Peach trees in containers tend to grow, grow, grow

Question: In March of this year I planted a 2-foot tree with few leaves. It now has grown to 4 feet with a wide spread of branches. It is planted in an 18-inch pot in the southeast section of my yard. Will this tree continue to grow in a container? If so, should I transplant it to a larger container? I grow citrus trees in containers and in the ground successfully. This is my first attempt to grow a peach tree.

I am not sure that putting a full-sized peach tree in a container is a good idea.

It is going to get really big in there unless you can get a huge container.

A better selection would probably be one of the miniature peaches such as Bonanza, Bonanza II, Eldorado, Garden Gold or Pixie.

There are others, but I do not know how they might perform in our climate.

The fruit is OK, not great, and that has been the problem with miniatures.

I do not think a standard-sized fruit tree will live as long in a container and will probably have to be replaced sooner than one in the ground.

But if you do not have the room, then go for it, but put it in a very large container.

The larger the better.

Bob Morris is a professor emeritus in horticulture with the University of Nevada and can be reached at extremehort@aol.com. Visit his blog at xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com.