So those of us who must live indoors only with our tropicals, at least for winter, what is the best tropical fruit to grow this way? I have heard pinapple, guava, and papaya - but this will be my first attempt this year and well I want to get it right!
So what have you all tried and works for you that would be good for someone who gardened for a long time and is ready for the indoor tropical fruits?
Best tropical fruits for indoors
I don't grow them indoors, I grow them in the GH. But I assume they will go in containers, and I can offer some thoughts on that.
Papaya...tough in containers. I grow this one in ground beds in the GH. The plants I have had in containers grow nowhere near as well as those in the ground beds. The plants in containers are easily half the size, maybe less, compared to the other plants. They like a warm root zone. Never water with cold water. They might fruit in the container, but my 1.5 year old containerized plants are still nowhere near fruiting. Be sure to get a bisexual/herm variety.
Guava...pretty easy, fruits early. Mine are in ground beds, but they grew well in containers as well.
Pineapple...I don't grow it but it is supposed to be easy.
Bananas...supposedly hard to flower/fruit in container, but not impossible. Grows well though. Watch for spider mites if it is dry.
Jabotica...easy in container but takes forever to fruit.
June Plum...supposedly easy and early to fruit in container...on my wish list.
Lychee...it is tricky, but it can be done. I have seen pics of beautiful, full, flowering lychees in a sun room in the north. I have a plant that failed to thrive in the ground bed. Near death, I took it out, potted it up, and it has made a nice recovery. I currently have half a dozen bloom spikes on a second plant in a ground bed. Get a named variety. Don't overfertilize.
Mango...now you are talking...get a "Condo Mango" which will flower/fruit at a small size. Pine Island has nice ones.
Citrus, of course. You may actually be able to grow some cold hardy varieties outside there in zone 8a.
Anything in the Eugenia or Syzygium genus makes a nice looking plant. I haven't flowered/fruited any of these yet, but I have several and they all grow well in containers. Pitomba (Eugenia luschnathiana), Pitanga (Eugenia uniflora), Grumichama (Eugenia brasiliensis), Australian Brush Cherry (Syzygium australe), or Wax Jambu (Syzygium samarangense) are all of easy culture. I have seen pics of 2' tall Wax Jambu with mature fruit in containers.
Mangosteen...high humidity requirement, "ultratropical." It will be tough indoors.
Muntingia will fruit at a small size in container. Pretty easy. Grows like a weed with the right conditions. The little fruit to me taste like Honey Nut Cheerios.
I have never had much luck with anything in the Annona genus, much to my dismay, either in containers or in ground GH beds. :-(
Hope that helps a little.
That helps out a lot - a lot of good information there to look up.
I'm doing banana.. One of the few things that's surviving indoor with me.. Almost killed it twice but bounced back each time..