Imagine going into your backyard and picking a sun-ripened fig off a small tree. Or perhaps you have a passion for fresh citrus, such as sweet Meyer lemons, the fragrant flowers of which are as delightful as the fruit. Maybe you’re tempted to grow a dwarf banana tree, or a pineapple, or even a coconut palm you spied growing from its seed, the actual coconut, at a local nursery.

There’s increasing interest in growing unusual plants in the home, bringing us citrus trees, pineapple plants, dwarf bananas, fig trees, olive saplings, citrus trees, and even coconut palms for growing indoors. Most will produce useful fruit if you’re patient enough and give them what they want.

Jill Covill of Bunchberry Nurseries in Upper Clements, N.S., began to sell a selection of tropical fruits after having had her own fig tree at the nursery for a few years. “Miss Figgy” regularly produced figs. Customers began requesting that she carry such plants, so she found a grower and began selling figs, citrus, guava, and even pineapples.

“Although there was interest pre-COVID, we noticed that demand for all fruit and nut trees took off during the pandemic,” she says. “A few more adventurous gardeners wanted to try tropical fruits, and we can barely keep them in stock.” The first batch of citrus she brought in last spring were in flower when they arrived at the nursery and all sold in two days.

It was the scent of a lemon in bloom at a local nursery that started Gary Drew of Melvern Square, N.S., on his journey with growing citrus. A longtime gardening enthusiast who sells a few unique perennials, shrubs, and trees from his back yard, he has two types of lemons, two types of limes, and six types of oranges in his collection. “I think lemons are the easiest to grow and fruit, and that’s what I tell customers thinking of buying some sort of citrus,” he says.

Gary puts his plants outside in spring after the risk of the hardest frosts is past and brings them back into his house in late autumn, where they enjoy south- and west-facing windows and not-overly high temperatures.

Tracy Horsman lives on the South Mountain of the Annapolis Valley, near Wolfville, N.S., and bought a ‘Chicago Hardy’ variety of fig on a whim at a local garden centre a few years ago. “It grabbed my attention because the idea of being able to grow figs seemed so exotic,” she says.

Her tree is in a large container that she moves indoors in winter, even though it is reputedly able to grow outdoors year-round. This past summer was the first year it produced fruit, but if you’re a houseplant fan, she recommends growing one as a houseplant, as it makes a handsome focal point and is less cantankerous than other types of ornamental Ficus (fig) species.

Heather and Michelle Stark moved to Amherst, N.S., from Ontario a few years ago, and had to leave behind their indoor Meyer lemon tree, which was more than two metres tall. Heather bought it as a 45-centimetre sapling four years earlier from a nursery in Chatham, Ont., and once settled in Nova Scotia, she was missing it so she purchased several small plants from a local grower. “I love Meyer lemons for cooking and they’re not easy to find,” she says. Her plants are still small and some years from producing fruit, and she hasn’t tried putting them outside in the warm months yet, but hopes to next year.

If the thoughts of growing exotic fruits in Atlantic Canada whet your tastes, you have various options. Susan Levy operates Oceanview Home and Garden in Chester, N.S., and has begun carrying a few exotic varieties of fruit trees in her houseplant section. She is fond of the olive trees, which don’t usually produce fruit here in our climate but make beautiful houseplants with their grey-green, petite leaves on sturdy branches. She also carries several varieties of hardy figs, which are especially tempting when they are laden with tear-drop shaped fruit, and the lesser-known but delightful guava. (See sidebar below for some places that carry exotics.)

Growing and trouble shooting
The quickest and easiest way to get growing with tropical fruits is to buy young plants, rather than start from seed. It can take many years to reach flowering and fruiting maturity if you try growing from seed, plus many fruits do not come true to type from seed because they are hybrids. Start with healthy young tree saplings, as little as 30 centimetres tall, from local nurseries and exercise patience.

You don’t need an orangery or a greenhouse to grow citrus, just a bright window, preferably facing south, but east or west will also work if there are large windows. The secret to growing citrus indoors is ample light and space because you will be growing small trees. To make your plants happier, put them outside in spring until mid-autumn. There are also many indoor plant lights which can be set up to provide additional light for your plants during the dark months of fall and winter.

One of the mistakes new indoor gardeners often make, not just with exotics, is potting the plants in too large a container.

“If you have a small plant in a big container, there is too much soil for the amount of roots on your young plant, and too much water without enough roots can quickly lead to root rot,” Jill Covill explains.

If your plant is drying out quickly, it’s likely time for a repot, but only go up one or two sizes, such as from 15 centimetres to 18- to 20-centimetre containers. You can, of course, put the black or green nursery pot holding your plant into a larger, showier container for indoor display.

Ordinary houseplant soil is adequate for fruit trees, but avoid digging up heavy clay from your garden if you’re planning to repot, as good drainage is a houseplant’s best friend. Some gardeners add extra perlite and orchid bark to their potting medium to allow for even better drainage. Allow the soil to dry out before watering thoroughly, and then dump out any water that drains through to the plant saucer underneath. Citrus are drought tolerant and don’t like wet feet, which can result in plant death.

There is conflicting info in the plant world about humidity for houseplants, with many saying that spraying with a mist bottle is next to useless. A better method for raising humidity is to use a cool water humidifier to provide extra moisture.

Although there are dedicated citrus/fruit fertilizers available, you can also simply use a good pelletized slow-release fertilizer or other pre-mixed plant food to feed your potted fruits. Look for a product with NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium) ratios of 10-10-10 or 15-30-15, and feed only during the active growing season. Gary Drew stresses that he never fertilizes his citrus during fall and winter, and they do fine indoors.

Houseplants are susceptible to pests and diseases, and tropical fruit are no exception. Spider mites, aphids, and scale are the biggest pest issues but you can control them with insecticidal soap. Susan Levy uses beneficial insects for pest control in her greenhouses, and also checks the plants regularly for disease and growing issues. Gary Drew sprays his citrus with insecticidal soap before moving them indoors, and monitors his plants throughout the winter.

Figs and citrus aren’t particularly susceptible to diseases when grown indoors. Too little humidity can result in leaf drop, but too much humidity can lead to fungal blights, so be diligent about removing leaves that have fallen from the plant or are spotted with yellow or black lesions.

When your lemon or orange tree flowers, you don’t have to lend a helping hand with pollination if the plants are outdoors for the summer, but inside, you may wish to hand-pollinate to ensure better fruit production.

As of this writing, my Chicago Hardy fig has about a dozen small fruit slowly ripening on it, and I plan to add a lemon tree to my indoor jungle before winter, too.

Sources for citrus, figs, and more
Exotic fruits can be found at various nurseries, garden centres, and other stores carrying houseplants around the region. They may be only seasonally available at different businesses, so contact the company before arriving to get your figgy fix.

• Audrey’s Little Shop of Plants, Dartmouth, N.S. 
• Blomidon Nurseries, Greenwich, N.S. blomidonnurseries.com
• Brooklyn Village Garden Centre, Newport Corner, N.S. 
• Bunchberry Nurseries, Upper Clements, N.S. 
• Green Leaf Enterprises, Middleton N.S. 
• Kool Breeze Farms, Summerside, P.E.I.
• Lakeland Plant World, Dartmouth, N.S. 
• MacArthur’s Nurseries, Moncton, N.B. 
• Oceanview Home and Garden, Chester, N.S. 
• Scott’s Nursery, Fredericton, N.B. 
• The Seed Company by E. W. Gaze, St. John’s, N.L.