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sjpickart

Need help/advice on dwarf tropical trees

sjpickart
12 years ago

Hello everyone! So I live in WI and am trying to pull off the "impossible" of making a mini-tropical fruit orchard for myself. I already have a few trees like banana, tangerine, pineapple, other citrus, etc. I bought them last spring and now I'm obsessed! They did really well in the summer and are still going strong in my house now this winter. I was just in Puerto Rico and saw all the fruit trees growing wild and I WANT sooo badly to have my own! I regret to inform I didn't actually get to TRY much fruit there due to a rather rushed vacation with my family, but I am in dire search of the following:

Dwarf Tropical Fruit Trees within a reasonable price range!

Dwarfs in the following:

*Mangosteens

*Rambutans

*Pulasans

*Lychees

*Spanish Limes/Quennepas

*Aecerola Cherry

*Sugar Apple

*Cacoa

*Macademia Nut

*Black Pepper Vine

*Dragon Fruit

*Longan

*Mamey Sapote

*Mango

*Avocado

*Miracle Fruit

*Passionfruit

If any of you have experience with container-gardening of any of the above list please do-tell your findings/success? All of the above would have to be permanently grown from container since I live in Wisconsin.

I can't afford to pay a ton for each plant. I am tempted to try ordering seeds but feel like I won't have NEAR the luck as I will with grafted plants. I wish I could have went actual plant shopping in Puerto Rico but like I said.. our "vacation" was rushed from place to place with no time to stop and 'smell the roses'.. or shop. :( Is it unheard of to try for $0-$20 a grafted seedling for tropicals??? Ha I'm a college student supporting herself trying to go after her *mini-tropical orchard* dream. Any help you could provide would be wonderful! Thanks 'fruities'!!! :)

Comments (4)

  • rodneys
    12 years ago

    For mango, look into Pickering.

    Macadamia trees grow very large & I don't think they would do good in a container. That's just speculation, however.

    Dragonfruit will do well in containers. Try to have a strong trellis for the dragonfruit to climb. Otherwise, it will become a many-headed hydra which makes it hard to harvest the fruit. I have 8 varieties currently.

    I have a Kohala longan, Sweetheart lychee & 5 varieties of cherimoya in containers. 5 gallon for the first two (which are still small), 15 gallon for the cherimoyas w/fruit on 1.

    I think avocado would do well in a large container.

  • tropicdude
    12 years ago

    In containers, I think your ok with:

    Mangoes ( Condo Variety )

    Sugar Apple, ( I have a A. squamosa fruited from seed only 3 years in container )

    Dragon Fruit, ( easy in container )

    Miracle Fruit, ( Do very well )

    I have no experience in the others, but pepper and passionfruit, should be ok.

    I noticed you do not have Banana or Papayas, they can be grown in containers, and are nice ornamentals too.

    Although I have a few Mangosteen in container, I do not think they will fruit in a container, they have a lousy root system, basically a long tap root, with very little else. but they can grow years in a pot, they are sooooo slow growing.

  • funlul
    9 years ago

    I hope it's OK to bump up an old thread like this, as I am quite interested.

    Did OP find success with these tropical trees? I have limited yard space and initially ruled out mango, papaya, and cherimoya. But if they fruit reasonably well in large containers, will certainly consider them! How much spread would they require?

  • Jay Part Shade (Zone 10B, S21, Los Angeles)
    9 years ago

    Wow, resurrecting an old thread :)

    Many of the trees listed above are ultra tropical or tropical, not sub tropical. What's needed to grow mangosteen and cacoa is a whole different level than avocados and dragon fruit.

    I grow everything in fabric Root Pouch containers ranging from 15-45 gallon. Every kind of dwarf citrus does well in 15 gallon, as does tropical guava, dragon fruit, passion fruit, fig and a ton of others.

    I have my macadamia and avocados in 45 gallons. Macs won't fruit until they reach a certain age, which usually means they're no longer dwarfs. I keep my mac in a 4x4' area which isn't nearly as huge as they'll get. My avocados will be pruned when they get a certain size. Mango also does well in containers. Papaya can be grown in containers, though they can't be pruned and will need some space to grow. There's some dwarf varieties like TR Hovey. Cherimoya can be grown in a container. Just go for it and prune when they get too big :)

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