Indoor fruit trees provide both fragrant blooms and lush fruits—if they receive the right amount of care. Trees in pots will need their soil replenished more often than ones in the ground, according to Samantha Sergeant, an arborist at Fruitstitute. Additionally, most indoor trees will need as much light as you can give them—usually through a southern-facing window or grow lights.
All that being said, if you’re up to the task, the fruits of your labor will be more than worth it. Read on for a list of expert-approved fruit trees that can flourish indoors—as well as some important tips and tricks for growing and maintaining them.
Dwarf Pomegranate
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If you’re growing fruit trees indoors, then you’ll often want to look for a dwarf variety. These will stay small and compact, so they’re much easier to manage. Regular pomegranates, for example, must grow to be quite large, says Sergeant—so they’ll do better outdoors.
Dwarf pomegranates, though, can fit in a 5- to 10-gallon pot. You’ll need well-draining, organically rich soil to keep your tree happy. However, you won’t have to water it quite as heavily as other fruit trees, as pomegranates are drought-tolerant.
- Size: 24 to 48 inches tall x 24 inches wide
- Growing conditions: Bright light; well-draining soil
Fig
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Fig trees are a common sight indoors, especially the hardier cultivar ficus carica, which you’ll see labeled as Chicago Hardy and Celeste at nurseries. However, it’s not without its necessary maintenance—especially during the colder months. “The leaves will turn yellow in fall, which indicates that you need to decrease watering while the plant goes dormant for the winter,” says Laura Irish-Hanson, a horticulture educator at the University of Minnesota Extension.
She adds that these plants are fortunately self-fertile, so they won’t require another cultivar or insects for pollination to occur.
- Size: 4 to 5 feet tall x 3 to 4 feet wide
- Growing conditions: Bright light; well-draining soil
Meyer Lemon
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A Meyer lemon tree has beautiful, fragrant clusters of white flowers that emit a lovely, citrusy scent, even in the dead of winter. The only catch? You’ll have to pollinate it yourself. “When caring for fruit trees indoors, you must remember to ‘be the bee,’” says Sergeant. “Which is to say, fruit tree flowers must be pollinated to become fruit, so you’ll have to do so by hand.”
Thankfully, pollinating isn’t too difficult—simply apply a small paintbrush to a flower with pollen, then gently transfer it to a flower with a pistil. After, the latter should bear fruit.
- Size: 3 to 4 feet tall x 3 to 4 feet wide
- Growing conditions: Bright light; well-draining soil, slightly acidic
Kumquat
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Native to southern China, the kumquat tree produces small, grape-sized fruit that can be eaten with the skin still on. To flower, these trees need a minimum of 8 to 10 hours of sunlight, so make sure you place the plant in a south-facing window.
That being said, they don’t need particularly formulated soil—container growing mix should be enough to keep them happy, so long as you don’t overwater.
- Size: 3 to 4 feet tall x 3 feet wide
- Growing conditions: Bright light; well-draining soil, slightly acidic
Mandarin
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Like kumquats, mandarin trees are also native to China and have many of the same care requirements. The soil should be moist but not waterlogged—if you’re unsure, use your finger to dig several inches deep and check to see if the soil is still wet. If yes, let it dry out a bit more.
Prune your mandarin tree in the winter to help manage its shape, but if you start to see buds forming, it’s time to put the pruners down.
- Size: 3 to 4 feet tall x 3 to 4 feet wide
- Growing conditions: Bright light; well-draining soil, slightly acidic
Avocado
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Avocados are relatively easy to grow from a pit indoors. However, you may have to wait quite some time for the tree to bear fruit. “Avocados need 15 to 20 years to fruit if they’re not grafted onto specific rootstocks,” says Irish-Hanson.
These trees will also need a lot of direct sunlight to produce fruit indoors—supplementing with grow lights can help in this process.
- Size: 5 to 8 feet tall x 2 to 3 feet wide
- Growing conditions: Bright light; well-draining soil
Calamondin Orange
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This orange species is the most commonly grown indoors, according to Irish-Hanson. “Its fruits are small and sour and can be used for marmalade or as a garnish in summer drinks,” she says.
Like other citrus trees, the calamondin orange needs well-draining soil and appreciates slightly acidic soil. However, this species is drought-tolerant, so you don’t need to water it as heavily during the wintertime. It’s also notably hardy and can handle dry air blasts from indoor heating.
- Size: 6 to 8 feet tall x 3 to 4 feet wide
- Growing conditions: Bright light; well-draining soil, slightly acidic
Olive
Getty / Liudmila Chernetska
If you don’t mind the less-showy blooms—compared to citrus trees, at least—then an olive tree is a great indoor option. For fruiting, keep the tree in a basement or another area of the house that’s a little chillier—but not freezing. Make sure to water regularly, even in the winter.
Finally, make sure you’re buying the correct variety. European olive trees are the ones that produce the delicious fruit that you’ll want to eat.
- Size: 7 to 9 feet tall x 2 to 3 feet wide
- Growing conditions: Bright light; well-draining soil
Tangerines
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Tangerines are a type of mandarin and can be grown quite similarly, even if they’re not exactly the same plant. When in bloom, a tangerine tree can have many clusters of fragrant flowers, making it a real standout.
Things to watch for with tangerines and other citrus trees are mealy bugs and scale. “Check the undersides of leaves, as well as the nodes, and where the leaves meet the stem—plus any other nook and cranny,” says Irish-Hanson.
- Size: 3 to 4 feet tall x 2 to 3 feet wide
- Growing conditions: Bright light; well-draining soil, slightly acidic
