Best Dwarf Fruit Trees for Containers: What Grows in Pots

Dwarf Fruit Trees That Can Grow in Pots

Eight kinds of fruit do well in pots if you buy the right form: apples, pears, sweet cherries, peaches and nectarines, plums, figs, citrus, and blueberries. For the first five, the rootstock on the tag decides whether the tree stays pot-sized. Figs, citrus and blueberries need no special rootstock. Plan on a final container 18 to 20 inches across, or 15 to 25 gallons, and choose first by where the pot can spend the winter. A tree in a pot will be smaller and less productive than the same plant in the ground, according to University of Maryland Extension, so the aim is a few good pickings from a small footprint.

Fruit	What to look for on the tag	Final pot	Second tree needed?	Winter
Apple	M9 or M26 rootstock, or a columnar type	18 inches or wider; 20 gallons for columnar	Yes, always	Outdoors, pot insulated
Pear	Quince C rootstock	18 to 20 inches wide and deep	Recommended	Outdoors, pot insulated
Sweet cherry	Gisela 5 rootstock	18 to 20 inches wide and deep	No for Stella and Lapins	Outdoors, pot insulated
Peach, nectarine	Pixy or St Julien A rootstock	18 to 20 inches	No for nearly all	Outdoors, pot insulated
Plum	Pixy or St Julien A rootstock	18 to 20 inches	Recommended	Outdoors, pot insulated
Fig	Any; no rootstock involved	18 inches, 15 gallons	No	Dormant storage, 20 to 45°F
Citrus	Meyer lemon, kumquat, calamondin	5, then 15, then 25 gallons	No	Indoors at a bright window
Blueberry	Compact types such as Tophat or Northsky	18 inches, 15 gallons	Two cultivars crop better	Outdoors, pot insulated

Choose by Where the Pot Will Spend Winter

Winter sorts this list faster than taste does. Iowa State University Extension gives the reason: the roots of most trees and shrubs are far less cold-hardy than their stems or trunks, and in a pot those roots sit above ground.

Citrus has to come inside. University of Wisconsin-Madison Extension says to move plants indoors before night temperatures drop into the 40s and back out once temperatures are consistently above 50°F. Oregon State University Extension puts dates on that for the Pacific Northwest: indoors around Halloween, out again around mid-April. Meyer lemon is cold hardy only in zones 9 to 10. Indoors, citrus needs a window with six to eight hours of sun, and Wisconsin notes that supplemental light is needed for fruit if plants get less than 6 hours of direct light a day.

Figs go dormant and can be stored. Penn State Extension advises placing potted figs in an insulated, unheated, preferably dark room, garage or cool basement, watering monthly until just moist, and bringing them outdoors in April. Do not keep them warm. Figs need at least 100 hours of chilling to fruit. Edible figs tolerate temperatures down to 20°F and suffer real damage below 15°F, with ‘Chicago Hardy’ the stated exception, so the 20 to 45°F storage range that Iowa State gives for container trees suits them.

Apples, pears, cherries, peaches, plums and blueberries stay outdoors, but the pot needs help. Maryland’s advice is to mound bags of leaves, mulch or straw bales around the sides of containers to reduce winter injury to roots. Iowa State offers two alternatives: bury the pot in the ground after the tree goes dormant and before the soil freezes, or keep it in a moderately cold place at 20 to 45°F, such as an attached unheated garage. Check the temperature in there, since many unheated buildings swing more widely than that range. See how to overwinter potted plants for the full method.

What “Dwarf” Means on the Tag

For grafted fruit trees, dwarf is a property of the roots. The same apple variety can become a 6-foot tree or an 18-foot tree depending on what it is grafted to, so a tag that says only “dwarf” tells you little. Look for the rootstock name.

The Royal Horticultural Society gives these in-ground heights for apple rootstocks: M27 at 5 to 6 feet, M9 and M26 at 8 to 12 feet, and MM106 at 12 to 18 feet. For containers its advice names M9 or M26, the 8 to 12 foot class, and adds that M27 is too dwarfing. Our guide to choosing an apple rootstock goes deeper.

Other fruits follow the same logic. For sweet cherries, Gisela 5 restricts trees to about 10 to 13 feet in the ground, which the Royal Horticultural Society calls suitable for dwarf bush trees or possibly a container, while Colt reaches 20 to 27 feet. Pears for pots go on Quince C. Plums, peaches and nectarines go on Pixy or St Julien A.

Columnar apples are a separate route to a small tree. Maryland describes them as slender single-stem plants 8 to 10 feet tall that fit tight spaces, and lists them with the cultivars bred for container use. Among blueberries, Maryland names Tophat, which grows 2 to 3 feet tall, and the half-high Northsky, which reaches 4 feet.

What Size Pot Does a Dwarf Fruit Tree Need?

Two sets of numbers agree closely. The Royal Horticultural Society says to choose pots 18 to 20 inches in diameter for most fruit. Maryland gives an 18-inch pot with 15-gallon capacity for a fig or blueberry and a 21-inch pot with 20-gallon capacity for small fruit trees such as columnar apples.

Do not start a young tree in the final pot. A University of Houston guide lays out the steps: a 10- to 15-inch container, or 3 to 7 gallons, to begin; then a 16-inch, 10-gallon pot; and 17 to 20 inches, or 15 to 20 gallons, for the long term. Oregon State’s sequence for Meyer lemon is 5 gallons, then 15, then eventually 25. Wisconsin adds that citrus kept as a houseplant can stay in a 10- to 12-inch pot for several years.

Weight is the practical limit. A 20-gallon pot of moist mix with a tree in it is hard to move, so decide before planting whether the pot will sit on a wheeled base. For materials, see terracotta vs. plastic vs. fabric pots.

Pollination: One Tree or Two?

A potted tree that flowers and never fruits often lacks a partner. Penn State Extension’s pollination guide separates the fruits clearly.

• Apple: cross-pollination is always needed for an adequate crop. Plan on two varieties, or a neighbor’s tree nearby that blooms at the same time.
• Pear: a few varieties are self-fruitful, but a pollinizer improves the crop.
• Peach and nectarine: nearly all are self-fruitful. The exceptions are J. H. Hale peach and nectarines bred from it.
• Sweet cherry: many need a partner, but newer varieties such as Lapins, Stella, Whitegold, Sweetheart and Blackgold are self-fruitful.
• Plum: about half of varieties are self-fruitful, so provide a pollinizer to be sure.
• Blueberry: self-fertile, yet Maryland notes more and larger berries when two or more cultivars grow together.

Most citrus does not need cross-pollination and will set fruit on a single plant indoors. Common figs form fruit without any pollination, according to NC State Extension. That makes citrus, figs, peaches and the self-fruitful cherries the candidates for a balcony with room for one pot. For the background, read self-pollinating vs. cross-pollinating fruit trees.

Potting Mix, Water and Feeding

Fill the pot with a potting mix made for containers. The Royal Horticultural Society suggests a good-quality loam-based compost, or multipurpose compost with one third grit or perlite by volume for drainage. Maryland’s recipe is a 50:50 blend of compost and lightweight soilless potting mix. Blueberries are the exception to any general mix because they need a soil pH of 4.5 to 5.5. Our guides to growing blueberries in pots and potting mix for containers cover the details.

Water is the daily job. Keep the mix evenly moist and never soggy. Oregon State’s schedule for a potted Meyer lemon is once a day in summer, letting the pot drain completely, and less often in winter, checking by pushing a finger in to the second knuckle.

Feed little and often. The Houston guide says to begin when new growth appears and to use less fertilizer per application but apply it more frequently than for a tree in the ground. The Royal Horticultural Society’s version is controlled-release pellets, or a high-potassium liquid tomato feed every two weeks. Citrus are heavy feeders and want a fertilizer with at least a 2-1-1 ratio of nitrogen to phosphorus and potassium. See fertilizing container plants for general timing.

Repotting and Root Pruning

A fruit tree stays in a pot for years only if the roots are managed. Inspect the root ball annually. If roots are spiraling or the tree is root bound, the Houston guide says to root prune and repot; vigorous trees need this every year, and most fruits every second year.

The Royal Horticultural Society gives the long-term routine. Repot every year or every other year after leaf fall until the tree reaches its final container. From then on, root-prune every other year and refresh about 30 percent of the compost, and in the years between, replace the top layer of compost.

What to Check Before You Buy

Prices and seasonal offers change, but five things on the tag decide whether a tree will succeed in a pot.

1. The rootstock name: M9 or M26 for apple, Quince C for pear, Gisela 5 for cherry, Pixy or St Julien A for plum and peach.
2. Whether the variety is self-fruitful, if you have room for one tree.
3. Cold hardiness against your winter plan: indoors, garage or outdoors.
4. The size it is sold in. A tree in a 3- to 7-gallon pot can be stepped up gradually.
5. Bare-root or potted stock. Our comparison of bare-root vs. potted fruit trees explains the trade-off.

Quick Recap

• Apples on M9 or M26, pears on Quince C, cherries on Gisela 5, and peaches or plums on Pixy or St Julien A suit pots. Figs, citrus and blueberries need no rootstock.
• Final pots run 18 to 20 inches across: 15 gallons for a fig or blueberry, 20 for a columnar apple, 25 for a mature Meyer lemon.
• Citrus comes indoors before nights reach the 40s. Dormant figs store at 20 to 45°F. Hardy trees stay out with the pot insulated.
• Apples always need a second variety. Peaches, figs, citrus, and Stella or Lapins cherries fruit alone.
• Root-prune every other year once the tree is in its final pot, replacing about 30 percent of the mix.