Granite State Gardening · University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension

Growing Fruits Inside, Neem Oil, Passionflower and Broken Limbs

·1 hr 12 min·6 clips

Nate reveals a shocking list of 12 fruits you supposedly can grow indoors, but Emma warns it might be too good to be true.

This episode of Granite State Gardening focuses on the realities and challenges of growing fruit-bearing plants indoors. Host Nate Bernitz and horticulturist Emma Erler from UNH Extension separate popular online claims from practical horticultural advice. They aim to provide listeners with proven strategies for successfully cultivating fruit inside a home. The hosts begin by critiquing a common online list that promises indoor harvests of Meyer lemons, peaches, avocados, and even grapes trained on interior walls. Emma Erler identifies insufficient light as the primary barrier to fruiting for most species in a typical home. She explains that while a heated greenhouse can work, artificial lighting setups for plants like strawberries or grapes become technically complex and cost-prohibitive for most hobbyists. The conversation shifts to more feasible approaches, such as overwintering containerized plants indoors and moving them outside for the summer growing season. Emma recommends specific species better suited to this method, including certain citrus varieties, figs, passion flower, pomegranate, and olives. She clarifies that while keeping a plant in a small pot can have a dwarfing effect, it is not a guaranteed or complete solution for controlling size. The hosts discuss the common experiment of starting trees from grocery store seeds, like avocados or citrus. Emma notes that while this can be a fun project, the resulting plants often grow very large, may not fruit, and rarely produce edible fruit true to the parent when grown from hybrid seeds. For stone fruits like peaches, she explains that nursery trees are grafted for reliable quality, whereas seed-grown trees can take over four years to fruit with unpredictable results. Nate features the blue passion flower (*Passiflora caerulea*) as a viable container plant, describing its striking flowers and his personal success growing it as a summer-outside, winter-inside plant. Emma provides detailed advice on container selection, favoring heavy, unglazed terracotta pots with drainage holes placed on wheeled dollies for mobility. She recommends using a standard peat-based potting mix for most plants but suggests a special fast-draining mix for citrus. Emma advises against placing stones in the pot bottom for drainage and recommends incorporating a slow-release fertilizer during repotting. For placement, she states a south-facing window with temperatures above 60°F is ideal for citrus, while figs and passion flower prefer cooler, humid conditions when brought indoors for winter dormancy. On watering, she emphasizes checking soil moisture manually and using tap water, though rainwater is ideal. The episode includes an integrated pest management segment highlighting scale insects as a common issue on indoor fruit trees. Emma concludes that despite risks from pests or weather, moving plants outdoors for summer is highly beneficial for their growth and health. The tone is educational and conversational, blending Nate's curious questioning with Emma's expert, practical explanations. This episode would greatly appeal to home gardeners fascinated by tropical fruits or those seeking honest, science-based guidance to navigate misleading online gardening content. Listeners looking for quick, guaranteed success or those unwilling to move heavy containers seasonally might find the recommendations too demanding.

As heard by us

A practical indoor-fruit reality check focused on setup, limits, and fixes.

The episode treats indoor fruit growing as a real problem with real limits. Nate Bernitz and Emma Erler stay grounded in what can actually work over winter, and the best stretch is the practical one: citrus comes up, along with pot size, unglazed terracotta, drainage holes, and…

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Why you'd press play

Before you buy an indoor fruit tree, hear this first: the episode separates legend from truth about what can really be grown inside your home.

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