Grow 12 Fruit Varieties in Pots for a Flourishing Outdoor Harvest on Your Balcony or Terrace

Grow 12 Fruit Varieties in Pots for a Flourishing Outdoor Harvest on Your Balcony or Terrace

Growing your own fruits at home isn’t a space-hogging endeavor! Even in a compact living area, you can cultivate a diverse range of fruiting plants in containers, from juicy berries to vibrant citrus. Here are a dozen fantastic fruits that excel in pots, along with some tips to ensure your container-grown fruit garden thrives.

Thriving Fruits in Containers

1. Loveable Strawberries

• Botanical Name: Fragaria x ananassa
• Sunlight: Full sun
• Soil Type: Moist, well-draining, rich
• Soil pH: Slightly acidic (5.5-6.8)

Strawberries have been successfully container-grown for ages, with a special terracotta strawberry pot design tailored for their compact growth. You can also try growing your strawberries in more traditional pots or hanging baskets. Snip off the early-season runners to channel all the plants' energy into fruit production.

2. Kissable Figs

• Botanical Name: Ficus carica 'Little Miss Figgy'
• Sunlight: Full sun
• Soil Type: Medium, well-draining
• Soil pH: Slightly acidic (5.8 to 6.5)

Finding fresh figs can be a tricky business, but growing your own is a breeze! Although many fig varieties can be grown in pots, 'Little Miss Figgy' seems like it was made for containers. This petite, dwarf fig produces both a breba (early) and a main crop of delicious fruits on plants that grow between 4 to 8 feet tall and 3 to 4 feet wide. The broad fig foliage adds a beautiful touch to your outdoor patio.

3. Sweet and Smiling Blackberries

• Botanical Name: Rubus hybrid 'APF-236T'
• Sunlight: Full sun
• Soil Type: Medium, well-draining, average
• Soil pH: Slightly acidic (5.5-6.5)

This delightful thornless blackberry grows as a compact, rounded mound instead of long sprawling canes, making it an excellent choice for container gardens. Plants bear fruit on both first year (primocane) and second year (floricane) stems, giving you two mouthwatering harvests – one in July and another starting in September.

4. Handy Blueberries

• Botanical Name: Vaccinium species and hybrids
• Sunlight: Full sun
• Soil Type: Well-draining, peaty
• Soil pH: Acidic (4.5-5.2)

Blueberries are striking plants, offering spring blooms, summer berries, and stunning autumn foliage. Planting them in containers lets you grow these fruiting shrubs in locations with soil pH too high for in-ground cultivation. Mix 50% peat moss and 50% potting soil to provide blueberries with an acidic growing medium. Peat holds water well but dries out slowly, so wet it thoroughly before potting and maintain consistent moisture.

5. Passionate Passion Fruits

• Botanical Name: Passiflora edulis
• Sunlight: Full sun
• Soil Type: Medium to moist, well-draining, rich
• Soil pH: Slightly acidic to neutral (6.5-7.5)

If you've ever tasted Hawaiian Punch, you'll recognize the unique flavor of passion fruits. These tender tropical vines can be grown in containers and brought indoors during the winter months (hardy in zones 9B-11). Along with the egg-shaped fruits, passion fruits are grown for their gorgeous frilly blooms. The plants also function as host plants for larvae of the Gulf Fritillary butterfly, a striking orange visitor throughout the summer.

6. Smile-inducing Peach Trees

• Botanical Name: Prunus persica 'Pix Zee'
• Sunlight: Full sun
• Soil Type: Medium, well-draining, average fertility
• Soil pH: Slightly acidic to neutral (6.0-7.0)

Peach trees make lovely container-sized patio plants, with attractive elongated foliage and showy pink blooms. A variety of dwarf peach and nectarine selections are available, some with more than one cultivar grafted to the same rootstock. The variety 'Pix Zee' produces juicy, freestone peaches on plants that mature at 5 to 6 feet tall. 'Pix Zee' requires only 400 chilling hours to bloom, making it a good choice for gardens in southern regions. Peach trees require large containers (at least 25 gallons).

7. Scrumptious Raspberry Shortcake®

• Botanical Name: Rubus idaeus 'NR7'
• Sunlight: Full sun to part shade
• Soil Type: Moist, well-draining, rich
• Soil pH: Slightly acidic (5.5-6.5)

Raspberry Shortcake® is a one-of-a-kind raspberry, bred for life in containers. Thornless and compact, Raspberry Shortcake® was developed specifically for easy care and productivity in pots. It produces sweet fruits on first-year canes, making pruning an absolute breeze. The only drawback is the 800 chilling hours (accumulated hours of cold temperatures) required for fruit production, which restricts where you can grow this raspberry (and most others) to regions with colder winter temperatures.

8. Pineapple Pals

• Botanical Name: Ananas comosus
• Sunlight: Full sun
• Soil Type: Medium, well-draining, rich
• Soil pH: Acidic to slightly alkaline (4.5-6.5)

If you've ever grown a pineapple plant from the crown of a purchased fruit, you already know how simple this tropical treat is to grow. Pineapple plants also take up less space than most other fruit crops, thriving in 3- to 7-gallon containers. However, bear in mind that it can take 18-24 months to produce fruit. Potted plants will bear best if grown outdoors during the summer months and moved to a sunny window indoors during the winter.

9. Luscious Meyer Lemon

• Botanical Name: Citrus × meyeri
• Sunlight: Full sun to part shade
• Soil Type: Moist, well-draining
• Soil pH: Acidic to neutral (5.5 to 8.0)

With their zesty fruits and heavenly scented blooms, Meyer lemons are adored by cooks and mixologists alike. A popular choice among bakers, the round Meyer lemon fruits have a sweeter flavor than regular lemons and can be produced year-round in warmer climates. Meyer lemon trees are hardy to zone 8B/9A and should be moved indoors in colder regions. Outdoors, they benefit from afternoon shade in hot locales.

10. Cheerful Bambina™ Pineapple Guava

• Botanical Name: Feijoa sellowiana 'Tharfiona'
• Sunlight: Full sun
• Soil Type: Moist, well-draining, rich
• Soil pH: Acidic to slightly alkaline (5.5-7.0)

This uncommon tropical shrub produces exotic blooms and green, edible egg-shaped fruits. The beautiful flowers feature white and pink petals surrounding crimson anthers and can be eaten like candy. Of course, leave some for the scrumptious gold-fleshed fruits. 'Bambina' is a diminutive selection that grows as a 3- to 4-foot mounding shrub. The small leaves are green above and white below, providing a lovely silver sheen.

11. Tantalizing Pomegranates

• Botanical Name: Punica granatum
• Sunlight: Full sun
• Soil Type: Medium, well-draining
• Soil pH: Slightly acidic to neutral (5.5-7.2)

Pomegranates are beloved for their flashy red-orange blooms that seem to swirl like dancers' skirts. Their popularity has led to the production of several dwarf cultivars, but only some of these bear tasty fruits. For container cultivation, seek out varieties that combine compact size and edible fruits, such as Crimson Sky™ and Favorite™. These eye-catching shrubs make excellent focal points for patio planters.

12. Gem-like 'Sugar Baby Bush' Watermelon

• Botanical Name: Citrullus lanatus 'Sugar Baby Bush'
• Sunlight: Full sun
• Soil Type: Moist, well-draining, rich
• Soil pH: Slightly acidic to slightly alkaline (6.0-7.5)

Most watermelon varieties produce sprawling vines that can quickly take over your patio, but 'Sugar Baby Bush' is an exception. With vines that grow just 3 feet long, this compact variety saves space while still delivering tantalizing flavor. Each vine produces 2 to 3 melons, weighing up to 10 pounds each. Sow seeds or set transplants in containers that hold 7-10 gallons of soil per plant. Watermelons are heavy feeders and need a low-nitrogen, high-phosphorous fertilizer to thrive.

Container Fruit Gardening Tips

• Container Size: Use containers that are at least 24 inches in diameter for most fruits to ensure adequate root space.
• Soil Quality: Use well-draining potting mix to prevent root rot.
• Light Requirements: Most fruits require full sun, so position containers in sunny spots.
• Watering: Regular watering is crucial, but avoid overwatering to prevent root rot.
• Temperature Regulation: Terracotta pots help regulate soil temperature, keeping it cooler in summer and warmer in winter.
• Support: Use trellises or cages for vining plants like watermelon and cucumbers.
• Pruning: Prune fruit trees regularly to maintain size and promote healthy growth.

1. Strawberries, with their charming terracotta pot design, can be successfully grown in containers, making them perfect for smaller living areas.2.The petite dwarf fig 'Little Miss Figgy' excels in containers, offering a diverse range of delicious figs along with stunning foliage that enhances outdoor patios.
2. The compact, thornless blackberry variety 'APF-236T' is an excellent choice for container gardens, producing two mouthwatering harvests throughout the year.
3. Blueberries can be grown in containers, allowing gardeners in soils with high pH to cultivate these attractive plants that offer spring blooms, summer berries, and autumn foliage.
4. Passion fruits, with their unique flavor and vibrant blooms, can be grown in containers and brought indoors during winter months, making them an excellent choice for patio gardens in warmer climates.
5. By choosing a dwarf peach or nectarine variety like 'Pix Zee', you can have a juicy, freestone peach tree that thrives in a container on your patio, reaching a mature height of 5 to 6 feet.
6. Raspberry Shortcake®, with its sweet fruits and thornless growth, is an ideal option for container cultivation, making pruning easy and providing a bountiful harvest.
7. Pineapple plants, grown from the crown of a purchased fruit, are easy to care for and can thrive in 3 to 7-gallon containers, but can take 18-24 months to produce fruit.
8. Meyer lemons, with their zesty fruits and heavenly scented blooms, make lovely container plants, thriving indoors during colder months and outdoors during warmer months in warmer climates.
9. 'Bambina' Pineapple Guava, a small, mounding shrub, produces exotic blooms and edible egg-shaped fruits, making it an eye-catching addition to small patio planters.
10. Pomegranates, with their flashy flowers and juicy fruits, can be grown in containers, with dwarf cultivars like Crimson Sky™ and Favorite™ being particularly suitable.
11. The compact 'Sugar Baby Bush' Watermelon variety, produces flavorful watermelons in containers, with each vine producing 2 to 3 melons, weighing up to 10 pounds each.

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