Question about fruit trees.. Nectarine, peach, plum, cherry...

[Sunny the Hippie Chick]

A local store just got in some fruit trees.. They are about 3-4 feet tall. None of the tags say that they are dwarf, semi-dwarf, or standard. Just a label saying their type and the nursery that they came from..

Funny thing is. These trees are all leafed out. And most all of them already have fruit on them.. The most would be one of the plums. It has at least a dozen fruit. These are not bushed out much.. Tall and slender..

I have heard many people say fruit trees dont get fruit until they are about 4-5 years old.. These dont look that old at all..

I currently garden in large pots.. I have 5 blueberry bushes growing very well.. I was wondering if these trees could possilby be kept in large pots. Like big trash cans.. And be pruned to stay the size that I want them. And would they still produce..

Ive been a lurker for about 6 months.. Now I am a member..

 

[lupinfarm]

Hi! You may get SOME fruit the first year, maybe a couple pieces on a 3-4ft tall tree. We have about 7ft tall boughthisyear lapins cherries that have about 9 0r 10 cherries on them each, and three gala apples that are about 6ft tall and have tons of flowers/fruit on them, our pears which are only about 3ft tall have no flowers yet. Things like plums dont fruit until their 4th or 5th years, our italian plums are fruiting this year (YAYYY) but things like apples, cherries, nectarines, might produce a SMALL amount of fruit the first year. Our two apples last year produce about 4 apples each, this year they're covered in flowers and we're expecting a much larger crop. The wait is worth it though

 

[Hattie the Hen]

Hi there!

I have found it very unsatisfactory to grow these types of fruit trees in containers (even huge ones). It seems to just about work with citrus fruit but stoned fruit seems to be very difficult.

You say they have no label as to rootstock designation. I think this is the clue......!! It will be the cheapest to produce --ie: HUGE! and that AINT GONNA WORK in a pot, not even if you prune it. I can't even get it to work on dwarfing stock.

I think these are quickly grown field-grown trees -- "WHIPS" they are called (from your description). They pot them up & ship-em-out at a cheap price. Leave them in the store & if you want some call a reliable, responsible producer & explain to them what you want & where you want to grow them; that way you have a fighting chance & the back-up of a knowledgable company.

Sorry to give you bad news but it could save you money & heart-ache in the long run.
:rose Hattie :rose

 

[Sunny the Hippie Chick]

Thats kind of what I thought too.. But I have heard of people pruning there trees to different shapes and making them run along fences and they are the regular size.. But they dont get as much fruit..

So I thought there may be a chance they could be grown this way.. At least for a minimum of five years.. Im hoping to get into my own place by then. But would like the trees to get a head start on growth instead of starting with unfruiting young trees.. But I bet that would stunt them a bit..

The store that they are at.. Is like a reject store.. Its called Canned Food Warehouse.. They get missprinted stuff. Stuff that wouldnt sell at other stores.. Or merchandise from other stores that go out of business.. So I just thought by a chance these might have been misslabeled.. (But there is no reference to root stock) These trees are only about 4 or 5 inches across.. So they have real short limbs.. But have fruit. Wish I could get a picture.

Im growing regular size blueberries and raspberries in pots and getting good results so far.. They are growing faster than my aunts blueberries that are directly in the ground..

Could any body suggest the best rootstock of these plants to put in large large pots.. Thank you..

Oh and maybe a link to where to get them..

 

[Catalina]

If they're cheap ~ I say try it!

Maybe they are columnar trees. I have 3 columnar apples that are almost 4 years old and they are about 5 feet tall and 10" wide. They will never get huge.

Go for it! If you have them in pots the worst that could happen........they might die or never produce fruit.

 

[Rosalind]

Going to agree w/ Hattie on this one. They are likely standard size or semidwarf, and even dwarf tend to be too big for pots, even very large pots. Cherries maaaaayyyyybe if you were really diligent about pruning--and yes, you can espalier stonefruit, although I've seen it done most successfully with apples and cherries. But I seriously doubt it will work well in pots. Apples on dwarf or super-dwarfing stock, yes, stonefruit not so much.

There are only two rootstocks I would try with keeping stonefruit in pots--Marianna 26-24 and Myrobalan 29C, and they are not very common at all, specifically because they have very shallow roots. The more common rootstocks, Citation, Lovell, Nemaguard etc. are quite vigorous and will quickly outgrow a pot.

 

[Sunny the Hippie Chick]

Well the trees are $9...

Thank you for the rootstock names.. Now I know what to look for. I think I am going to go and read the tags again.. I was carrying a 3 year old.. Kind of hard to read fine print..

Any idea where to find this fruit on rootstocks that you mentioned.. Like a site or certain nursery.. Or can I buy the rootstocks and try to graft my own.. Ive read up on it. I was considering grafting my great great aunts apple tree of unknown type.. that was really really old.. Big big yummy apples..

 

[Rosalind]

I know Trees of Antiquity does plums on those rootstocks, but I also know they are sold out for the season. Sorry.

 

[Hattie the Hen]

Here is the Trees of Antiquity's URL

www.treesofantiquity.com/index.php?main_page=about_us - 21k -

I have just had a look at it & I definitely think you could get the advice you need from them.

Ask them if they produce trees that could be grown in large pots.
:rose Hattie :rose

 

[Hattie the Hen]

These kind of endorsements should be what you should be looking for when you choose a nursery to buy from in my opinion.
davesgarden.com/products/gwd/c/952/ - 46k

Hope it helps!
:rose Hattie :rose