There’s a wide range of fruit that can be grown in pots.

All the tree fruits listed here will pollinate each other. However, the

The transfer of pollen grains from a male anther to a female stigma, either within the same flower or between two different flowers. It’s usually followed by fertilisation and seed production. Some flowers are pollinated by insects or other small creatures, others are wind pollinated. It’s also possible to pollinate flowers by hand, if you want to breed new plants or ensure successful pollination when there are few natural pollinators.

• Apples, culinary: ‘Arthur Turner’ (3), ‘Bountiful’ (3) and ‘Howgate Wonder’ (4)
• Apples, dessert/eating: 'Alkmene’ (2), ‘Discovery’ (3), Falstaff (3), ‘Fiesta’ (3) ‘Greensleeves’ (3), 'Kidd’s Orange Red’ (3), ‘Pixie’ (4) and 'Sunset' (3)
• Apricots: ‘Delicot’, ‘Tomcot’ and ‘Moorpark’ are self fertile*
• Blueberries: Most cultivars will grow well in pots, but particularly half-high blueberries such as ‘Northsky’, ‘Chippewa’ and ‘Northcountry’
• Cherries: ‘Lapins’, ‘Sunburst and ‘Stella’ are all self fertile (do not need another tree to pollinate them)
• Figs: ‘Brown Turkey’, ‘Brunswick’ and White Marseilles’ (no pollinators are required)
• Grapes: ‘Seyval Blanc’, ‘Siegerrebe’ and ‘New York Muscat’ (no pollinators are required)
• Nectarines: ‘Early Rivers’ and ‘Nectarella’ are self fertile*
• Olives: Olea europaea, O. ‘Aglandau’ and O. ‘Cailletier’ are fairly hardy and self fertile
• Peaches: ‘Duke of York’, ‘Garden Anny’, ‘Garden Lady’, ‘Peregrine’ and ‘Rochester’ are self fertile*
• Pears: ‘Beth’ (4), ‘Beurré Hardy’ (3), ‘Concorde’ (3), Conference (3), ‘Doyenné du Comice’ (4), ‘Glou Morceau’ (4) and ‘Red Comice’ (4)
• Plums: there are no suitable culinary cultivars, but the following dessert grow well in containers – ‘Blue Tit’, ‘Opal’ and ‘Victoria', which are self fertile

*These need to be hand pollinated when grown in a greenhouse or conservatory, by transferring pollen between flowers with a soft brush.

Choosing a rootstock

Once you have chosen which

Gardeners often use the word variety when referring to a specific plant, but the correct botanical term is 'cultivar'. Whichever word you use, it means a distinctive plant or plants, given a specific cultivar name and usually bred to enhance certain characteristics, such as flower or fruit size, colour, flavour or fragrance, plant size, hardiness, disease resistance, etc. Additionally, it is worth knowing that, botanically, variety has another meaning - it refers to a naturally-occurring distinct plant that only has slight differences in its looks. For example, Malva alcea var. fastigiata differs from typical plants by having an upright habit.

These are the best options:

• Apple: M9, M26 (M27 is too dwarfing)
• Cherry: Colt or Gisela 5
• Pear: Quince C
• Plum, damson, peach, nectarine: Pixy or St Julien A
• Apricot: St Julien A or Torinel

Rootstocks are not required for blueberries, grapes, figs and olives.

As far as the type of container, clay pots are heavy and stable; plastic is durable, light and easier to manage. For most fruit, choose pots 45-50cm (18-20in) in diameter.

Fruit trees, vines and bushes can be planted in containers at any time of year. However, spring (March or April) is a particularly good time, as the roots soon grow and establish into the new compost.

When planting, place crocks (small pieces of broken clay pots) over the holes in the bottom of containers with large drainage holes to retain potting media during watering. Use a good-quality compost (John Innes No 3 is ideal), or multi-purpose compost mixed with one-third by volume grit or perlite. Incorporate controlled-release fertiliser pellets, or feed fortnightly with a high-potassium liquid tomato feed.

Fruit in containers is usually a little more hassle than growing fruit in the open ground. Do keep the following in mind:

• Position fruit plants in full sun
• Water generously but allow the compost’s surface to dry out before the next watering, without it becoming bone dry
• Leave hardy fruit outdoors over winter
• Peaches and apricots can be covered with a lean-to shelter from autumn to late winter to protect them from rain-splash and potential peach leaf curl
• To avoid the roots becoming pot bound, re-pot every year or alternate years after leaf fall. Once in its final pot, a plant can be root-pruned every other year with 30 per cent of the compost refreshed. In intervening years, replace the top layer of compost

Pruning and training

Fruit grown in pots is pruned just the same way as  fruit grown in the open ground. See our individual plant and pruning profiles for further advice;

Apples and pears: pruning new trees
Apples and pears: summer pruning
Apples and pears: winter pruning
Espalier training trees
Fan-trained trees: initial training
Fan-trained trees: pruning established fans
Figs
Gooseberries, red and white currants
Olive
Plum pruning

Container-grown fruit needs careful watering throughout the summer to prevent the fruits dropping before they ripen, and the leaves browning around the edges.

There are some common problems to watch out for as well. These include apple canker, apple scab, bacterial canker, brown rot, peach leaf curl and silver leaf.

Take care not to overpot.