Hi, Is there a forum or thread for: Tropical Fruit Plants/Trees in containers? I'm growing some tropical fruit trees in containers and need more info on this subject. Also, is there a thread or forum for setting up a greenhouse? TIA
I've been using those forums for the past couple weeks. The indoor greenhouse forum is mostly about people growing flowers in a greenhouse. I would think growing indoor fruit trees would be more popular than it is.
What species are you growing? Usually the biggest problems with growing tropical fruit are: 1 Getting enough light to the plants for them to grow well (they are more light-demanding than most indoor plants, which are generally selected for their shade tolerance) 2 Finding enough space for them to grow to fruiting size 3 Pollination of the flowers - some need special pollinators, particular species of bees, etc., that don't occur in temperate areas, and most need two or more different clones for successful fertilisation of the embryos. I did read somewhere that the easiest tropical fruit to grow and bear fruit indoors is Guava, if that helps.
If you set up a greenhouse there are many things you can grow, but that is expensive and a big job. If you just want to try to grow fruit in your home, here is a link to an article that mentions several good choices to try in the home. http://www.bbg.org/gar2/topics/indoor/2004fa_tropical.html I would add to this Cyphomandra betacea, I have grown this and produced fruit in a sunny room. It is an interesting flavour, and makes a beautiful presentation on a salad plate, but it is not something I would want to eat in quantity. Intersting topic, I hope people add more possible plants for home growing. I would like to try some more indoor edibles too.
I'm growing the first two listed in the article (natal plum and surinam cherry) along with guava, chilean guava, star fruit, mango, pineapple, and a number of citrus. With the exception of the citrus, none are old enough yet to bear fruit. I have doubts about the tree-sized specimens ever fruiting because of the limitations of an indoor environment.
What you want are bonsai forums (even if you're not growing your plants in bonsai pots) as they're experts in growing trees in containers indoors or otherwise. I suggest www.BonsaiTalk.com, htttp://forums.bonsaisite.com and the ones listed on the main page here as a subforum of Japanese Gardens.
Wow this is great! Thanks guys. I'm growing: 1. Banana 2. Lemon 3. Citrus 4. Pomegranate 5. Dwarf Pomegranate 6. Guava (Pineapple) 7. Guava (Strawberry) Dog eat the plant last week. Both my Pomegranate flowered last week, but i couldn't get them to fruit. The flowers would fall off the plant right after i tried to self pollinate them.
