Just because you don’t have a huge backyard, it doesn’t mean you can’t take advantage of the joys of harvesting delicious fruit this summer. If you have a balcony, know that you can still have a garden with some plants, herbs and especially fruit trees. You don’t need a huge area to garden. Here are a few fruit trees to grow on your balcony.
1. Grow some red fruit
If you have a balcony, strawberries and respberries are a great option!
- For strawberries, choose the Mara des Bois variety or the Gariguette. A 10 liter pot is enough for the strawberries.
- Raspberries are very resistent. You need to water them frequently (once a week). Plant them in the Fall in a 30 cm deep pot and 25 cm in diameter.
2. Dare to grow citrus
Lemon trees and mandarin trees are more and more popular to have inside. If you place them on your balcony, protect them from the wind and make sure they get a lot of sun. They also need a lot of water.
3. Mini fruit trees are a yes!
You adore mini fruit trees that grow apples and pears? Buy large pots or wooden window boxes (60 x 60 cm) to cultivate them.
If you have enough space in your house, put 2 different kinds of apples next to each other (gala, fuji, or honeycrisp) so they polinate between each other.
4. Cultivate cherry tomatoes
To cultivate cherry tomates perfectly, fill a pot with 3/4 special gardening compost and add river sand. Add also a bit of normal compost. Cherry tomatoes need fresh and watered soil. But, you need to avoid ‘draining them’.
5. Grow some plums on your balcony
You can also plant a plum tree on your balcony. It is better to use American plum trees since these are less likely to develop black knot, a disease that affects wild cherry trees as well as European plum trees. To make sure you actually get to eat some plums, you need to plant two varieties of American plum trees close to one another. Furthermore, you should plant them in cloth, in the same hole in a a clayey soil.
6. Why not try a fig tree?
Fig trees can be cultivated at home. If you choose a variety that doesn’t grow a lot, you will be able to easily cultivate a small one. Here are a few examples of varieties you can cultivate if you want one:
- Brown Turkey;
- Brunswick;
- Dalmatie;
- Golden;
- Madeline des Deux Saisons;
- Pastilière.
To succeed cultivating it, you should opt for a deep pot, at least 40 cm deep, and water it less often, but abundantly.
Sources:
- Astuces de Grand-Mère
- casatv.ca
- gerbeaud.com
