• Fertilizing: It’s safe to wait a few weeks before fertilizing since most container soils include fertilizers. Water-soluble, slow-release fertilizers generally work best. Their small capsules gradually dissolve when watered, adding nutrients to the plant mix.
• Soil types: “Pots create different drainage and air properties than soils, so don’t use straight garden soil for fruit in pots,” Perry said. “Use half-bagged topsoil or potting soil, with half organic matter such as peat moss or compost. Leave a couple of inches free on the top for adding fresh compost each spring.”
• Longevity and yields: You naturally sacrifice yields by growing in small pots, said Elmer Kidd, chief production officer for Stark Bro’s Nurseries & Orchards Co. in Louisiana, Mo. Nutrition and watering are far more important with plants in containers. “For those who want to participate in the gardening realm by growing in pots, their efforts can be respectable if their level of care is good,” Kidd said.
For those who can’t decide which fruit to grow, grafting can offer more choices. Consider taking what John Duarte, president of Duarte Nursery Inc. in Hughson, Calif., calls the “Cocktail Tree” route. Duarte Nursery creates trees with different varieties of the same fruit or different fruit species. A cocktail tree can be a peach tree that has an early-, mid- or late-season peach variety, or it can be a combination of peach, plum, apricot or nectarine — all on the same tree.
“I like the fruit combinations best, but I’ve had better customer feedback about trees with a single fruit but producing at different times,” Duarte said.