I've had up to four trees in a 15 gallon pot. The pot does the dwarfing. You won't need to prune much. A tree in a pot only gets so big. After a while you'll need to cut the tree back to force new productive wood.

Don't move your tree now. Wait until this winter then you can move the trees around or add a pollinator.

I'm going no bigger than 15 gallon for one tree. You'll need to water everyday but production can be good.

This picture shows a pluot with 4 varieties on one tree in a 15 gallon pot. You can only see about 1/3 of the fruit in this picture.

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wow fruitnut, that tree looks amazing! where can i find a tree like that?!

i'm a little confused. did you say you had four trees (as in four separate tree trunks?) in a 15 gallon container?! isn't that super close?

so then a 15 gallon and 5 gallon plum tree should be fine in a 50 gallon container?

is there a reason to wait until winter to move the tree? i'm afraid the roots will get too comfortable and start growing; only to be moved again.

yodiana:

You don't ordinarily move a growing tree in summer. Yes the roots will be disturbed when you move it this winter. But it will have time to regrow roots before it gets hot. Right now I assume the tree has leaves. If you dig it up and move it now it may not retain enough roots to support the leaves and they might fall off.

Yes four trees in a 15 gallon container is super close. One is enough. I want pots small enough to move by hand. Anything above 15 gal gets very heavy.

Your two trees will do well in a 50 gal if everything is right. The soil needs to be very well draining when planting in a container.

thank you, fruitnut! i was perusing the "container gardening" forum and picked up quite a few tips there too - about soil, pruning, re-potting, etc... yet still haven't come across anyone planting more than one fruit tree in a container so its hard to determine if the same info still applies to me.

since my nursery bought bearss lime and satsuma plum trees came in 15 gallon containers, i just assumed that they should be re-potted in a larger container (at least 2 sizes up)?

do you plan on leaving your 15-gallon trees in the 15-gal pot indefinitely? will they be okay?

i think i've posted in the wrong forum and probably should move future questions to the "container gardening" section.

really sorry, folks!

Yes, I'm leaving the trees in 15 gal. I won't go to anything bigger. A 50 gal is more than enough for two fruit trees.

Here's the deal that people on the container forum don't ordinarily recognize, fruit trees give better quality fruit when growing at less than maximum vigor. Most of the container forum is about ornamentals and vegetables. For those crops high vigor is usually better. For fruit trees it decidedly is not.

There is good info on the container forum about media and soil drainage. But by and large they aren't geared to grow high quality, sweet fruit.

fruitnut, hope you don't mind me picking your brain (again).

i'm now thinking that i will plant the trees in separate containers for the exact same reason (mobility). but when i bought the 15-gallon bearss lime dwarf tree, the guy at the nursery said i should repot it in a larger pot (at least 2 sizes up) within 2 months. if i choose to keep it in its 15-gal container from the nursery, is there anything i should do right now to help it along? yes, you're right. the tree does have lots of leaves and even tiny small limes. should I cut the tiny limes off (think i read that somewhere)?

i'm guessing that you had your trees since they were little baby trees and choosing to stop at 15-gal. what if the trees were acquired at 15 gallon, would you still keep it in the same pot or go up a few sizes and when would you stop then?

whats the longest amount of time you've kept a fruit tree in a 15-gal container?

thank you so much for your responses! :)

yodiana:

I've keep citrus in a 15 gal container 7 years without repotting. But I'm not sure where citrus fits into the discussion about vigor and quality. I'm mainly thinking stone fruit when suggesting a link between moderate to low vigor and sweet fruit. My experience with citrus, vigor, and fruit quality relationships is limited.

I've kept two blueberry in 15 gal pots since 2004 and they both yielded 12-18 lbs fruit this year. I'd repot those if the vigor or yield declined. I'm not wanting low vigor there but moderate will do. See a picture of Star below at 7 yrs in same pot.

I wouldn't cut the fruit off your lime. Leave it in the 15 gal until the yield or vigor falls below what you want. Then repot or pot up.

Star after harvest and detail pruning at 7 years without repotting or potting up:

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Wow Fruitnut,

How big is your garden? I just saw the your cherry comparison post and now I see your four-in-one tree.

I am a container grower myself. I live in a townhouse and I have VERY limited amount of space. Luckily I have a balcony also and that is where all my potted blueberry plants reside (10 plants in 5-7 gallon pots).

I was thinking about putting 2-3 BB plants in a 25 gallon container but I am still debating about this since the pot itself will be too heavy to move LOL.

Tonton:

I'm sticking mostly to 5 gal for blueberry. You can get 5 lbs off that size. I did pot up a couple just now from 5 to about 10-12 gallon because I want as much fruit as possible off those plants next year. Today I ordered 10 Sweetcrisp and 5 Emerald from FHN. They will likely start and stay in 5 gal. That way I can move them easily and even set them on a bench for growing or harvest.

Three nectarine in a 15 gallon container. Fruit harvested so far are running 22-28 brix.

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Four trees in a 30 gal pot.

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Fruitnut: Fantastic!!! Have you ever tried growing avocados? They they'll do well in container?