How To Grow Fruit Indoors During Winter … Successfully

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Feeling hungry for some gardening adventures this winter? What could pass time and fill your belly with healthy food better than growing your own fruit? You can grow fruit anywhere in the house. If there is a sunroom, porch, conservatory or just a few empty window sills, you can do it.

It may surprise you to know that many types of fruit, like peaches and nectarines, often grow extremely well indoors. Indoor fruit tends to flower and fruit sooner than usual.

Growing Fruit Plants

You can easily grow fruits organically indoors, and you will be able to enjoy fresh fruit year-round, as well as the fresh fragrances of nature. Saving money is also a bonus of growing your own fruit. All you need is a sunny window or area, some containers or pot and some healthy soil. Plants will need to be transplanted into larger pots or containers as they grow bigger, and fruit shrub and trees will need to be pruned.

Here are some fruit ideas to get started on your indoor fruit supply.

• Mulberries: Known as a slow-grower, mulberries are beautiful to look at and great to taste. The black mulberry ripens usually in early summer. They like indirect, but bright sunlight with good ventilation. Mulberries do best between temperatures of 55-70 degrees Fahrenheit, or 13 to 21 degrees Celsius.
• Cape Gooseberries: A vigorous-growing, bush-like fruit plant, gooseberries love direct sunlight. The plants grow up to 12 inches or more across, with cherry-sized fruits.
• Figs: Figs are more of a tree fruit, but are easily grown indoors. They enjoy sunny areas, but don’t like to be in direct sunlight. Figs need pruning in the winter and summer. Negro Largo does very well in pots. This fruit does best in temperatures between 55 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit or 13 to 18 degrees Celsius.
• Grapes: Grapes are a perfect healthy snack, and it’s great to have them handy. They are not only good for their fruit, but grapes also provide decoration and shade. Grapes need good ventilation and pruning each winter. If you start from seeds it will take a long time to grow, but if you purchase a grape plant you will be one step closer.
• Strawberries: Here is one of the easiest fruits to grow indoors. They are sweet, pretty, and taste great. Strawberries love sun and will grow well in pots. This fruit needs very little room to grow, adds vibrant color to the room and is known to be quick-producing.
• Watermelon: This favorite fruit can be grown indoors, believe it or not! All you need is a large pot and a warm, sunny room. The vines will need training to grow vertically, and the plant will need the support of twine, lattice or wood sticks since the fruit is very heavy.

Growing Fruit Trees

When growing fruit on trees indoors, you should start with a dwarf fruit tree from a local nursery or garden center. Buying a tree will save years of waiting for delicious fruit, as tree seeds can take up to 10 years to grow from seeds. It will add color, freshness and be easy to handle inside. Fruit trees also smell great and last for many years.

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Besides buying fruit trees from nurseries, you also can buy them through the mail. However, the trees often show up with bare roots, so they need immediate care and planting. Follow these simple, short instructions to plant your fruit tree.

• Grab a pot large enough for the tree to have growing room, making sure the pot also has holes for drainage.
• Fill the pot with a clean, light soil. Do not use soil from your yard.
• Plant the tree in new dirt up to the line on its stem from where it is discolored from the “old dirt.”
• Water the tree thoroughly.
• Place tree in a sunny, warm location.
• Enjoy the blossoms on your fruit trees. You may need to help pollinate your blossoms to get fruit. Using a soft paint brush, or something similar, brush the insides (especially the “stamens”) of each blossom.
• Keep bugs and other harmful critters off the stems by taking a cotton swab dipped in rubbing alcohol and rubbing each stem.

When growing fruit trees, you can try starting with citrus fruit like lemons and limes. Citrus trees are easy to care for and grow. They love sun, a regular watering schedule, humidity and fertilizer. You can also try peaches, nectarines and mulberries.

During the summer and warm months, let your trees enjoy the sun outside, but bring them indoors before the cold hits.

There is no need to dread the colder months if you’re a lover of fruit. Growing it indoors is the best way to enjoy nature’s freshness year-round.

Related:

Fig Trees: The Easy Indoor Plant That Fruits Fast

What advice would you add on growing fruit indoors? Share your tips in the section below:

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