First - how big are the tree's you're talking about. Are you buying the rootstock and doing the grafting? A 25 gallon container is wholly inappropriate for small trees unless soil particle size is consistently 1/8 inch or larger. You could utilize this container initially though, if you use it as a cache pot.

With a working knowledge of rootwork (pruning) you could keep a fruit tree in a container that size indefinitely.

Explain what you mean by an espalier in a container. Would it be fixed to a support mechanism that is portable & goes where the container goes? You would need to take into account repotting or potting-up (necessary), so an espalier fixed to anything permanent would also be inappropriate. Perhaps a free-standing espalier shaped tree?

Al

The trees come as 1-3' trees from Raintree Nursery on that rootstock. I would put support posts on either side of the pot and connect the tree to that. I know there is a new type of nursery pot that is like an open weave type, forget what it's called now ... but would something like that be better? Supposedly that pot "air prunes" the side roots, but they can grow down thru the cloth type bottom still ... ??

-Bonnie

Giving the plant's height really doesn't give an idea of the mass of the trees, particularly the root mass, which is what I was really angling at, but they sound like very small trees (See pot recommendations for small trees above.). You would put the posts in the pot - or next to the pot? You really need to insure that the plants are portable to call them container plants. If you allow roots to run into the ground, you're really only growing in a raised bed. and what will you do with the exaggeratedly extended branches at repot time?

Mesh containers are great in combination with a light soil to produce maximum increases in plant mass, as long as you keep up with water & nutrient requirements. Would a self-rootpruning pot be "better" or not? - that depends on your objectives. For the long term - no. For the short term to rapidly increase mass - yes, and you could easily pot up or repot from these containers as necessary.

Remember as you go, that you'll need to take into consideration the future of the tree which should include regular repotting (including root work) or at a minimum - potting up.

Al