When it comes to flavor, berries pack a punch. For the incredible flavor, choose the best berries to grow in containers and feed them with high-quality fertilizers.
Growing berries in containers makes it super easy to feed them the right nutrients and creates the conditions for tasty harvests and huge crops of delicious berries. You can easily move pots to cold or warm areas of the garden to increase berry production and induce early or late fruiting too.
Berries are one of the best plants to grow in containers. For more plants that thrive in containers, check out this list.
Mulberries Aren’t Just For Trees
You’re probably thinking about the big mulberry tree in your grandmother’s backyard right now (maybe she had one of the rare white mulberry varieties). But did you know that these plants also grow just as well in containers? Most families never eat all the mulberries that a big tree produces but can easily enjoy a few container-grown shrubs.
You’ll almost never find mulberries in the stores because they have such a short shelf life, making them impossible to store or transport. So if you want mulberries you’ve got to grow them yourself and what better way than in a container.
Water your mulberries infrequently and choose dwarf self-fertile varieties where possible. Our favorite is the Everbearing Dwarf Black Mulberry.
Mulberries grow surprisingly well in containers! And so do these other delicious backyard berries... @gardenersmagClick To Tweet
Acai Berries For Weight Loss
Yes, you can grow your own Acai berries at home! These berries are very expensive if bought in the store, but they are so easy to grow. Select the dwarf pre-germinated Acai palm variety and grow it in a large pot in a warm, sunny location.
Acai berries don’t like the cold, so make sure you keep them protected and warm through the winter. You can move them inside or into a hothouse to protect them from the frost. The dwarf Acai palm grows to about 12 feet high in a pot and takes 3 years to mature and set fruit. But once it fruits, you’ll have more Acai berries than you’ll ever be able to eat alone!
Strawberry The Best Berries To Grow In Containers
For the best-tasting strawberries grow them in containers. Strawberries love warm soil, which is why they thrive in pots. Plant them in heavy terracotta containers for the best growth and position them in a sunny position.
Some pots have even been specifically designed to grow strawberries, like these strawberry towers. They also do well in hanging baskets, window sills, and tubs. Raising them off the ground also makes it easier to protect the berries from slugs and mold.
Strawberries are one of the easiest plants for beginner gardeners to grow. For more tips about starting your first vegetable garden read this.
Our favorite strawberry varieties for containers are:
- Everbearing Ozark Beauty
- Hirts Evie Everbearing
- White Carolina Pineberry which has a deliciously addictive pineapple flavor
Gooseberries Love Morning Sun
For the best tasting berries position these plants where they’ll get plenty of morning sun and protection from harsh afternoon rays. Sprinkle regular applications of potash around their base to promote prolific flowering and fruiting throughout the season.
Gooseberries grow particularly well when planted near currants. To produce bigger gooseberries, pick about half the crop in midsummer and use the unripened fruits in pies, sauces, and wines.
The remaining berries will quickly increase in size and produce much sweeter and tastier fruits.
The best varieties for pots are:
- Pixwell
- Outside Pride
- Amish Red
Raspberries Thrive In Summer Sun
One of the best berries to grow in containers is raspberries. They thrive in warm soils and can become weedy if grown in the garden. It’s much easier to prune old canes when the plant is grown in a pot too.
For the best-tasting fruit and biggest harvests feed your raspberries with a Neptunes Harvest fish emulsion and liquid guano weekly during the growing season. Plant up to 6 canes in one large pot, they’ll multiply over the years but don’t worry because they won’t compete with each other for water or nutrients.
After 3 years you should cut the canes to their bases after the fruiting season and divide them into 3 new pots with fresh potting soil.
Our favorite varieties are:
- Nantahala
- Shortcake Red (thornless)
- Anne Gold Everbearing
Blackberries By The Gallon
Start with a 5-gallon pot and fill it with broken terracotta pieces for drainage and potting soil. Plant one blackberry plant in the center and provide stakes for support as the plant grows.
Blackberries tend to grow long spindly canes, so it’s important to have something to tie them back to or you’ll have blackberries all over your patio. Water your blackberries frequently with fish emulsion and fertilize them with kelp meal for the richest flavors.
These are the best varieties for containers:
- Black Satin (thornless)
- Sweetie Pie
- Apache (thornless)
Blueberries Love Acidic Soil
Most garden soil isn’t acidic enough to grow blueberries well. That’s why they are one of the best berries to grow in containers. Not only will they thrive in a pot but you’ll be able to keep the soil as acidic as they need by choosing your potting soil and fertilizers carefully.
Blueberries will grow for many years in a pot and will live much longer than other berries. They thrive at pH levels around 4 – 5.5 and love good drainage with plenty of sunlight to ripen their sweet fruits.
Start with camellia or azalea potting mixes which are always acidic-based. Whenever you fertilize choose fertilizers that are sulphur-based which will keep the soil acidity levels low. Blueberries thrive in moist soil so keep them well watered, especially during fruiting.
The best-performing varieties for containers are:
- Top-Hat Dwarf
- Biloxi
- Pink Lemonade (my favorite)
Black Currants Develop The Best Flavor In Containers
These sweet berries are full of vitamin C and never disappoint when it comes to delivering flavor. For the best growth make sure your blackberry has plenty of drainage and rich potting soil.
Grow in a sunny position and move them inside or to a protected area when winter starts, as they hate the frost. Like most berries, the fruit forms on new canes, so make sure you prune back any old canes in winter to promote new cane growth in spring.
Consort is the best container variety we’ve grown.
If you’re planning your first vegetable garden then read this step-by-step guide on how to get started.
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