Growing a peach from a stone: when and how to plant

The easiest way to plant a peach is to buy a seedling from a garden center or specialty store. But often the cost of a seedling is quite high, and garden centers or shops are not always located nearby and in a convenient place. But there is a way out of the situation - growing a peach from a stone. How to choose and prepare planting material, plant and take care of, read on.

Benefits of growing a peach seed

There are several advantages to growing juicy fruit in this way, due to which this method of peach propagation has become popular:

• This method of planting is distinguished by its benefits, because high-quality seedlings of fruit trees have a high price.
• The planting material has the ability to undergo stratification, which accelerates the germination of seedlings, increases their germination capacity, and also undergo natural selection.
• A peach grown from a stone will be more resistant to all the adverse events of your climate than purchased seedlings that were brought from other regions.
• The method, of course, is more laborious than planting seedlings, but it is very interesting and allows enthusiastic gardeners to experiment.

By the way! Peach, planted with a bone, in contrast to apricot (6-7), yields a harvest for 3-4 years.

Video: advantages and features of growing a peach from a stone

Rules for choosing planting material: which peach pits are suitable for planting

The peach, favored by the southern sun and warmth, is not quite a familiar guest in our gardens. Therefore, not every variety can be successfully grown on its site. But in order for the cultivation of a peach from a stone at home to be successful, planting material should be carefully selected.

It is best to choose the seeds from those peaches that have grown in your area. This means that they can adapt to the weather conditions in your area and produce crops. You can find such fruits in the market or from local gardeners who grow this delicious fruit. Thus, you will immediately see which tree can grow and what the fruit will taste like. Varieties that are not adapted to the climate of the region can upset with excessively early flowering, freezing, and non-ripening of the crop. It is also recommended to choose winter hardy varieties.

Advice! You can ask gardeners in advance in what conditions the peach was grown in order to learn from their experience.

When choosing between a grafted and a self-rooted tree, give preference to the latter. A grafted tree may be sterile.

It is not recommended to take pips from store-bought fruits. There are two reasons for this:

• imported fruits grew in completely different climatic conditions, so the likelihood of successful cultivation is minimized;
• the harvest of store fruits is harvested in advance, before biological maturity, so that they can keep their presentation until they hit the counter, because of this, the peach seeds do not ripen, which also reduces the chances of success.

It is necessary to harvest the fruits at the end of summer. They must be large, healthy, ripe, and free from signs of rot, insects, damage, and mold. The bones themselves should not have cracks and traces of pests.

Video: growing a peach from a stone

Ways and timing of planting peach pits

There are several ways of planting:

• direct planting in the fall in open ground (in October-November, as a rule, with the arrival of the first frost);
• artificial stratification (germination) at home and planting a very young seedling in the spring in open ground (for stratification in January-February, in the garden in May).

Next, you will find step-by-step instructions on the listed methods that will help you grow a peach from a stone.

Advice! Regardless of the method chosen, it is advisable to plant a lot of seeds at once, because their germination rate can be unpredictable, and sometimes some hatch for only 2 or 3 years.

Planting in the fall in open ground

The easiest and fastest way: in the fall, you just need to plant peach pits in the open ground. This method will help the bone to undergo natural hardening (natural stratification), thanks to which the strongest and most stable specimens will grow.

It is necessary to plant peach pits in loose and well-fertilized soil. You need to deepen the planting material only slightly (by 1 centimeter, although it can be deeper). The distance between the bones is 10-15 centimeters. Then you should mulch the bed with dry coniferous needles.And in spring the first shoots will appear from the ground.

Video: how to grow a peach from a stone - autumn planting and further care

Stratification and seed germination at home

Unlike the first method, artificial stratification of planting material is carried out at home, which allows you to control this event. The method helps the seeds prepare for germination and improves germination. Before proceeding with stratification, it is necessary to prepare the bones: wash them, remove traces of pulp, dry them.

Stratification is carried out in cool, humid conditions, the temperature must be at least 0, and the intake of air is also important. The best place is a refrigerator or basement. It is advisable to hold the event at the end of winter (January-February).

Home stratification is done as follows:

1. Pour wet, clean sand into a small container.
2. Bury the planting material so that the sand covers it from all sides.
3. Cover the container with plastic wrap and punch holes in it for air to enter.
4. Place the container in the refrigerator or basement.
5. Inspect the container periodically, if the sand dries up, be sure to moisten it. Waterlogging should not be allowed, otherwise rotting may begin.
6. After about 3 months, the first shoots will appear.

Step-by-step instructions for transplanting sprouted seeds into a pot and further growing at home:

1. After the sprouts appear, the container should be removed from a cool place and the seedlings should be transplanted into a pot (it must have holes for drainage). You can prepare the soil for planting yourself: leaf or garden soil, humus, peat, sand (in a ratio of 2: 1: 1: 1).
2. Then place the pots in a place with good lighting and a temperature of about ten degrees.
3. After a few days, the pots should be rearranged to a place with a temperature above +20 degrees.
4. Next, you should regularly water the peach in the pot when the soil dries.

Stratification and seed germination at home with seed extraction

The method is a faster option for obtaining seedlings than the first two. Its meaning lies in breaking the bone and removing the core.

You can extract and germinate seeds in this way according to the following scheme:

1. Rinse and dry the seeds.
2. Then carefully chop them open with a knife. In this matter, it is important to keep the seed intact, without damage.
3. After removing, leave the kernel in warm water for 1 day (and then you can soak on a wet wipe for another 2 days), or 3 days (the liquid should be changed every day). This will help the core swell.
4. After the kernel swells and its volumes become larger, it should be planted in a pot with drainage holes (there must be a separate container for each seed). Deepen the core 1 centimeter. The soil for planting can be prepared in the same way as in the previous subparagraph (when planting b
5. Then cover the pot with plastic wrap. It is important to remove the film every day in order to ventilate the soil and prevent it from provoking the formation of mold. Condensation should also be eliminated.
6. When shoots appear, the film should be removed. Keep the pots in a well-lit area and water the seedlings regularly.

Caring for peach seedlings before planting in a permanent place

Proper care of the seedlings is an essential element in growing peach from seed. Therefore, the following nuances should be considered:

• Regular watering - it is important to provide the seedlings with the necessary moisture, but it is also not worth overmoistening the soil.
• Good Lighting - Young plants should receive adequate sunlight. If this is not possible, use phytolamps.
• The topsoil in the pot should be loosened regularly.

Rules for planting a young peach seedling, planted with a bone, to a permanent place in the open field

When growing a seedling in the first way (that is, when directly planting a peach with a bone in open ground in the fall), it will be possible to plant and transplant young seedlings to a permanent place in about a year. And when growing peach seedlings from a stone at home in a pot, they should be transplanted into open ground in the spring.

Before planting, you should decide on the place of growth of the future tree. The place should be sunny (southern or southeastern part of the site), well lit. The soil should be nutritious and loose. It is very important that the tree is protected from drafts and cold winds. You should not choose an area with heavy, clayey soils and places with stagnant moisture for planting peaches.

There should be a distance of about 3.5 meters between young trees. Buildings and other plants that can shade should also be at the same distance from the peach tree.

Video: planting a peach with a bone at home and planting it in open ground

By the way! About, how to plant a 2-3 year old peach seedling, read in this material.

Care of a peach (planted with a stone) after planting it in the open ground

After planting a peach with a bone and during further cultivation, the young tree needs special care. Therefore, the first two to three years of cultivation, you need to be as careful as possible to the peach tree.

Trees must be watered regularly, a lack of moisture (especially in sultry money) and an overabundance, stagnation of water must not be allowed. Besides watering, it is important protect peach trees from diseases and pests. About, how to do it in spring, read here... Timely feeding and pruning are also important.

Before the winter cold, you should abundantly mulch the trunk circle with spruce branches or fallen leaves. It is imperative to cover the tree; this can be done with burlap. More information on peach care in autumn, you can find in this article.

By the way! If you are interested in other information about the peach tree, you can find it in the following articles: peach grafting in summer and spring, spring care, spring bleedka.

Growing a peach from a stone at home is not an easy task. But if you do everything right and take care of the seedling on time, you can get a beautiful tree with delicious fruits. And the fruits appear, as a rule, after three to four years.

Video: from sowing peach pits to the first harvest - a full growing cycle