that is. If you know, head down in the comments and let me know. I have a feeling it has something to do with like Cuban, the Cuban influence, because I remember seeing them a lot in like Cuban bakery, but I don't know why that is. I'm very curious now. I'm going to have to go look that up, but guavas are super popular down here. And if you haven't tried one, I definitely suggest that you try it before you grow it because there is that love hate relationship with it in terms of, um, you know, whether you like the flavor or not. The other thing to think of is pests go after this thing because they absolutely love the fruit. So it is something that you're going to have to be diligent about covering the fruit because the fruit flies really go after it and all kinds of worms and everything else. Um, so it is something to consider, but it really does do well grown in a pot in those particular zones, or you can bring it inside during the winter, during your coldest parts of winter, and then bring it back out. Now this next grouping of plants, uh, they're not trees. I think they're like bushes, brambles, and plants. It's going to be all the berries. So I have a line of them right here of my blueberries. I haven't gotten my strawberries yet for the year, but those are going to go in vertical containers, or you can just put them in pots or raised beds or the grounds or wherever you want to go. Then you have blackberries and raspberries that grow like a shrub. And usually we cut them back pretty considerably. So they might take up a lot of space in the, you know, while they're growing, but then you like cut them back almost every single year to like make them produce even better. So they do take a very small space and I've grown all of them in container. Now, when it comes to blueberries, there's a variety for almost everywhere zone two to 10, sorry, South Florida, 11 people. Uh, unfortunately they do require some chill hours. Um, so the people down with absolutely zero chill hours, you're going to have a hard time. There is like one called Biloxi that might work for you, but it, it'll be hit or miss. Um, but you definitely have to pick the variety that you want based on how many cold hours or chill hours that you get every year. When it comes to blackberries, same thing, but their zones four to 10 raspberries are three to nine. And I would say there's only like one, the Mysore raspberry that works in zone nine. So something to consider there. And when it comes to strawberries, four to 10, I would even say 11, you can grow them in 11, but when you get into the nine tens and 11 zones, you're growing them as annuals. You're not growing them as perennials. They are not going to come back year over year. Now let's get into our honorable mentions. This is the first one right here. This is mainly for our tropical gardeners. Sorry, those from up North, but if you are in a tropical garden and you want to grow in a container, this is one that has worked for me. And this is a star fruit. You've probably seen these in the grocery store, these weird looking star fruits, uh, but mine are growing in a container, absolutely happy and healthy. They do prefer the ground and they are going to give you an incredible amount of fruit if you grow them in the ground rather than in a container, but it works. It does work. Now this one is super sensitive to cold weather. So I don't necessarily think it's a good pick for Northern climates, even setting by a window, it's going to be unhappy with that. And also it does require that tropical, lots of heat, lots of rain, which you may not get, or it's going to have to do a lot of manual work on your part. The next one on our honorable mention is going to be a pineapple. Um, you can actually grow these in almost any zone, as long as you keep them in a container and bring them inside. Now here's the thing you have to consider. This is a tropical plant. It wants a lot of rain or watering. It's very much wants the water. It wants a high degree of humidity. In terms of sun, I would say it's like a partial sun. Like this one is sitting in almost all day shade and it's perfectly happy. It does grow slower. I will say that I have known people that have grown them up in Northern climates and they don't necessarily produce fruit as quickly or at all. Sometimes in the very North climates, because it really does need a considerable amount of humidity, sun, heat, water, all those things. Um, and so you get a really pretty plant, but you may or may not get fruit. And the container you want to go with here is you could get them and leave them in something as small as a one gallon pot, or even a three gallon pot, and you'll have a pretty plant. But if you really want fruit, you need a five gallon pot at least. The last one on our honorable mention is going to be a banana. I say it's an honorable mention because number one, it's not a fruit tree. A banana is actually an herb. I know that sounds so weird. It's technically an herb and it grows more like a plant. And when it produces out of its main stock, it puts the bananas and then you got to cut it down or, or it'll just keep growing and never produce another set of bananas. It will put up pups or babies that will grow around it. I've tried growing different varieties in containers and they all do well. They all grow, but whether or not they will fruit will really depend on the variety you have. I've tried dwarf varieties in 20 and 30 gallon pots and the root structure, which is like this giant rhizome. It really needs space to spread. And even the 20 and 30 gallon pots were just not enough for it. But this guy, this guy will fruit in a pot. This is called a truly tiny banana. It is the smallest variety of banana that exists. This is still pretty young. It is going to get probably about five feet tall. It will live in the 20 and 30 gallon pots, but it should fruit. Now the bananas are going to be super tiny. They're going to be little tiny bananas, but I'm just excited that I have found one that will grow in a pot and will fruit in a pot. And that's our goal because these guys are super sensitive to cold temperatures. So really the only way that you're going to grow bananas that can actually fruit in zones outside of nine, 10 and 11 is being able to grow them in a container that you can protect. Or I guess if you grew them under a greenhouse or some sort of protection that you could keep warmer during the winter, of course you could grow bananas then. But just like the pineapple, this is a tropical fruit. So it does like lots of rain, humidity, lots of sun, but it can handle some shade as well. It's just a really fun plant. I love growing bananas. And you have like this unlimited supply. You buy one banana and it gives you pups forever. So you always have plants. These are just a few of the trees that I like to grow in my small space or in a container, but there's even more than this. I grow things like peaches and plums and avocados and mangoes, and you can find dwarf varieties even in those. I wouldn't necessarily say they're great for containers, but they're definitely good for a small space if you can put them in the ground and keep them for it. I hope this helped you today. Thanks so much for hanging out with me. Happy gardening.