How To Give A Peach Seed The Best Chances Of Germinating

Planting a peach tree in your yard is a great way to enjoy this sweet, juicy stone fruit all season long. If you live in a USDA Growing Zone between 4 and 9, it's possible to grow your own beautiful peach tree directly from the fruit's pit (also known as a stone). In fact, you actually grow the tree from what's inside the pit — a distinctively almond-shaped seed. Unfortunately, you can't just plop a pit into the ground and walk away. You'll need to baby it a bit, and spend some time recreating Mother Nature's natural growing processes and conditions — a process called seed stratification. This starts with selecting the right pit, cleaning it, and storing the pit (or seed — more on that later) in the refrigerator.

While any pit would technically work, it's best to start with one taken from a ripe and tasty peach you purchased from a local grower. Doing this eliminates a few variables that could interfere with your success. Namely, since the peach pit came from a tree in your area, it's a good indication your own tree will thrive because the farm up the road and your backyard are likely to have similar growing conditions. Also, peaches intended for the wholesale market are often picked at a less ripe stage for better transport and display on grocery store shelves; they may not yield a viable stone. It's also a good idea to source a handful of pits, not just one, in case a seed fails to germinate.

Once you've dug the pit out from the fruit, hold it under a running kitchen sink tap to remove all the flesh. Rub it all over with a small brush — a toothbrush, nail brush, or scrubbing brush — if needed. It doesn't need to be completely free from debris. Here's where the expert advice splits though. Some experts say that at this point, you need to break the pit open carefully with a nutcracker or hammer and work with the seed inside. Others think it's okay to proceed with the entire pit. If you have a few cleaned pits to work with, you could choose to try both methods.

Wrap your pit or seed in moist, not soaking wet, kitchen towel. If the paper is oozing water, you'll encourage mold growth. Place the wrapped pit or seed in a airtight container or resealable plastic bag, label it with the peach tree species (if you know it) and that day's date (this is essential since germination takes a few months), and sit right at the back of your fridge.

Peach seeds need to remain in a cold environment for somewhere between 98 and 105 days at temperatures of 32 to 45 degrees Fahrenheit to germinate. The cold fridge mimics the experience of a peach pit in nature: After the harvest season ends and the winter months begin, the pit lays in wait in the ground, ready to start growing as soon as the weather warms in the spring. The back of your fridge, the farthest area from the door, is typically the coldest spot (along with the bottom of the fridge). Do you have the correct temperature for your refrigerator? Don't forget to check before leaving the seed in there.

To grow a flourishing peach tree from a humble seed or pit stored in the fridge, you need to check on them every week or so and keep the paper towel around the germinating stone moist. This is particularly important if you have chosen to germinate a whole pit rather than the seed inside; the process has a higher failure rate if the pit dries out. When you see the pit or seed start to split apart and a sprout coming out, the seedling is ready to plant.

It takes about 15 weeks for a whole pit to germinate and about 12 weeks for a seed to sprout. If you don't see any signs of germination after this time, all isn't necessarily lost. Plant the pit or seed in some soil and hope for the best. Note that if you're attempting to grow from a whole pit, remove the hard outer shell, take out the seed, and plant that instead. It's a gamble, sure, but you could still end up with a peach tree if you followed the preparation steps carefully.