Tropicals & Tender Perennials: i´m searching for some beautiful monocous tropical fruit tre, 3 by dyzzypyxxy

dyzzypyxxy wrote:
Andy, most tropical fruit trees in my experience are big, vigorous and fast growing. I am having trouble with the idea that you can keep one small enough to live in a container, let alone bear fruit. Bonsai which basically stunts the growth of the plant by constant pruning will make this goal even less likely. Most fruit trees bear fruit on new or year-old growth and you will be cutting off any branch that gets big enough to fruit. Some varieties of citrus are bred to be "dwarf" but this still means at maturity the tree is 8ft. tall and wide, and has a large, heavy root system. I have a 5yr. old kumquat tree that is a dwarf and bears lovely scented blossoms and fruit twice a year. But it is already over 7ft tall.

I am pretty sure you will never get fruit if you keep the trees as bonsai. If you read up on large greenhouse displays like the Orangerie at Versailles, their fruit trees grow in large boxes that are moved into the greenhouse in winter so they still get humidity, warmth and lots of light all winter. The boxes are moved with a motorized forklift.

Also although we do get cool nights, and sometimes even frost here in winter, my tropical fruit trees bloom and set fruit in January to March - in fact my mango sometimes starts blooming in December - so the idea that you could keep a fruit tree in your room in winter won't fly unless you run a huge bank of artificial grow lights at least 8 hours a day. (to simulate a sunny tropical winter day) It might be more economical to heat your grandmother's greenhouse. The trees do not lose leaves and go dormant in winter like northern fruit trees so they need sun all year round.

Many like Carambola and Loquat bloom a couple of times a year as well. Loquat is another that self-pollinates, but again it has large leaves that would not be suited to bonsai culture. My neighbor has a beautiful old Loquat tree that bears fruit twice a year. The fruit is small, and the birds sow the seeds so I have loquat seedlings in my garden all the time. The pic below is a loquat seedling that has grown to over 4ft. in one year. On the closeup of the leaf, it is nearly 40cm. long. The other closeup is of the leaves of my Lychee.

Just my opinion, but I think Carambola or a dwarf citrus would be your best bet to keep a tropical fruit tree as a bonsai. Still, I doubt you'll get any fruit. On a citrus, at least you might get the beautifully scented flowers. On Carambola the flower sprays are on the trunk, so that might work on a bonsai. If it did, it sure would be pretty. http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/272878/