Remember my cartoon on germinating peach pits?
I just finished sprouting another round. This time I stuffed about 60 pits into a bag without shelling any but a few.
Only about 8 germinated, as opposed to the 75%+ germination rate I got when they were shelled. It definitely makes a difference in success if you remove the kernels.
Here are some of the sprouts:
They grew like that in the fridge! Amazing, isn’t it?
These were planted directly into the food forest after this photo. I should be getting peaches off the trees within 2-3 years.
Germinating peach pits is EASY! Give it a try – you’ll be amazed.
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10 responses to “Germinating peach pits – again!”
All the peaches I've been buying here in Gainesville are coming in from California and Georgia. Do you think I should still try them?
The chill hours on the trees may not be correct for our area; however, there's nothing at all wrong with giving them a try. If they fail to fruit or bloom within a few years, just graft another type on top. No loss.
very cool…I did the same thing with peach and nectarines, germinating them from pits..about 2 months in the fridge packed in peat moss..I got 50% germination..only problem is I forgot to label and now I'm not sure which is which..I've since planted them in my food forest, http://wp.me/p5T25X-4A. not sure if the peaches were local or not so they may not fruit, but like you say, no loss..didn't cost me anything..
They look good to me… they'll probably fly. And again, just graft if they don't fruit. Seedling nectarines and peaches are INCREDIBLY vigorous.
when i lived in north carolina, the place we rented had a peach tree in the front yard. made the small rock sized peaches.it had a bunch of little seedlings growing around the base. usually id just mow them down.when i decided to move back here i went and dug one up and put it in a 1/2 gallon pot (it was that small) when i got home i unloaded it and let it sit. finally decided to plant it out front. that was about year and a half ago its about 3 ft high now. hopefully it produces peaches. if not the goats love peach leaves lol it'll make goat food :)
I didn't chill mine, but just stuck them in a pot during peach season. I dug up one to check and it had roots, so I may be able to take my wonderful peach tree with me after all!
Excellent!
I didn't chill mine, but just stuck them in a pot during peach season. I dug up one to check and it had roots, so I may be able to take my wonderful peach tree with me after all!
Cristy said something about taking her fruit tree with her after all…as though she already had a mature tree. I have started new trees from a planting of a chunk of root from old tree, and gotten a mature tree from the root in a short time…but have not done that with fruit trees. Would this not work with fruit trees? It works with grape vines…starting with a new planting of a root from a mature vine. Has anyone tried that?
Yes, that works well with some fruit trees. Jujube and native Chickasaw plum, for example. However, almost every stone fruit (peaches included) tree is grafted on to root stocks that usually bear unpalatable fruit.