Best Indoor Fruit Trees

Planting fruit trees indoors provides both function and beauty. Not only will the green leaves, bright flowers and vivid fruits provide visual appeal, but the fruit can also be eaten and enjoyed once ripened. Though a wide range of fruiting trees can be grown indoors, certain types are better suited for indoor spaces, both in terms of size and care requirements.

Meyer Lemons
Meyer lemon trees are considered one of the most popular indoor fruit trees. The size of the Meyer lemon tree is well suited for indoor spaces, as it reaches a maximum height of approximately 5 feet. The Meyer lemon tree produces a large quantity of nice sized lemons. Unlike other citrus trees, the Meyer lemon tree doesn't require a long hot spell to sweeten the fruit. Because of this, Meyers lemons grown indoors are sweet and edible.

Grapefruit
Dwarf grapefruit tress can be grown indoors and provide fruit throughout the year. The Oro Blanco grapefruit does particularly well indoors. The tree was developed from a cross between a white grapefruit and a pummelo and produces sweet fruit. Oro Blanco grapefuit trees do not need to be moved outdoors or placed in a warm location.

Bananas
Banana trees also produce fruit year round and can be well suited for indoor growing. With high enough ceilings, regular banana trees will fair well indoors. For smaller spaces, dwarf banana trees are more appropriate. The Super Dwarf Cavendish is a small type of tree that produces miniature bananas. Banana trees are sensitive to temperature changes and produce slower in cooler environments.

Limes
Small lime trees, such as key lime trees are easily managed in indoor growing spaces. The lesser-known Kaffir lime is also well suited for indoors and its fruit is often used in Thai and creole dishes and can be used in meat dishes, sauces and drinks.

Papaya
With full sun, moderate fertilizer, regular watering and temperatures about 65 degrees Fahrenheit, papaya trees can also thrive indoors. Fruit on the papaya tree begins to appear once the plant has reached 1 to 2 feet in height. Once the fruit forms, it requires seven to eight months to ripen.

Source: http://www.ehow.com/list_7414501_indoor-fruit-trees.html

Indoor Fruit Gardening

Several fruit varieties grow well indoors provided you have a sunny location for them in your home. Strawberries are easy to grow indoors. Although the berries may be smaller than those grown outdoors, they should be sweet and tasty. Dwarf citrus trees were specifically developed for indoor life and can bear fruit all year-round.

Things You'll Need
For the strawberries:
Jar
Sand

Instructions
Growing Strawberries Indoors

1. Place strawberry seeds in a closed jar and keep it in your freezer for two to four weeks.

2. Set the jar on your counter or table for several hours before planting, allowing them to reach room temperature.

3. Mix clean sand and loamy potting soil together in equal parts. Purchase pots with drainage holes and fill them with the mixture. The pots should be 8 inches deep and at least 4 inches wide across the top. Set the pots in drip trays.

4. Press six seeds into the top of the soil of each pot using your thumb. Cover them with a sprinkling of potting mixture.

5. Spray your seeds with water and then position the pots on a windowsill receiving at least eight hours of sunlight every day.

6. Mist the pots with water a couple of times each day to keep the soil slightly moist.

7. Thin the seedlings when they grow to 2 to 3 inches. Leave only the strongest seedling to mature in each pot.

8. Apply water to the seedling, stopping when a few drops of moisture come out of the drainage holes. Maintain moisture around the growing roots.

9. Fertilize your strawberries once per month during active growing, blossoming and fruiting periods. Purchase a liquid fertilizer suitable to use on fruiting plants.

10. Leave your strawberry plants on the sunny windowsill, pruning dead parts as required.

Growing Fruit Trees Indoors

11. Purchase a dwarf fruit tree from your local nursery or garden store.

12. Cover the bottom of a 10- to 15-gallon container with a layer of stones.

13. Remove a couple of inches of the outer rootball of a bare-root tree. Prune any dead branches.

14. Place the rootball in the container and then fill it with a light, airy potting soil. Cover the rootball with soil but do not pack it down.

15. Water the soil and place the container in a sunny, draft-free room. Water it regularly, letting it dry between waterings. Fertilize it at least once a month with a mixture containing manganese, iron and zinc. Brush the stamens of open blossoms with a paintbrush to pollinate the tree. Remove overlapping branches and branches that are growing underneath the graft union. Prune any time of the year.

Source: http://www.ehow.com/how_7949790_indoor-fruit-gardening.html