THE POTTED FRUIT GARDEN


© Connie Krochmal
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Winter is like guests that overstay their welcome. You wish they would leave so you can get on with your life. Fruit gardeners need not forego all gardening during the winter. Even if it's snowing outside, we still have our potted plants.

Take strawberries, for example. Alpines are perfectly at home in pots. If grown on warm, sunny windows, they won't even know it's winter. Numerous kinds of alpine strawberry plants are available. These can often be grown from seeds. Under good growing conditions, they will probably continue to bear fruits all winter long.

Do you have a greenhouse? If you can afford heat, you can grow greenhouse strawberries during the winter months. In the Southeast, greenhouse-grown strawberries can be ready to harvest during December. Of course, this depends on the variety you choose and your growing conditions.

You can even grow a crop of winter raspberries in cool greenhouses. Here in New York, growers move the raspberry bushes into the greenhouse after they've been exposed to a little winter weather. They're pollinated by bumblebees. On Marvin Pritts' page, you can see all the details. He did research at Cornell on the subject. Some growers in upstate New York are now following his recommendations, and find it is profitable. At a time when the berries are $5-$6 a half-pint or even more, you can be harvesting your own home-grown raspberries.

Wherever winters are too cold to grow citrus outdoors, containers are the answer. The first citrus I ever grew was a miniature calamondin. It yielded delicious little fruits. When growing citrus indoors, be careful when using pesticides. Always read the label before using them. Be sure the product is labeled for edible crops. Assuming you do it soon enough, insecticidal soap is sufficient for many pest problems. And it's non-toxic to humans and pets. Just follow the directions on the label.

There are many kinds of miniature and dwarf citrus available. Besides the fruits, the leaves of many kinds are also used for flavoring. This was very common during the Victorian era. At that time, homes had citrus in pots. It was grown for the leaves as much as for the fruits.

You can grow citrus from seeds, but keep in mind they don't come true from seeds. The ones from seed won't be like the original parent plant. In addition, seed-grown citrus often has thorns that you never see on most varieties.

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