PUSHING THE BORDERS

On the right root stock, peaches Nectarines and Apricots all do well in pots, as do Citrus of course and I am having reasonable luck with a fig as well this last was not intentional but I had potted one to use for cuttings and forgotten about it! Potted fruit trees were of course the original purpose of the first conservatories.

One of my main problems is the stupid amount of plants I bring in each winter, which fills up all the space so you can't then move around, I am working on it but I am the horticultural equivalent to those hoarders you see on the box and I find it hard to let something go :)

If you have any specific varieties of fruit that has grown well for you in containers, and you like the flavour, that would be appreciated.

I read several people saying that they don't think Brown Turkey figs have a good flavour.

I've been getting carried away browsing:

www.blackmoor.co.uk
www.readsnursery.co.uk/fruit-trees/

:)

I have 6 different fig varieties and the 3 that fruit the most reliably are Brown Turkey, Brunswick and White Marseilles, they are all different but it is fair to say Brown Turkey needs to be fully ripe (almost dropping off the tree) before it tastes of anything other than sweet.

This lot are also worth a try
http://www.keepers-nursery.co.uk/ I am sure they (or any of the ones you gave) would give good advice on rootstock choice for the stone fruit, figs of course grow fine on their own roots and are very easy to propagate if you ever need to restart the pot, at least pots keep the roots under control!

I hesitate to give any specific recommends on varieties as we haven't had any of the trees that long ourselves :)

Thanks Charlie. That's more helpful than you might have imagined because I thought I would be loopy to get half a dozen different Figs ... confronted with 24 varieties at Reads Nursery there were only a couple that I didn't like! Now I know I won't be alone I shall think in terms of getting plenty. I'm sure we can find other homes for ones that turn out not to be to our liking :) I've seen Brunswick and White Marseilles mentioned in Blogs, thus they were on my shortlist and good to have your confirmation.

I'll ask the nurseries for advice - I've found specialist growers have given me great advice in the past, and you are quite right that would be a good place to start.

I'll report back when I've made some decisions.

Not a lot more functional than in the Spring ... floor is in, with some trench-heating, but still havent; decided what to do with the walls. I rather fancy a "marble effect" tile, similar to the floor (they are porcelain, thin as a thin thing!, and not exorbitantly expensive.

Might have the raise the roof though! as the Ensete montbeliardii hasn;t got a lot of spare headroom!







Rest of the over wintering plants due to be brought in this week as we look likely to get a frost next weekend.

Loving that floor. I used porcelain tiles in our kitchen and they are brilliant to work with, most people think the floor is slate. Tiling the walls will be great for spring cleaning, I have to repaint mine every couple of seasons

Thanks Charlie. In case anyone is interested the tiles are Porcel Thin. 4.8mm thick, about half normal tiles (which can be a boon if replacing existing tiles and need something thinner), the tiles, being thinner, can be made larger but still easy to lift, so fewer grout lines, and I believe they will take a 1/2" deflection

http://www.porcel-thin.com/