Isoh:

1) I've tried pots from 5 to 30 gallon. They all work but 10-15 gal is manageable and big enough for any tree or bush.

2) Needs to be well draining. I'm using about 2/3 coarse compost and 1/3 fine pine bark for fruit trees. Half should spaghnum peat moss for blueberries.

3) Complete fertilizer for acid loving plants once a month will work for all. If they aren't growing enough add ammonium sulfate, 21-0-0.

4) Blueberries, any fruit tree will work if you get 5 right.

5) Keep them from freezing too hard. Some say their pots freeze solid in an unheated garage. That would make me nervous but must work.

6) In a small pot 10-15 gal, the small soil volume dwarfs them about all that is needed. Just prune if the get too tall or wide. Pruning is easier in pots than in the ground.

7) ????

Hey fruitnut, you also grow grapes in pots, right? I am thinking about growing a few vines in pots on my patio, mainly for decorative purposes. Wife suggested 1/2 wine barrels with cuttings from my wine grapes - for decoration and root volume, I think that would be great. The problem I have is it can get to 0 degrees in the winter and I don't think they'd make it. They would be very heavy to move. I'm still considering it though, maybe rig some sort of dolly to wheel them into my garage.

Do your potted vines yield a decent amount of fruit? How do you have them trained? Head trained or some kind of trellis? What's your potting mix for your vines?

Potting mix is the same as for trees. But I have a Princess in a 15 gal pot that is just sandy loam soil. Has been in there 7 yrs and still grows and fruits fine. I'd say it occupies an area about 4ft by 6ft in my greenhouse. Probably 8-10 lbs of very good grapes. All my future grapes will be in 10-15 gal pots. They are too vigorous in the greenhouse planted in the ground. It's kinda head trained but with one cane about 8ft up.

I won't put anything in a half wine barrel for my use. The 10-15 gal pots will get the job done and are so much easier to move. Small pots do need daily water during hot weather. I'm going to automate that at some point.

Do you do any apples or pears in pots fruitnut?

Scape

fruitnut, how much Ammonium Sulfate do you use per pot? Thanks.

I've had very good results using the 18 gallon blue rope tubs from Home Depot for five bucks. Pretty much the same recipe and technique as Fruitnut's. I wheel them around the garden at will. Misterbaby.

Right now I don't have any apples or pears in pots. But they would work just as well. And you don't need a dwarf rootstock for anything. The small soil volume does that for you.

When I add 21-0-0 it is a small amount. About 1/2 to 1 teaspoon. Then it gets watered in with regular watering. But on blueberries I dissolve about that same amount in 2 gal rainwater before applying. The bb are more prone to fertilizer burn. Dissolving the fertilizer first seems to help.

I've been reading a lot lately at the container gardening forum. There's a lot of support there for "Al's gritty mix" as a potting medium for woody plants, you might look into that, I'm going to give it a try this season.

Alex

Here is a link that might be useful: container gardening forum

Here's a direct link to Al's most recent thread on container soil mix (what Alex was referring to above). Al's thread (actually a series of 10 so far) is the most popular thread on Gardenweb. It's an absolute must-read for anyone not thoroughly familiar with soil drainage, aeration, and durability in containers.

Here is a link that might be useful: Container Soils - Water Movement & Retention

Thanks.

misterbaby said: >>> I've had very good results using the 18 gallon blue rope tubs from Home Depot for five bucks.

I agree. Those light blue 18gal containers with the FLAT rope (not the traditional braided strands) from HD for $5 (on sale I think) are by far much stronger than the others I've seen. Although I finally did find a 10gallon at Walmart that is good and strong.

The rolled tops will break first, esp around the rope area if you think you'll be using that for long -- don't. But overall that is a good choice and cheapest.

I'm using Al's mix on a couple dozen citrus -- it's working great. I did have to adjust the volume of Turface (I use all of the various alternatives) for my area. Then when the manufacturer started using a bit smaller and rounder #10 granite component in their bags, it held too much water during winter. So I had to adjust it again. Watering schedules during summer and winter are so extreme you have to find the right balance and expect to water everyday in summer.

I'm now trying it for some of my peaches, cherries, and apples (and have identical trees in more typical potting soil amended heavily with bark). My current issue is with fertilizer. The leaves on several of my peaches are yellowing and falling off while very small. Much more than in-ground trees and the other container trees. I'm doing the same "weekly, weakly" fert as my citrus, but now needing to supplement with different NPK ratio ferts since the Foliage Pro 3-1-2 obviously isn't cutting it (I suspected it wouldn't).

My point is, as with any new-to-you drastically different soil, expect a learning curve and growth set backs if mistakes are made or adjustments aren't done in time. The gritty mix is everything it claims to be for aeration and drainage (if done correctly) - which is great for the plant. But expect to struggle a bit with fruits that need larger intakes of nutrients at each stage of growth cycle.

"5) Keep them from freezing too hard. Some say their pots freeze solid in an unheated garage. That would make me nervous but must work."

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That was what I was told and did with my 7 figs first year...they all died.

Keep them in heated garage in winter and move to unheated shed in March now.

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