Peaches

[watsonlane]

Hi there! I'm sure this isn't how most of you would start peaches but I've got to start somewhere. My family has a produce stand and we buy peaches from farmers. I've saved the seeds from ones we ate, dried them and then soaked them for 24 hours, put them in individual plastic bags, wrapped in a paper towel and placed in the fridge. They've been in the fridge for almost a week. The instruction I saw said to leave them there for several weeks and then plant with high quality soil. Is this correct? How should I be doing this?????

 

[vfem]

I didn't think you could grow a fruit tree from seed and get something that will actually set fruit? I assumed to needed something on good roots stock that was graphed from a strong producing tree?

I've tried to take cuttings of peach trees and I couldn't get them to root and I was told not to bother with the seed, so we ended up just buying started trees.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong. :/

 

[watsonlane]

that's what I'm saying.... I don't know any better really!

 

[vfem]

Well I only know what I was told when I thought about it, I never actually went forward and tried.

I did go about getting some of my trees from the Arbor Day Foundation for about $8 each.

I think that is well worth the money and their tree guarentee to replace anything that doesn't make it. I would go that route instead.

 

[bid]

I would say it's a long shot gamble at best as to whether or not the trees you may get will produce a quality fruit. Most likely they are from grafted trees and as such will not come true to the fruit produced from the parent ( might not anyway even if they aren't.)

But if you have plenty of time and the space to do it, you may find a pleasant surprise in several years.

 

[digitS']

I had a peach seedling that came up in the compost.

Just so that I didn't have to kill it, I planted in an out of the way spot. After 3 years, it produced a tiny crop of apricot-sized peaches. Surprisingly, they tasted good -- white peaches!

Last year, there were about 15 peaches. I had thinned them and they were a little larger.

This season, the tree's fifth year, I picked over 2 3-gallon buckets of small peaches off that tree! The squirrel had regularly picked off green fruit and I relied on him to thin them. He didn't do a very good job of it .

I showed one of the peaches to an orchardist. She said that it looks just like a Blushing Star white peach and that I'm very lucky. Her husband had told me that the trees in orchards are all clones. A seedling would be a hybrid but it could turn out okay as a fruit tree.

My problem with this tree, other than that it broke a branch from the weight of so much fruit this year :/, is that I planted it very near the east property line. I am not sure how to prune it! Really, I wasn't thinking that it would have any value and that I would be taking it out after it made the first of whatever fruit that it was going to make.

I agree with Bid: from what I understand, it is a real gamble and it turned out to be just dumb luck here .

Steve

 

[lesa]

Funny that this post started today... A friend brought me some wonderful plums from a tree on her land. I ate one and looked long and hard at the pit... I guess it couldn't hurt to try????

 

[Warthog]

I have grown a tree from a mango stone. Just let it dry for a day or two the straight into potting compost in a pot. It's about three years old now, it's been in the ground for two years.

I am also told it will only produce small fruits, and should by grafted trees. We'll wait and see.

Good luck I don't see why you shouldn't try, don't expect too much and be pleased with what you get.

 

[journey11]

I've always wanted to try just for the heck of it too. That's neat yours turned out well, Steve!

 

[hiker125]

Mother Earth News has a great aritcle about planting peach trees from the stones. I think it was the Aug/Sep issue? I bought some peaches from locally grown trees and dried the stones so I will try this myself.

Good Luck!