Fruit bushes / trees in pots; advice please

Hi Egwin, Blackcurrant and gooseberry will be fine in pots,as will a cherry tree. Sun room----A lemon tree or kiwi fruit.I'm born and bred Northumbrian and we have plenty of sun here so you will be able to make good use of your sun room.

I have two blueberries in pots, and they do very well. They need ericaceous compost. I grow strawberries around the edge of the pots, as they are also happy with the acidity.

I was going to suggest blueberry bushes too. We also live in Northumberland, but ours are outside in pots. We have to be quick harvesting the berries before the birds though.
For something a little more exotic for your sun room how about a dwarf peach tree. My husband tried to grow one, but I'm afraid it succumbed to leaf curl. You might have better luck.

Thank you that is so helpful, for both sun room and outside pots.

I am aiming too to be wild life friendly - but that’s another topic!

I am grateful for the mention of blueberries, that had ‘t crosses my mind.

There are often advertisements for patio fruit trees in newspapers in the autumn, might be worth checking out in a couple of weeks?

I would have one for tomatoes - in fact I’d probably have two or three!

Use big pots and put saucers underneath.

My MiL had a pear tree in a pot, It was very happy and produced delicious fruit. One year she wanted it moved. We tugged and pulled and heaved but that pot would not budge. Several hot hours later we discovered it had sent a strong root through the drainage hole!

We have two varieties of gooseberry doing really well in pots - red variety do a bit better. Same with blackcurrants. We planted a patio apple and a pear tree three years ago and have fruit on them this year.

how about apricot for sun room, i have two , outdoors in summer and in greenhouse in winter. first fruit this year and only about 4ft tall so not overwhelming indoors

Again thank you for the great ideas. I am a beginner but keen to get going as I retire. So fruitful and easy is good then I don’t get discouraged!

I am going to start a new thread specifically about the sun room and plants for it, as it’s a slightly different topic to this.

I'll look forward to hearing suggestions for plants for your sunroom, as we are just completing ours. Always happy for tips!

Do you have connections to Worcester, by any chance? My grandmother's cousin apparently used to play the organ at the Cathedral - not in Egwin's time, I hasten to say?

We have what we think is a peach tree in a big pot in our small lean-to/conservatory . I think it must have come from a peach stone thrown on main compost heap. Would be lovely to see signs of fruit!

I would also recommend growing blueberry bushes. I have three, which provide blossom in Spring, fruit in the Summer and have beautiful Autumn colour. A small crab apple tree would also be suitable.

(I note that an earlier thread of yours ‘Help with food in retirement’ has been deleted Egwin. A pity, as there were a number of good suggestions on there!)

Yes, why was it deleted? (If this one is allowed to remain) Both had useful comments

There are a lot of good books on container gardening, Egwin if you want to develop this as a rewarding hobby?
This one on that famous auction site for only £2.02!
Or, just like suggestions on your Food thread, try local charity shops.
I tried to send you a PM about a couple of spare books I have, but to no avail.
No problems, if you would like them, drop me a PM instead to arrange!

I would also recommend growing blueberry bushes

We've got productive fruit bushes but for some reason have not been able to grow blueberries either in pots or the ground.
I know they like ericaceous compost which we used, digging a big hole and filling it with the compost.
They didn't thrive and the roots stayed compact.

I have a ballerina James Grieve apple tree in a pot. Some years there might be 20 apples, this year there are 3. There's beautiful pink blossom in the spring which is always welcome. A larger pot will mean less watering but it will take time. An automatic watering system is a time saver plus keeps things going while you are away.

My blueberries are still in pots, they are new this year, but I did put them in bigger pots, with ericaceous soil and I feed them. Hopeful for next year.

I have two 10 plus year old blueberry bushes in big pots, in ericaceous compost. They have fruited really well this year. I’ve been picking from July until the last ones today. Their roots, apparently, are wide and shallow rather than deep. I replace the top couple of inches of compost in the spring if I remember, and water with rainwater. I prune them a bit in the spring. Very successful overall, and as someone said upthread, pretty spring flowers and lovely autumn colour.

Jaxjacky

My blueberries are still in pots, they are new this year, but I did put them in bigger pots, with ericaceous soil and I feed them. Hopeful for next year.

I think there may have been a fault with the ericaceous soil we bought, JaxJacky because a rhododendron failed to thrive in a pot as well.

Mm thanks Callistemon I’ll have to see what happens next year, interesting about the roots.

They never produced anything much either.
But DH doesn't like blueberries so we didn't persist.