How to Plant Peach Seeds

You can grow your own peach tree from a peach seed (pit). If, however, you want to grow that seed because the peach it came from was so delicious, be aware that that particular peach was the result of the pollination of a single peach blossom by pollen from another peach blossom--possibly one from another type of peach tree. Therefore, the peaches from your anticipated new peach tree may not meet the standards you expect since the seed is the product of two different "parents." In any case, growing a peach tree from a seed is not difficult.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Fresh peach
• Straw
• Water
• Piece of screen
• Stones or bricks
• Outdoor plot of soil
• Airtight plastic bag
• Paper towels
• Refrigerator

1. Remove the pit from a fresh peach. If there is any fruit attached to the seed, soak it overnight in fresh water to remove it.

2. In the fall, dig a hole that is 4 inches deep outdoors. Place the seed in the hole and cover it with soil. Add a 1-inch thick covering of straw over top of the soil. Water the area thoroughly.

3. Place a piece of screen over the straw and weight it down at the edges with stones or bricks. This will keep wild animals from digging up the peach seed. Check it in the late spring to see if it sprouted. After it is about 4 or 5 inches high, you may transplant it to a permanent location.

4. If you decide to plant the seed in the spring, you must fool the seed into believing it has already experienced winter (correctly termed "mimicked stratification"). Three or four months before the planting season begins, moisten some paper towels and put them inside a plastic bag. Place the peach seed in with the paper towels and seal the bag airtight. Put the bag in the crisper drawer of a refrigerator and let it stay there for three months or more.

5. Remove the bag from the refrigerator and take out the seed. Dig a hole three inches deep and plant the seed. Water the area well and check to see if it has sprouted in a few weeks.

Tips & Warnings

• There is no top or bottom to a peach pit, so its position in the soil does not matter.
• If the peach seed does not experience winter outdoors or if you do not keep it in a moist, cold area such as a refrigerator for at least three months, it may not sprout.
• Certain types of peaches can be grown from pits more readily than other types.

[jimjackbob]

on 9/10/2009 can you just plant a peach seed indoors inside and get it to grow if you keep it well watered?