Gary

I have a few different varieties but there is two that I would recommend just because of combination of easy growth and fruit production. I grow the variety Giant Vietnamese, flavor is good but definitely not the greatest, think of it as more of a commercially selected cultivar, easy growing, easy fruiting(extremely excellent size), good storage, and average tastes. I believe its a commercial variety in Vietnam and Thailand. Another variety is a self fertile red flesh Thai variety I'm growing, a bit more difficult to handle, doesn't really flower profusely or consistently, smaller fruit, but sweeter. If you would like to try these, please contact me offlist.

There were holes drilled in those containers. It was extremely difficult to move around, the soil along with the weight of the plants and tellis made it almost impossible to move without breaking any limbs. The plants were not in there for long though, it was used for a little over a 1 year and they were planted out.
I've used containers like these before and they do not really last long, 2 years maybe before they start to disintegrate rather quickly.

http://pubs.caes.uga.edu/caespubs/pubcd/L290-w.htm

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/propa/msg0522093613136.html

Yellowing (chlorosis) that starts with the older leaves is usually a magnesium deficiency. It's a constant problem with my potted brugs, and I even get the same odd yellowing patterns where the veins can be yellow, or it can be patchy. I treat it with epsom salts mixed at 2 tbsp/gal and everything greens up nicely.

Andy in San Mateo

Phoenix roebelenii, takes low of 25F, max. height about 10 ft, nice and feathery, but with spines at base of fronds, (not kid friendly), easy to find. Full sun. Nice planted in groups.

Dypsis baronii or Dypsis lutescens, takes low temp. to 28F, multi-trunked, nice rings on trunk, elegant feather palm to max. 20 ft. Baronii is green, lutescens has yellow petioles and trunk, fronds will yellow in cold. Probably best in part shade. Might be harder to find; check Lowe's.

Chamaedorea elegans, the old parlor palm. Shade, short sun exposure ok. Tolerates lows to about 26F. Will not exceed 6 ft. I have one several years old, it's maybe 3 ft. Nice dark green feather palm, very tropical looking. Look in houseplants. Chamaedorea cataractum, with multiple stems in pot, looks similar but isn't as cold hardy, needs *lots* of water.

Rhapis excelsa, or Lady Palm. Expensive. Beautiful dark green fan palm with an elegant "drape" to the fans. Shade, low temps to low 20's. You see these in hotel lobbies a lot, we should use them in our gardens more. Height to about 10 ft. some varieties taller, slow growing. Readily available at HD, at least around here.

All palms require good drainage, attention to soil preparation is a must.

You could always set colorful neoregelia or aechmea bromeliads out in pots (I sometimes tuck the pots into the ground or mulch) in summer and bring them indoors when the weather gets too cool for them. They will need at least part shade, or filtered light; a few varieties like full sun.

Aechmea blanchetiana and no-name tillandsia:

Quesnelia quesneliana blooming over neoregelia concentrica hybrids:

Tips for in ground planting of tropicals/subtropicals:

Give them the longest growing season as possible, this usually means a planting in May or so in our area.

Amend your soil, I usually dig a hole that's at least 4 feet or more in diameter, mix in lots of mulch with your soil and add 3 or more inches of mulch on top of it. This does two important thing, lots of nutrients for fast root growth and lots of beneficial soil organism which will hopefully by the end of the growing season make this area drain well. I know that some people go by a whole different plan of planting in native soil as this will be beneficial in the long run, and this probably does work in different climate/ area or different native/deciduous plants but will not do in our area. Growth in that first growing season is very important here.

And of course, keep a continuous layer of mulch.

Again i have to say it is extremely important to get as much root development/ growth as possible in that first year. This is so it can handle our rather mild but wet, cloudy winters. Plants in our area don't die from cold but from rotting roots.

Tips for planting in pots:
I will be the first to tell you that I am not a very good potting plant grower. I admire those that do. Planting in pots require a much better watering fertilizing regimen that I usually don't follow up on. But there are a few things I have noticed for tropicals. Use peat moss in your mix as these tend to hold water much better while at the same time does not get too saturated, while keeping the PH more on the acidic side. Repotting; repot tropicals when they are beginning to grow or growing not when their dormant. Yes its a bit contrary to what you hear. But messing around with a tropical plants that is not growing means your gonna damage some roots and at the same time this plant is usally not growing much or replacing much of these roots during the cooler weather.

Hal, what kind of plants are you growing? Where are you at, North, Westside, Eastside?

Stressbaby, I am not a very good potted plant grower so any plant that fruits for me in a pot I get a bit surprise by. I would recommend that any fruiting plant should be planted out. But if you do have limited spacing, I think the jambu is one that will do well for you in pot and keep that area for a more difficult to fruit plant. Or you could just plant it and if you ever need the area for something else just dig it up. What variety are you growing?
Its root system seems to be a bit more vigorous than I thought so it may have to be repotted after a year and a half or so.

Tropicaliste, I was bit surprise too that the cuttings rooted, they were trimmings off the airlayers when I was potting them up. I simply cut 6inch stems, always cut the very tips of the growing stems because they usually have new growth that simply won't survive the rooting process and only drains energy. It was stuck in potting soil mix, highly shaded, very humid, and warm. I think I ended up rooting 3 out of the 4 cuttings. That was simply it, I did not even use rooting hormone so it appears to be an easy plant to root. This one was in those 6inch small container for a while, I had just recently repotted it in a 1 gallon container this year when it was blooming.

The best place I know of with "proven in SoCal" heliconias, gingers and tropicals is World Wide Exotics. They used to be known as Desert to Jungle in Monticello. This is run by collector Gary Hammer and he has very rare and good material at fair prices. They are off the I-210 in Sylmar...I wish I could remember the street, but they are right off the freeway just south of the 118.

I know you didn't ask about bromeliads, but Rainforest Flora on Hawthorne Blvd in Torrance has a good selection, but some of their material can be pricey if you're not careful.

There used to be a "run-in-the-home" nursery up in Granada Hills call Papaya Tree where the guy sells rare tropical fruit trees out of his home. He has a good selection and has been featured in Sunset. Here's the 411 on them: Papaya Tree Nursery free catalog 12422 El Oro Way, Granada Hills, CA 91344 VOICE: 818-363-3680 FAX: 818-363-3628. He's by appt.

You can also check California Rare Fruit Growers website (link below) for more rare fruit growers.

Another I like (for SE Asia fruits that do well in SoCal) is a Vietnamese nursery called Mimosa. They also have a good selection of mangos, guavas, and other rare fruit.

For the wildest and rarest plants and what as been called LA's best rare plant nursery you can go to xotx-tropico on the corner of Fairfax and Sunset in West Hollywood. It looks very whole in the wall, but Leon is a serious collector who gets all kinds of seeds and finds things that haven't been described. Beware though...he asks premium prices and he can be "gruff" to lookiloos, but if you want that rare plant that no else has, he probably has it.

But the bottom line is that you cannot go wrong with World Wide Exotics if you want hekiconias and gingers. Might want to call ahead though...they grow for the summer and late fall and (with the cold winter we've had), they may be out of stock on many items.

Good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: CFRG