Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
stropharia

greenhouse fruits in ground?

stropharia
12 years ago

I have a big interest in growing tropical fruits (mangoes and lychees, in particular), but don't live in a warm enough climate to plant them outside. I've entertained the idea of keeping them in containers and moving them inside or into a greenhouse (yet to be built) for the winter, but reasonably portable containers are pretty small. I can't imagine getting very much fruit from a container fruit tree.

If I built a greenhouse and planted some trees in the ground, assuming they have enough space and are kept warm in the winter, is it reasonable to expect them to perform better than containerized trees? The only drawback I can think of immediately is that the greenhouse may block out some summer sunlight, when a container plant would be outside in full sun.

This is zone 7 or 8, where the ground doesn't really freeze; with a heated greenhouse over the area, I figure the soil would definitely stay warm enough.

Comments (4)

  • rodneys
    12 years ago

    Some fruits bear lots of fruit while still in pots.

    Starfruit
    Condo mangoes like Pickering
    Dwarf papaya
    Dragonfruit

    I'd imagine the ground would be colder than you'd like it be. The greenhouse will warm the air around the plants, but not so much the soil

  • ohiojay
    12 years ago

    If your greenhouse is designed and built properly, you should not lose much, if any, sun at all. As Rodney pointed out, there are many plants that will fruit just fine in containers.

    If you do a proper foundation and insulate, the ground in your GH will stay pretty warm. Mine does and all the plants planted into the ground do fine during the winter months...and I live in a colder zone than you. A good structure will be necessary because you will have to heat it. I'm not talking Harbor Freight greenhouses here either. No offense to those who have these types of greenhouses...they certainly have their place. Just not in this type of application.

    This will take a considerable commitment from you if you are to do this right. Half ass it and you will be wasting your time and your money. And by-the-way, make it a stand-alone structure. Stay away from attaching it to your home.

  • zands
    12 years ago

    If you build your own greenhouse and even if you buy one---

    You can build it so the entire top is removable (unbolted) piece by piece and some of the walls too or your plants will get cooked by the summer sun. This is the kind of greenhouse I would have to grow tropicals in your zone. And if you build it yourself you will learn on the job how to expand it or make it higher if your trees grown too high. I would make it out of corrugated plastic panels for the roof and stretched taut plastic sheeting for the walls.

    Here is a link that might be useful: corrugated plastic panels

  • trianglejohn
    12 years ago

    I live in zone 7b. My original plan was to build a large greenhouse on top of a basketball court that just happens to be on my property (its a half size court, 50 by 25). The packed gravel base and 4 inches of asphalt would be too big a job to remove so a greenhouse was option number one. Over time my dream has shrunk to just a small greenhouse with the rest of the space turned into a walled patio.

    Part of the reason for the shift away from large greenhouse is that I get plenty of fruit off of container grown trees. I mostly grow citrus and guavas and they do fine in large pots. I want the trees to stay 6 feet tall or smaller so every so often I have to re-pot and root trim as well as prune to keep everyone bush sized. I use an old wooden frame for a barn-shaped tool shed as a temporary greenhouse and just drape it in plastic from November to April. I heat it with a small portable electric heater for most of the winter when the night time lows are around freezing. For those rare weeks of below freezing weather I crank up a portable kerosene heater. Usually during the day, the heaters are off and a door is open if the sun is shining. My plants seem to do fine with a winter chill period. It seems to make the citrus really bloom once the days get longer and the temps warm up.

    I now pot everything up in those cheap plastic tubs with rope handles (I'm guessing 25 gallons). I move them with a normal hand truck or dolly.