No, not referring to shoots coming up from the base of my figs, or underneath a graft. It is a PT. Barnum reference. Anyway. I find that I have to watch myself everytime I go online, especially eBay, because I'll see all of these relatively inexpensive exotic fruit plants for sale and have to restrain myself from buying one. Like the soursop, Barbados cherry, sycamore fig, or beach apricot. I don't need a beach apricot, even though it looks delicious. I just thought that everyone would find this amusing. Anyone else do this?

I know exactly what you mean Donald and I used to do it all the time. 2 years back I bought a dozen oil trees seedlings. Duh, I live in CT and figured I could keep them potted and they'd make it. Not. I have 2 left and they're under a foot tall. Maybe if I can keep them alive my grandchildren can enjoy them. Oh, I need grandchildren too.

Some of the minor fruits are not really worth the effort to grow. However, there are a lot of gems out there that many people don't know about. Since this fig forum is filled with people that grow in containers, there are many other sub tropical to exotic fruits that can perform well in containers.

Here are some that will be fruitful in containers (from personal experience);

Dragon Fruit
Loquats
Guavas
Mango
Citrus
Cherimoya
White Sapote

Glad to hear I'm not alone. I would like to find a cold tolerant olive tree. I really like fruits of the ancient Mid East and Asia Minor. I have a tolerant Pom ( I suspect more varieties would be tolerant in AL if given enough of a good start). I almost tried to get a date grove started, but realized that if they lived, it would take about seventy years for them to bear fruit.  Good luck with your oil tree!

Im a rare and exotic fruit addict lol. I got +20 selections of Opuntia ficus indica (prickly pear), +20 selections of Dragon Fruit, 6 Pomegranate varieties, 6 Cereus sp., 6 kiwi, etc. etc. lol. All are grown in containers too heh.

I have been tempted by the Loquat, Null; I must admit. I really really want to grow some paw paw trees. They are native and I think they are a cherimoya relative. Oh and a satsuma! 

Cheahafig,

Here is the loquat seedling I am growing, I got it from my friend who sprouted it from a mother tree in his yard. Planning to graft hopefully this weekend in the scion wood comes in. Loquats are hardy down to the mid teens. Pawpaws are good I hear as well, have not tried them yet.

Oh, I have lots of potted tropical fruits.  One day, just one day, my Cambuça and Jaboticaba will flower and fruit!  Until then, munch on random Surinam cherries.  

I do think that people have a good chance of being able to fruit sapodillas in pots, especially with varieties like Makok.  Cherimoyas are a far more dubious proposition.  Loquat, I have in the yard, but it's not really pollinated well enough, and of course, I need a warm winter, which I've had so far, so a few loquats in late May early June for me, too.  Trying for Improved Meyer lemons succeeding in ground in Atlanta as well.

People really need to try Cornus kousa "Summer Stars".  Best dogwood fruit evah!  And one of the best acidless fruits I've ever had.  Just a lot of trouble to eat.

I have a 'Silas Woods' sapodilla in a container, its a dwarf cultivar (from what I gather it should produce well in containers).

Nullzero- How often do you water the exotics and how much time does it take to manage all of the containers? I have wanted to get into them but not sure if I have time for them with the figs in containers. 

Well depends on the plant, some bullet prove plants are guava, mango, and dragon fruit. All these will grow well in containers are relatively drought tolerant and can hold up to low humidity or high humidity.

Now the temperature is the main issue with taking care of these plants. If you have to over winter them, you want to keep the temps over 32 degrees (I would say high 30s to be on the safe side). Also restrict the water during the over wintering (just make sure its damp).

Providing enough light to have photosynthesis continue is important as well, so a window with natural sunlight would be the best option. You can also use artificial lighting such as HPS or LED, this can get a little more pricey, but the HPS lights can also help with the heating.

There are different levels of how hard a tropical plant is. I recommend sticking to subtropical plants like the Mango, Loquat, Guava, Dragon Fruit, Cherimoya, etc. these are usually all cold hardy down to 28 degrees (which would be freeze death point). The tropicals like Acai palm, Jakfruit, Cashew, Papaya, etc. I have found to be a lot harder to keep alive and much more sensitive to soil and water.

As for pruning, root pruning and maintenance, I find that you can do this anytime during the prime growing season (they will usually bounce back). During the late spring, I like doing it in the shade during the afternoon on a moderately warm day. When the plants are actively flushing fertilize weekly with low to moderate amounts (if the tree responds well up the amount a little).

Cherimoyas are very easy to keep alive, they can go dormant in your Atacama Desert home.  They just won't really flower easily.  I've found that Mamey (and green) Sapote are easy to keep alive and make attractive house plants.  Canistel and Ross sapotes might be okay ideas.  Ice Cream Bean is also easy and attractive, but they are a bit messier and need a bit more light.  I've actually gotten fruit from Surinam Cherries and some random myrcaria fraudently sold as M. glomerata.  Also, you can try Miracle Fruit.  Fun to grow and enjoy the fruits, but it's no joke about proper watering and acid soils, and will die on you quick.  I've kept Chepenjack trees alive all this time, but they ain't happy to be in their tiny pots.  Jaboticaba should give you a decent chance.  I've found grumichamas, cherries of the rio grande and others to be very finicky and easy to kill in pots.  I've kept alive Abiu, but it's not that pretty and I'm pretty sure I'll never see fruit from it.  Salaks are a bad choice.  Most garcinias are bad choices, except for perhaps Imbe.  Mangos are easy to keep alive in pots, but realistically, they're like Artocarpus in the whole wanting to be wild and free, even the patio fit trees.  Better bet for potted in tropical areas than as houseplants.  They really don't do well in low house humidity during winters.  

A number of ultratropicals are pretty sturdy plants with some maturity.  It's the whole raising them in pots until maturity that gets ya.

i used to think that plants were disposable home decor. life expectancy of house plants in my house is about 3 months. but since i found figs, i'm little more careful about how i handle the plants. so far i have not killed any that i purchased in last month. so.. if things goes as planed, they will live for another 2 months. if i'm really lucky, they live longer and possibly give me some flowers. 

thinking about growing more succulents. our how is rather dry and i think they will do well. 

Thanks Nullzero and Shah8. I am sold on the dragon fruit. What three varieties do you think are the best tasting? Are the deep red pulp type best tasting? 

You want a lot of light for the dragon fruit.  I have the relative Selenocerus Megalanthus, which doesn't flower or fruit without enough light, and my plant has a lot of aerial roots that people might find unsightly.  Then again, that made it very hard to kill by forgetting to water.

'Physical Graffiti', 'Purple Haze', and 'American Beauty' all get high marks and have tasty red/purple fruit that is self pollinating. As for the light issue, some varieties will actually burn outside in full California sun during the summer. Naturally they grow under the canopy of a mature tree climbing up to get dappled sunlight.

I would only think that the sun would be important during the mid spring to fall (fruit set). The DF flower and fruit  typically in August-September, so I don't see any problem with hauling it out in the spring to a mostly (maybe some dappled shade during the day) sunny area then hauling it back in after the fruit harvest in September.

Since all most of the plants energy is stored in the stems, once your plant gains enough stem mass you will have nice fruit harvest. Now the trickiest part would be making a container with a movable trellis attached. What I would suggest is making a tri beam framed redwood trellis about 6ft high then mounting the container onto the base with wheels attached on the bottom. Then wrap burlap around the wood, now you will have a thriving DF plant with aerial roots on the burlap. You could then use a spray bottle with some kelp powder/water mix and spray the burlap, stems, and aerial roots during the warmer nights.

I think the effort would be totally worth it. Having high quality organic dragon fruit, would be equal to about $6 a pound somewhere like Pittsburgh, PA. Having a couple of 1lb fruits would make this effort so worth it :).

Here is some pictures of Vietnamese Giant, from my friends vine in a 10 gal container. The fruit did not last more then a minute.

Cactus flowers tend to be pretty, but Hylocereus and Selenocereus blooms are typically stunning.