Easy-to-Grow Indoor Fruits
One of the coolest parts of having an indoor garden is growing your own fruits, especially once you realize how many fruits you can grow indoors and how easy it can be! If you’ve never grown your own fruit before, you’re probably wondering which fruits are considered easy-to-grow indoor fruits.
Easy-to-grow indoor fruits include:
- Tomatoes
- Bananas
- Strawberries
- Avocados
- Oranges
- Lemons
- Raspberries
- Figs
- Blackberries
In this article, we will elaborate on the growing methods for each of these fruits. You’ll learn how to plant them, including watering and temperature instructions. We’ll even tell you when you can expect to begin harvesting your own delicious fruit.
Let’s get started!
Fruits That Are Easy to Grow in an Indoor Garden
Tomatoes
Wait, isn’t this supposed to be a list about indoor fruits, not vegetables? It’s true that you can consider a tomato a vegetable, but it’s also a fruit. Yep, it’s one of those rare foods that are both. Therefore, it made this list.
When growing tomatoes in your indoor garden, they won’t produce fruit without getting adequate sun. They need full daylight from either the sun or grow lights for the whole day, all eight hours. You also have to watch the temperature for your home tomato garden, keeping it at 65 degrees Fahrenheit at a minimum. To trigger flowering, up the thermostat to 75 or 85 degrees.
If you’ve opted to plant your tomatoes in a pot, then check that it has sufficient drainage holes. Unglazed pots work best for tomatoes. Make sure the pot you choose to grow your tomatoes in has a depth of at least six inches as well and then bury your tomato seeds ¼ inches into the soil.
Never let the soil dry out completely. As soon as you notice the soil is almost completely dry, it’s time to give it a good watering again. It takes roughly five to 10 days for germination to begin, but for some of the bigger types of tomatoes like Better Boy, Early Girl it can take a little longer, roughly 7 to 14 days.
Bananas
If you recall from this blog, we recently wrote about the banana plant. It’s earned such a name because this indoor tree can grow everyone’s favorite long, yellow, potassium-filled fruit, the banana.
Banana trees thrive in an indoor or outdoor environment, but they naturally grow larger outdoors.
Double-check that you have soil that drains well for your banana tree, just as you did for your tomato plant. This time, the soil should have a texture like humus and a rich quality as well.
Banana trees have strict lighting requirements, too, even more than tomato plants. They need 12 hours of sunlight every day. A few hours of direct light will work, but don’t leave them in direct sun for the entire day. If you do, those gorgeous oversized leaves will burn.
Keep your soil at a pH of 5.5 to 7.0. Monthly, pour in a balanced soluble fertilizer. During the day, banana plants prefer temps of 80 degrees, and at night, you can lower the thermostat to 67 degrees.
Watch how much standing water lingers in the pot to prevent root rot. The soil should be allowed to get pretty dry, although not bone dry.
You can also feel free to mist your banana plant, which keeps its leaves tidy. Within two or three weeks, the plant should begin germinating.
Strawberries
Who doesn’t love strawberries? They’re tart but sweet, bite-sized, and they go good with everything from a dusting of sugar to a dipping of chocolate. Plus, they just taste like the summertime. Well, you can have that taste any and every time of the year by growing strawberries in your home or apartment.
You can plant your strawberry seeds in a pot or a container depending on which is more convenient for you. If you’re using a pot, get one that’s six inches. For those who want to plant their strawberry seeds in a strawberry planter or container, put each seed at least 10 inches from the others. Some gardeners go as far as spacing them 12 inches.
The strawberries need at least six daily hours of sunlight, but a grow light can fill in the gaps if necessary. These plants will grow well on a windowsill where they get the brightness of the sun, but not directly. Don’t let the soil dry out completely or even get close to that point. It should always be damp.
Keep the temperatures between 57 and 70 degrees as well and apply soluble fertilizer at least every 10 days. Then, wait four or six weeks and you can harvest your strawberries!
Avocados
Are you surprised? An avocado, like a tomato, is actually a fruit. This creamy, dreamy, good-for-you superfood can be quite expensive to buy at stores, especially if you love it in sushi or on avocado toast. Now you can save your money and invest some time into an avocado plant at home or at work.
Avocados grow from avocado trees, which can get as tall as 80 feet outdoors. However, since they’re warm-weather plants, growing yours indoors will help it thrive.
You can use an avocado pit you have handy to begin the growing process. You want to press toothpicks into the pit and then place it over a glass that’s filled with warm water. The end with the dimples or dents should be in the water, submerged about an inch deep.
If you maintain temps at 65 degrees or higher and replace the water when needed, you’ll see roots coming from the pit, and then stems, then leaves.
At that point, your avocado plant needs a pot with a width of 10 inches. Make sure to use well-draining potting mix with sand and compost. During the day, the avocado requires lots of light, but at night, the conditions should be cool. This promotes fruit growth.
Oranges
The zesty taste of orange wakes up the taste buds. Whether you like the segments in a salad or the fruit mashed down into a juice, add some oranges to your indoor garden ASAP.
Oranges, like their citrus brethren limes and lemons, come from trees. You can plant the tree in a pot or a container depending on your preferences. Make sure you choose a plastic, ceramic, or clay pot that outsizes the plant’s root ball. Add stones as well so the air can circulate through the pot.
Then, give the orange plant at least eight hours in the sun, preferably 12 hours in a southernly window away from vents. Keep the soil acidic, with a pH of 6.0 to 7.0. The soil should also drain well and have loam in it. To make your life easier, you should be able to find citrus tree potting soil at most home improvement or gardening stores. This will ensure you don’t mess up the orange plant.
Set your thermostat no lower than 55 degrees and no higher than 85 degrees, with 65 degrees a very happy medium. Moss or pebbles make great decorative mulch and can maintain orange tree moisture. Water it whenever it begins drying out. Oh, and keep your eyes peeled for aphids, mealybugs, spider mites, and scale, as these bugs love citrus trees.
Lemons
You won’t ever have to search through the fridge for some lemon juice to add to your recipes again when you have an indoor lemon tree. Since they’re a citrus plant, the growth instructions are very much like those of the orange tree.
Choose the same type of pot and the same soil for your lemon tree as you did for the orange tree. Lemon trees still need eight or 12 hours of sunlight. As autumn and winter begin and you don’t get that much light, use a grow light (you can do the same for the orange tree, by the way). The same temperature rules apply as well.
Speaking of the wintertime, you’ll want to change up your watering habits then. Citrus plants can dry out a little more in the cold weather, so allow the soil to retain some moisture, but not a lot. Otherwise, root rot can occur, as could fungal infections. If you’re concerned you’ve added too much water, then try a water meter. This will tell you when it’s time to scale back.
To learn a lot more about growing an indoor lemon tree I recommend you read my article Growing an Indoor Lemon Tree: Must-Read Care Tips.
Raspberries
Another berry with a flavor like the sweet summertime is the humble raspberry. The raspberry plant the fruit comes from is simpler to grow than you’d imagine, so let’s talk about what you need to do.
First, there’s the lighting requirements. Raspberry plants need at least six hours of direct light and up to eight if you’re feeling generous.
They also require a container that’s at least 15 inches in diameter. Add some pea gravel to the container first, only two inches of the stuff. Next, put in bagged potting soil, peat moss, and perlite in the same quantities. A drainage tray beneath the container will prevent water spillage. It can also safeguard the raspberry plant from root rot. On the top of the container, cover the plant in wood chips two inches deep. These allow for more moisture to get to the plant.
You only have to water your raspberry plant one to three times every week. As the raspberries begin to get ready for harvesting, they should turn burgundy. They’re at their ripest then, so pluck them off the plant and enjoy!
Figs
While it’s true that figs are an acquired taste, these refined fruits take less effort to grow than their flavor would suggest. You might as well have some in your indoor garden, then.
Like many of the other plants on this list, fig trees need a container, pot, or planter with plenty of drainage. Fill the container with soil about two inches deep. Water your fig weekly, making sure the liquid moves through the container’s drainage holes. Standing water is a no-no, so avoid it as best you can.
In colder weather, fertilize every two months, and in the summer and spring, increase the fertilizing to every month. Keep your eyes open for insect infestations like mealy bugs and spider mites when growing figs as well. They tend to leave a sticky residue behind that lets you know of their presence.
Sunny environments suit your indoor fig tree best, but avoid direct light to retain the pretty leaves. Also, stick to temperatures of 60 degrees and higher, but don’t put the fig tree beneath a vent. Prune occasionally, especially if your tree grows to six or eight feet. At that point, your indoor plant may need a new, bigger pot as well.
Blackberries
Blackberries are large, firm fruits that taste best when pulled right from the tree. When growing your own, stick to varieties like Prime-Jan and Prime-Jim, as these erect blackberry plants will do best in your home or office.
They need a pot with a depth of eight inches or more. Fill the pot with organic compost, only two inches. Then, add potting soil that has a pH of 5.5 to the rest of the pot until there’s only an inch left.
Place each of your blackberry plants three inches from each other as you plant. When you water them, you should be able to plunk your finger in the soil and feel that at least the first inch to the first inch and a half is moist. If not, keep watering. You should only have to water the blackberry plant weekly, though.
This fruit loves sunlight, so give it direct light throughout the day. A heat lamp that runs four to six hours can make up for insufficient sunlight. To enjoy sweet, tender blackberries at home, make sure you get a home soil test kit. This monitors pH so you can ensure it never gets too high or too low.
Related Questions
Which fruit trees grow well in pots?
If you can only spare a pot for your fruit, fret not. The following fruits will grow exceptionally well indoors in a pot:
- Guava
- Cherries
- Peaches
- Nectarines
- Figs
- Pomegranates
- Apples
- Lemons
Which fruit trees produce fruit the fastest?
Waiting is the hardest part, isn’t it? If you have no patience and eagerly want your fruit tree to germinate, then make sure you have the following trees in in your indoor garden:
- Apricots
- Black cherries
- Citrus fruits
- Nectarines
- Peaches
- Mulberries
- Figs
Why won’t my fruit trees bear fruit?
If you’ve tended to your indoor fruit tree for a while but it shows no signs of bearing fruit, you could be doing a few things wrong. Too little light can hinder the growth process, prohibiting your indoor fruit tree from growing the fruit you’ve been waiting for.
If you prune the tree too often, you could cut away all the progress the plant has made to that point. The growing process then starts all over again without any fruit to show for it. Fertilizing the plant too often can also hurt germination. Make sure that if your indoor plant has specific fertilizing rules that you follow them to the letter.