How Do You Grow a Peach Tree From a Pit? While they may not look or taste exactly like the originals, peaches can be grown from seed pits. Fruiting will take several years, and in certain situations, it may not occur at all. Whether or not a seed-grown peach tree yields any fruit largely relies on the sort of peach pit it stemmed from. Similarly, whether or not the peach pit germinates is determined by the peach variety.
How Do You Grow a Peach Tree From a Pit?
1. Prepare Your Peach Pit
Start by removing all the flesh from the peach pit, first by eating, then carefully with a brush or cloth. Once clean, rinse the pit in warm water to remove any remaining fruit residues. Dry the peach pit with a paper towel and set it aside for at least 12 hours to ensure it is thoroughly dry. To minimise mould, allowing a peach seed to dry before planting is critical.
To get at the seed or kernel, that’s buried within the hard outer shell of the pit, you need to crack open the peach pit. This might be easy if the pit is already a little fractured, but you could also need a sharp knife or a moderate hit with a hammer. You don’t want to damage the seed by hitting it too hard. Handling the sources from a peach pit requires utmost caution. They contain cyanide chemicals, which are toxic to both animals and humans if consumed, so wear your best gardening gloves.
2. Germinating Peach Pits
Although you can plant a peach pit directly in the soil in the fall and wait for natural spring germination, you can alternatively store the seed until early winter (December/January) and then encourage germination with cold treatment or stratification. Place the pit in a plastic bag with slightly moist soil after soaking it in water for an hour or two. Store this in the refrigerator, away from fruit, in temps between 34 and 42 degrees F. (-6 C.).
Keep an eye out for germination, as it might take anywhere from a few weeks to a couple of months or more—if you’re lucky. In fact, it may not germinate at all, so try various types. One will eventually germinate.
3. Plant to Grow a Peach Tree From a Pit
As previously stated, peach seeds are planted in the fall. They should be planted in well-drained soil, preferably with compost or other organic material added. The term “responsibility” refers to the act of determining whether or not a person is responsible for his or her own actions. Water only when the soil is dry after planting. By spring, if the peach was any good, you should notice sprouting and a new peach seedling will grow.
