Growing Peaches From Seed For A Practical Garden Landscape

Do you know growing peaches from seed is possible, even with the seeds of the ones you bought from the store? With this simple growing guide, you can grow your own peach tree for a beautiful landscape. And if you’re lucky, sweet-smelling and tasty fruits in as early as three years time!

Easy Guide To Growing Peaches From Seed Plus Smart Tips

Most fruit tree growers will tell you, growing peaches from seed take a long time to bear fruit. But I dare say, patience is a virtue and with grafted peach seedlings costing as much as forty bucks, I’ll take my time. Peaches are one of my favorite fruit and it’s never absent on my grocery list. So the gardener in me took those pits out and tried growing them. The germination process was the tricky part but after the seeds did germinate, everything was smooth sailing. You too can look forward to an edible landscape in just a few years by starting to grow peaches from seed now!

 

What You Need To Know When Growing Peaches


Peaches and nectarines are closely related, they’re almost like twins. They are different commercially as peaches have fuzzy fruits while nectarines have smooth ones. They both are stone fruits, though, or contains hard shells enclosing the seeds much like plums and apricots. When growing peaches from seeds, take seeds from fully ripened fruits. The sweeter the fruits are, the high likeliness it is for the fruits to take after the fruit traits.

Growing peaches from seeds may take longer but most peach seed growers are able to enjoy fruits in as early as three to four years. Besides, peaches are deciduous trees from the prunus family where plums and apricots are also a member. This means, they shed leaves in the fall and winter and come early spring, they’ll give off awe-inspiring blooms which quite frankly is what I look forward to.

 

How To Germinate And Grow Peach Seeds

Much like apricots, plums, and nectarines, peaches have stone seed or pits. They all have a shell or an outer covering which is rock-hard. You’ll need to break through these shells if you want to take out the almond-like seeds to germinate and grow. The following steps, tips, and tricks should help you through.

Step 1. Collecting Peach Pit


After enjoying your tasty peaches fresh or as an ingredient in your desserts and pastry recipes, collect the pits. Soak the peach pits in water for an hour or two. Soaking the seeds will allow you to collect the seeds which are viable for growth. If the seeds or pits float, they are not viable for growth. The ones which sank are most likely to germinate.

Step 2. Extracting The Peach Seeds

Pits of peach can be directly planted in the ground in autumn and come spring it will germinate. While it is not required, extracting the actual seeds from the inside of the shell will speed up germination. First, let the pits dry for a few days to let it shrink a bit, making it easier to take out. Using a nutcracker or a vise, crack the pits gently to take the seeds out.

Step 3. Stratification And Peach Seeds Germination

Naturally, peach seeds will drop to the ground in the fall, will be mulched with leaves, and covered with snow in the winter and by spring, the seeds will germinate. Peach seeds much like apricot, nectarines, and plums will take a longer time to sprout. To help speed up germination, the seeds can undergo stratification or trick seeds into sprouting. Your refrigerator door will be ideal for this process.

  • Start the process by taking the seeds and putting them in containers with some potting soil.
  • But if you want a less messy process, you can place the seeds in a paper towel, fold the paper towel to tuck the seeds in, then wet thoroughly.
  • Place it in a Ziploc bag, label it with date and seed type, then place it in the refrigerator door where the temperature is right and easily seen.
  • Check after a month to see the progress.

Step 4. Planting Germinated Peach Seeds


Depending on the seeds, the germination process may take from one to three months. Prepare biodegradable containers to grow the peach seedlings in, like milk cartons with lots of drainage. This way, you can easily transplant the seedlings without disturbing the roots.

When transplanting the seedling, prepare the soil first in the area where you want it permanently planted. Till the soil until it is free from clumps and rocks. Plant the seedlings in deeper holes to establish the roots. Unlike apples, peaches are self-pollinating, so a peach plant is ok by itself. It will need a sufficient space anyway as they can grow quite big.

Caring For Your Peaches

The soil must have a pH of 6.5 so make a soil test and amend the soil as needed. Mulch will do good to prevent weeds while the tree is young and to retain moisture. But keep the mulch a few inches from the base of the trunk to avoid rotting. Pruning must be limited to areas with diseases as pruning delays fruit bearing. The better the growing conditions are, the greater are the chances of bearing fruits you’ll love.

 

Follow more tips and ideas for growing peaches from seed in this video:

Now you know how growing peaches from seed can be just like a fun experiment. It’s simple and practical and sure is a money saver. Who knows growing peaches from seeds can be your money-maker too. Sure! Fruit grown from seeds don’t bear fruits true to their origin. But growing peach from seeds will likely give you even better fruits than the ones they came from. And don’t forget the lovely blooms that come along with it!

 

Have you tried growing the seeds of fruits you bought from the grocery? I’m interested to know the details of your experience in the comments section below. 

Up to the challenge of growing fruits from seeds? Check these 21 amazing exotic fruits for the ultimate fruit growing experience!

Make sure to like and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter for more gardening tips!

 

Feature image source via Florida Happy Garden

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