Grant, What's the problem you have identified with the soil? My usual grow mix is 40% volume B and Q soil Improver (composted bark) 40% horticultural grit and 20% Hydroleca with a handfull of Growmore per 10L bucket. I also chuck in bits and pieces of leftover soil from re-pots etc. in the big mixing trug so I end up with bits of akadama in there as well. Although there has been some debate about this lately, using large terracotta pots in the UK is pretty OK I believe with a few provisos. Firstly a massive pot with a tiny tree is unlikely to be of any use. My usual rule of thumb is to use a pot 2-3 " bigger all around than the root ball so you don't swamp it in what might become a mass of soggy soil. As the tree grows you move it up a pot size. Put a 1-2" layer of Hydroleca or 10-20mm gravel in the bottom of the pot and screen the hole over so it doesn't get blocked. This provides a drop through zone for excess water. You should be able to water the pot and have it pi$$ing through the bottom within 30 seconds. Keep the pots off the ground with pot feet or on a bench as they can bed down preventing drainage and you end up with what I think they call a perched water table. Lift and clean the underside as you can get a little dam of silt that can prevent drainage as well. Most people get referred to Brent Walston's article and its definitely worth a read. Hydroleca is available at most larger garden centres. Here is a link that might be useful: Why the Earth is Not Like Pot

Huh! - the picture wasn't there before my last post - strange. If it's too tall, you can cut it back to practically any ht you think you'd like it to be. It will back-bud & send out several lateral branches. If it was Jun or Jul, you could cut it back nearly to the soil line & just wait for it to back-bud, knowing that it would have the rest of summer to make leaves & store energy. Now though, you need to be aware of the fact that cutting off viable foliage is cutting back on the plant's ability to make food, so it would be best to be reserved and probably not take off more than 1/4-1/3 of the ht. DO leave all the lower foliage (below your pruning cut) on the plant, it's what will fuel new growth, along with whatever reserve energy the plant has now. Al

Columnar apples are excellent choices for containers. And while not really trees, so are blueberries. But neither are very 'exotic' :-) Dwarf citrus also do well in containers but need some sort of winter protection. Perhaps placing your container on a dolly or attaching heavy duty casters to something like the half whiskey barrel would facilitate movement. Any of the dwarf or minidwarf fruit trees should do well in large containers. Check to see if your choices need a second type for pollination. There's a number of different exotic fruiting plants typically available at local nurseries and seem to be more available each year but most of these tend to be shrubs or vines rather than trees.....maybe you might want to consider enlarging your choices. The other consideration with growing fruit in small spaces is to espalier the various trees. It takes some time for training and attention to pruning but you can get a lot of different trees in to very small spaces this way. You could actually construct an espaliered fence around your backyard.

Ruth, those huge old bougies are something else, aren't they? I stood under one that was as big as a tree in La Paz, Mexico. Mine, however, are in 3 to 5 gallon pots. I had a friend from Southern Califoria laugh when she saw them in pots as they of course grow them in the ground there. But anyway, before the first hard freeze I tie up the stems as best I can and cram them in a little over wintering house. They don't need much to make it through the winter in there, just a little protection from the cold, little water and a little light. Some people keep them in the garage for the winter and drag them out for a little light on warm days. By spring they have lost most of their leaves, but have always made it -- even with last winters record low temps. I have a small electric heater in the greenhouse, but it doesn't put out much heat. In spring I bring them out, trim back the stems by about half and they are back to blooming in a short time. I fertilize them a lot and repot them about every three or four years. Indu, Malabar spinach tastes like regular spinach to me. It cooks down a lot like regular spinach does too. BTW, Malabar is an old name for an area in Southern India so it comes by its heat loving nature naturally. Well, it's thundering, but not getting my hopes up yet. Yesterday it rained enough to barely wet the sidewalks, but Bob and I were so happy to see drops of water falling from the sky we stood out there with out hands up to welcome it saying ... "Come on -- more more!" LOL