North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[sherwin <sherwindu@att.net>]

On 4/27/2016 8:38 PM, Jay Cutts wrote:
> I'm considering trying to grow fruit trees such as dwarf peaches, 
> plums, cherries in containers. We're at 7000 feet in New Mexico.
>
> They can be outside during the growing season but in the winter I'll 
> need to 1) make sure they get their chilling hours but 2) keep the 
> rootball from freezing to the point that the plant is killed.
>
> Does anyone have any idea how much freezing the rootballs could take? 
> The containers will be stored sitting on the ground, so they are 
> exposed. Is it a matter of how cold they get or how long they are frozen?
>
> In the ground the roots would be frozen most of the winter but the 
> temperature might not get as cold as when the roots are in a pot?
>
> The benefit of pot growing would be that I can move the plants indoors 
> or into a protected spot once they flower and avoid the lethal effects 
> of late frosts. But then I have to worry about pollination.
>
> Any ideas?
     I bury my pots in the raised bed garden here in Illinois, and that 
appears to protect them.  However, in checking freezing

     depths for Illinois, it could go down to 50 inches, so I wonder 
now if this is adequate protection.  In your case, being at

     a higher altitude could mean a lower depth of the ground 
freezing.  I would check with your local sources as to what

     depth your ground freezes before using a buried pot as any protection.


                                            Sherwin


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