Planting fruit on the balcony: varieties and care tips
Delicious home-grown fruit is only for garden owners? Are you kidding me? Are you serious when you say that?! You can also easily grow a variety of delicious fruits on your balcony. Here you can find out how it works, which types of fruit fit on your balcony, and how The Plant Box does the work for you when planting.
Is it even possible to grow fruit on the balcony?
Even if many hobby gardeners initially think it is impossible, even a small balcony is an excellent location for a blooming orchard. Many fruit bushes can be easily cultivated in balcony boxes or in tubs and, with the right care, also bear plenty of fruit.
Fruit you pick yourself from the balcony not only tastes fresher and is more flavourful than fruit from the supermarket - it is also much more sustainable due to the saved transport. The fruit plants and their fruits are not only a special treat for balcony owners, but also a vital food source for bees and butterflies.
What fruit grows on the balcony?
From apple trees to lemons, almost all fruit plants can also be planted on the balcony. All you need is a large bucket or balcony box, plenty of sunlight, plant soil, and water for the supply of nutrients. Fruit plants do particularly well on south-facing balconies with up to 6 hours of sunshine. However, direct sunlight and too much heat can damage them.
The size of your plants is crucial here: Mini varieties or columnar fruit trees, which grow slender in height and take up little space, are therefore particularly suitable for cultivation in tubs. You can also harvest cherries, gooseberries, apples and kiwis - which actually grow on large-scale plantations - on your balcony. You can also use your balcony box to grow delicious sweets: Miniature berries like strawberries, raspberries, or blueberries are particularly suitable. Larger berry bushes, such as gooseberries or currants, can also be planted in a bucket without any problems.
Balcony fruit: The best varieties for the balcony
Many of the types of fruit that you know from the garden can also bear fruit on your balcony. We present five of them together with valuable care tips:
apple tree
Apple trees are only for large gardens? Not necessarily! Numerous varieties - and especially the columnar apples - require little space and also feel at home in a bucket (with a capacity of around 40 liters) on the balcony. Depending on your taste, you can even choose between individual varieties: Rondo, Sonata, Bolero and Elstar are among the most popular apple tree species for the balcony. Fruit trees, such as columnar apples, need a little more care on the balcony than other plants; they need to be watered regularly and plentifully, fertilized, trimmed, and checked for pests. It is important that excess water in the bucket can drain away so that there is no waterlogging. For the winter, you should either bury your tree in the garden or protect the bucket from the cold with jute and place it in a windless place.
cherry tree
Not only apples, but also sour and sweet cherries can be planted in the form of columnar fruit on a medium-sized to large balcony. They only need about 1 meter of space in width, but can reach a height of up to 3 meters. After just 1 to 2 years, the small cherry trees bear the first fruits, which you can harvest from early to late summer .
Just like an apple tree, your cherry tree needs regular watering and should be pruned and fertilized annually. Avoid waterlogging with holes in the bottom of the bucket.
In winter it is important to protect the tree from wind and cold with insulating material so that it can sprout again next year.
strawberries
Strawberries are the sweet fruit classic that finds a suitable place on every balcony. They are flat-rooted and can therefore be planted in low flower boxes with a height of only 15 cm without any problems. At The Plant Box, we also use hanging strawberry plants as part of some of our creations - for example the " Herbal Harmony " and " Animal Love " If you want to place several strawberry plants next to each other, however, you should leave about 25 cm between the individual seedlings.
If you plant them in July, you can expect the first fruits as early as the following summer. In hanging baskets and plant tubes, special climbing or hanging strawberries can be grown to save space.
Regardless of which container you choose, you should place your strawberries in a sunny and wind-protected location. Strawberry plants are basically very easy to care for; once you've planted them, they only need regular watering and should be trimmed twice a year.
raspberries
In the garden, raspberry bushes form many offshoots and quickly take up a large amount of space. Thanks to new breeds that remain small, it is now also possible to grow the red berries in planters on the balcony. Just like other soft fruits, raspberries love the sun; a wind-protected south-facing balcony is therefore an ideal location.
Raspberries on the balcony should be pruned regularly and fertilized twice a year. You should tie the branches to a trellis so that the plant can grow taller. With good care, the shrub bears fruit twice a year.
Although raspberry plants are hardy, they should still be protected from freezing with jute and insulating wool at the beginning of the cold season.
Lemons
A Mediterranean lemon tree can also bear fruit on the balcony. They are also very easy to care for and only need to be watered when needed. However, the fruit tree does not tolerate waterlogging at all.
Lemon trees bear pleasantly fragrant flowers in spring, from which the sun-yellow fruits develop in summer. The Mediterranean fruit tree feels most comfortable in sunny, warm, and wind-protected places; a sunny south-facing balcony is ideal. However, lemon plants are not hardy; you should bring the planter into the house when winter sets in.
Ready-made balcony plants: balcony fruit, flowers & Co. from The Plant Box
Having your own orchard on the balcony is not an easy project, especially for gardening beginners. We have put together our pre-planted balcony arrangements for everyone who would like a little help to get started, or would prefer to save themselves the time-consuming repotting: Simply order online, unpack, and place in the flower box, and your balcony will shine in the most beautiful colours.
In addition to our seasonal balcony flowers, you will also find arrangements with edible fruit and herb plants in our shop. The strawberries and basil from our “Animal Love” creation, for example, are ideal for a punch as a summer drink (recipe).
Finished balcony planting from The Plant Box - your advantages:
- Just a few clicks to unique balcony planting: Choose from many different flower box arrangements - also with herbs, vegetables, and fruit plants
- Variety for the whole year: New, creative refills are added to the shop every season - simply get them with our subscription.
- Perfectly cared for even without planting experience: You will find everything your balcony plants need to grow optimally in your package - including instructions and fertilizer.
In our shop you will find, among other things, selected creations for shady balconies, south-facing balconies, and also particularly insect-friendly plantings - if you are still unsure what type of balcony you have, our wizard on the start page will help you. With just a few clicks you can find the right planting for you.
If you want to plant your balcony with fresh flowers and fruit all year round, you should become a member of our Plant Lovers Club: For a monthly membership fee of just €35, we will deliver a new refill of seasonal balcony flowers five times a year - the right flower box made from recycled vegetable oil is included. Club members can also look forward to monthly mail with tips and information on balcony planting, as well as exclusive offers and free shipping.
