Suitable for...
There’s a wide range of fruit that can be grown in pots.
All the tree fruits listed here will pollinate each other. However, the pollination group numbers (where applicable) are shown in brackets; aim to pick at least two trees of the same or adjacent-numbered pollination group. This matching of the groups is always done with the same fruit, such as apples, and will not work between different fruits such as apples and pears. These are just a few of the fruits suited to pot culture.
- Apples, culinary: ‘Arthur Turner’ (3), ‘Bountiful’ (3) and ‘Howgate Wonder’ (4)
- Apples, dessert/eating: 'Alkmene’ (2), ‘Discovery’ (3), Falstaff (3), ‘Fiesta’ (3) ‘Greensleeves’ (3), 'Kidd’s Orange Red’ (3), ‘Pixie’ (4) and 'Sunset' (3)
- Apricots: ‘Delicot’, ‘Tomcot’ and ‘Moorpark’ are self fertile*
- Blueberries: Most cultivars will grow well in pots, but particularly half-high blueberries such as ‘Northsky’, ‘Chippewa’ and ‘Northcountry’
- Cherries: ‘Lapins’, ‘Sunburst and ‘Stella’ are all self fertile (do not need another tree to pollinate them)
- Figs: ‘Brown Turkey’, ‘Brunswick’ and White Marseilles’ (no pollinators are required)
- Grapes: ‘Seyval Blanc’, ‘Siegerrebe’ and ‘New York Muscat’ (no pollinators are required)
- Nectarines: ‘Early Rivers’ and ‘Nectarella’ are self fertile*
- Olives: Olea europaea, O. ‘Aglandau’ and O. ‘Cailletier’ are fairly hardy and self fertile
- Peaches: ‘Duke of York’, ‘Garden Anny’, ‘Garden Lady’, ‘Peregrine’ and ‘Rochester’ are self fertile*
- Pears: ‘Beth’ (4), ‘Beurré Hardy’ (3), ‘Concorde’ (3), Conference (3), ‘Doyenné du Comice’ (4), ‘Glou Morceau’ (4) and ‘Red Comice’ (4)
- Plums: there are no suitable culinary cultivars, but the following dessert grow well in containers – ‘Blue Tit’, ‘Opal’ and ‘Victoria', which are self fertile
*These need to be hand pollinated when grown in a greenhouse or conservatory, by transferring pollen between flowers with a soft brush.
Choosing a rootstock
Once you have chosen which cultivar you want to grow, you will need to select the rootstock it grows on, at least for some fruit trees. The rootstock will help control the cultivar’s vigour and make it more suitable to grow in a container. Look on the label – you will often see there is a cultivar name with the rootstock printed next to it, such as Apple ‘Discovery’ M9.
These are the best options:
- Apple: M9, M26 (M27 is too dwarfing)
- Cherry: Colt or Gisela 5
- Pear: Quince C
- Plum, damson, peach, nectarine: Pixy or St Julien A
- Apricot: St Julien A or Torinel
Rootstocks are not required for blueberries, grapes, figs and olives.