Fruit Trees and Fruiting Plants You Can Grow in a Greenhouse

A greenhouse can allow you to grow fruit trees and fruiting plants that may not thrive outdoors in your climate. In a Growing Dome, protected growing conditions, thermal mass, and year-round gardening support open the door to tropical fruits, citrus, berries, figs, and other harvests that might otherwise be out of reach.

Imagine stepping from a snow-covered backyard into a warm greenhouse filled with Meyer lemons, figs, berries, and lush tropical foliage. Use this guide as a starting point, then follow the links to our full growing guides for planting, care, pruning, pest management, and harvest tips.

What Fruit Trees and Plants Can You Grow in a Greenhouse?

1. Bananas: Tropical Foliage and Greenhouse Fruit

• Genus: Musa spp.
• Type: Herbaceous Fruiting Plant

Why Grow Bananas: Bananas bring lush tropical foliage to a greenhouse and can grow quickly when given the warm, humid conditions they need. In a Growing Dome, they are best placed in the warmest area, often near the center bed and close to the above-ground pond where temperatures are more stable.

Bananas are not technically trees, but herbaceous plants that grow from rhizomes. Our full guide covers greenhouse growing conditions, dome placement, planting banana pups, managing pests, and what to know about fruiting and harvest.

Read the full banana growing guide.

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Banana Growing Guide

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2. Guava: A Tropical Fruit Tree for Warm Greenhouse Spaces

• Genus: Psidium guajava
• Type: Evergreen Fruit Tree

Why Grow Guava: Guava can add true tropical fruit to a greenhouse garden, especially when it has warmth, sunlight, and enough room to grow. In a Growing Dome, guava is a good candidate for the warmest part of the greenhouse, whether planted in a raised bed or grown in a large pot.

The full guava guide covers where to plant guava in a dome, how much sun it needs, companion planting, pruning, pest management, and harvest timing.

Read the full guava growing guide.

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Guava Growing Guide

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3. Blueberries and Strawberries: Greenhouse Berries with Different Needs

Genus: Vaccinium for blueberries and Fragaria x ananassa for strawberries

Type: Fruit-Bearing Shrub and Herbaceous Perennial

Why Grow Berries: Blueberries and strawberries are familiar fruits that can benefit from greenhouse protection, especially from birds and unpredictable weather. Both can be rewarding greenhouse crops, but they have different growing needs, especially when it comes to soil pH, so placement and planting method matter.

Our guide covers greenhouse growing considerations for blueberries and strawberries, including sunlight, soil needs, pest protection, and harvest tips for a Growing Dome or greenhouse garden.

Read about how to grow blueberries and strawberries in a Growing Dome.

4. Fig Trees: A Productive Greenhouse Favorite

• Genus: Ficus, specifically Ficus carica for common figs
• Type: Fruit Tree

Why Grow Figs: Figs are one of the most productive fruit trees we grow in our own domes. They tolerate a range of conditions, produce sweet fruit, and can play a helpful role in the greenhouse environment. In summer, fig trees provide welcome shade and evaporative cooling. In winter, they lose their leaves and allow more sunlight to reach the pond and garden beds.

Our fig guide covers variety selection, planting, pruning, maintenance, and harvest so you can decide whether a fig tree is a good fit for your greenhouse.

Read our guide to growing figs in a greenhouse.

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Fig Growing Guide

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5. Meyer Lemons: Greenhouse Citrus with Fragrant Rewards

• Genus: Citrus x limon ‘Meyer’
• Type: Citrus Tree or Shrub

Why Grow Meyer Lemons: Meyer lemons are a favorite greenhouse citrus because they are fragrant, productive, and well-suited to protected growing spaces. In a Growing Dome, they benefit from warmth near the pond, strong sunlight, and added humidity when the air is dry.

Our lemon guide covers placement inside the dome, watering, humidity, companion planting, pest management, pruning, and harvest.

Read our how to grow lemons blog post.

6. Avocado Trees: A Long-Term Greenhouse Project

• Genus: Persea
• Type: Fruit Tree or Shrub

Why Grow Avocados: Growing an avocado tree is a long-term commitment, but it can be a rewarding project for gardeners who have the space, warmth, and patience. Avocados need plenty of sun, protection from frost, and room to grow tall, which makes placement especially important in a greenhouse.

Our avocado guide covers Type A and Type B flowering, where to plant an avocado in a Growing Dome, companion planting, pruning, pest management, and what to expect before your first harvest.

Read more about how to grow avocado trees on our blog.

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Avocado Growing Guide

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If the fruit you’re looking to grow isn’t featured in our greenhouse compilation, don’t worry! We’re always excited to provide new and helpful information to expand your gardening horizons. For a more general overview of growing a variety of fruit trees in a greenhouse, you might find our article “How to Grow Fruit Trees in a Greenhouse” incredibly useful.

Frequently Asked Questions About Growing Fruit in a Greenhouse

What fruit trees can grow in a greenhouse?

A wide variety of fruit trees and fruiting plants can grow in a greenhouse, especially when you can manage light, temperature, humidity, and available space. In a Growing Dome, gardeners often grow citrus, figs, avocados, guava, bananas, berries, and other fruiting plants that may not survive outdoors in their climate.

Can you grow tropical fruit in a greenhouse?

Yes. Tropical fruits such as guava and bananas can grow in a greenhouse when they have enough warmth, humidity, light, and winter protection. In colder climates, reliable tropical fruit production often depends on whether the greenhouse is heated.

What are the best small fruit trees for a greenhouse?

Dwarf citrus trees like Meyer lemons are ideal candidates for a greenhouse, and can even be grown in pots. Don’t count out fruiting plants either, such as blueberries or strawberries.

Can fruit trees grow year-round in a greenhouse?

Yes, many fruit trees can continue growing year-round in a greenhouse under the right conditions, though they may not fruit year-round. Fruiting depends on the plant variety, light, temperature, pollination, pruning, and seasonal growth cycles. For example, we have a dome owner in Idaho who grows bananas, mangoes, and pineapples, to name a few. Another greenhouse grower in Colorado grows grapefruit, lemons, and avocados.

What fruits grow well in a Growing Dome?

There are a wide variety of fruits that can be grown in a Growing Dome. Currently in our demonstration domes in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, we have several fig trees, a mandarin, lemon, paw paws, and many strawberry plants. We are always trying new things, so stop by for a tour and see what’s possible.

Do greenhouse fruit trees need pollination?

It depends on the fruit you are trying to grow. Some trees are self-pollinating, while others need pollinators or your help hand-pollinating to produce fruit. All plants benefit from the aid of pollinators, so consider this when planning ventilation in your greenhouse and other ways to provide access for bees and other bugs. To learn more about which fruits you may want to grow and whether they require pollination assistance, check out the articles we’ve published on fruit trees.

Ready to Grow Your Own Fruit?

A Growing Dome can help create the protected environment fruit trees, berries, citrus, and tropical plants need to thrive in more places.

Take a virtual tour or contact us if you’d like help adding fruiting plants to your Growing Dome garden.

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