For a patio pot, Red Falstaff on M26 is a useful choice when you want one self-fertile eating apple. Discovery on M9 suits early picking, while Red Devil on M26 is worth a look if you enjoy sharper apples and making juice. Buy the named rootstock as well as the variety: the same apple may be offered on roots that make a much larger tree.
A pot keeps the roots in a limited space, but it also makes the tree depend on you for water and feeding. If you are often away in summer and cannot arrange watering, growing a suitable tree in the ground will be easier.
Which Apple Would You Enjoy Most?
| What you want | Tree to consider |
|---|---|
| One eating-apple tree, with fruit that can keep | Red Falstaff on M26 |
| Early apples to eat freshly picked | Discovery on M9 |
| A sweet-sharp apple for eating and juice | Red Devil on M26 |
Think about when you want to pick and how you will use the crop. An early apple with a short keeping life can be ideal for eating a few at a time from a patio tree. A later keeper suits someone who wants to put sound fruit aside for winter.
Best for One Self-Fertile Eating Apple: Red Falstaff
Red Falstaff makes a straightforward first choice for someone who wants a single apple tree. Its crisp, juicy fruit has a balance of sweetness and acidity, and it keeps better than an early apple such as Discovery. You can enjoy some freshly picked and store the sound remainder in suitable cool conditions.
Choose the M26 version, support it firmly and leave room for the branches to develop. Give it a generous container so you can keep the roots evenly moist. If you have room for a compatible apple nearby, that can help pollination, but a second tree is not essential for this self-fertile variety.
Best for Early Fresh Apples: Discovery on M9
Discovery is a good fit when the pleasure is picking and eating an early apple rather than storing a large harvest. Its short keeping life is less of a drawback beside the patio, where you can check the fruit regularly and pick as it ripens.
Choose the M9 option for a smaller, supported tree. The product page also offers other rootstocks, so do not assume the cheapest or largest nursery tree is the correct version for your container.
Discovery needs a compatible apple flowering at the same time. It belongs to flowering group 3; a suitable apple in the same or an overlapping neighbouring group can provide pollen. An established tree in a nearby garden may do the job, but identify it rather than relying on the fact that there are trees somewhere along the street.
Best for a Sweet-Sharp Apple and Juice: Red Devil
Red Devil is another self-fertile option, with red-skinned fruit and a brighter, sharper flavour than a very sweet supermarket-style apple. It suits someone who likes that balance for eating and wants to make use of surplus fruit in juice.
Choose Red Devil on M26 for a substantial patio container. Allow its branches room to spread so that light reaches the fruit, and keep the pot somewhere you can reach easily with a watering can. The larger-growing MM106 option is better left for a garden planting.
If the patio has one good sunny position, choose Red Devil for its fruity flavour and juice, or Red Falstaff when keeping apples for later is the priority.
Give the Roots Enough Space
Use a sturdy container with open drainage holes. Around 45–50cm across is a useful starting point for many young fruit trees, with enough depth to accommodate the roots comfortably. A tall, narrow decorative planter is easier to overturn than a broad-based pot once the canopy catches the wind.
Use a peat-free compost intended for long-term container planting, rather than garden soil dug from a border. A loam-based John Innes formulation provides useful weight; match the formulation to the plant’s stage and follow its feeding guidance. Leave a little space below the rim so water can soak in without immediately running over the edge.
Keep the graft union above the compost. Burying the join can allow the fruiting variety to make its own roots and undermine the size control you bought the tree for. Fit the support without driving a stake through a densely rooted nursery rootball.
Water slowly enough to wet the whole rootball. A quick splash that darkens the surface can leave the middle dry. Check more often in warm, windy weather and while fruit is swelling, but never leave the pot standing in a permanently full saucer. If you need help keeping several pots watered, the automatic watering guide compares suitable drip setups.
Rootstock, Pollination and Pruning Checks
M9 and M26 are useful container choices. M27 is extremely dwarfing and can struggle when both its roots and growing conditions are restricted; it is not an automatic upgrade simply because you want a small tree. The rootstock and pollination guide explains the differences.
Self-fertile means the tree can use its own pollen. It still needs viable flowers, suitable conditions and visits from pollinating insects. A late frost or a cold, wet flowering spell can reduce the crop even when the variety is correctly chosen.
Prune for the form you are growing. A little bush tree and a trained cordon do not need identical cuts, and repeatedly shearing all the new growth into a tight ball can remove useful fruiting wood. Remove damaged or badly placed growth, maintain an open structure and use an apple-pruning guide suited to the tree’s shape.
Thin a crowded crop while the apples are small. A young tree needs to establish a framework as well as carry fruit; leaving every apple can produce small fruit and strain the branches. Keep ties loose enough for the trunk to thicken, checking them through the growing season.
The RHS guide to fruit in containers covers ongoing pot care. If you would rather compare apples with pears and figs, see the small-garden fruit-tree guide.
