How do you grow cherry seeds?

Answer 1

How to prepare a cherry pit for planting depends on the type of cherry. Some cherries need to go through a few weeks or months of cold weather before they'll germinate. A good rule of thumb is to treat it exactly as it would be treated in its native enivironment. If it grows in a place that has cold winters, you should put the pit in the refrigerator for a few months before planting it.

Answer 2

PLEASE NOTE: The cherry trees that you get from your Bing or Ranier cherries will almost certainly NOT grow into trees that produce this fruit. These types of cherries are always grafted/propagated.

You can grow a cherry tree from your seed, but it needs to be chilled (like many fruits) before it will germinate. One way to accomplish this by planting several seeds in the ground, in the fall and cover them with about 2 inches of sand, then place a wire mesh covering over them, to prevent rodents from digging them up, in the spring they will germinate in which time you can transplant them or just remove the mesh and let them go; now the bad news, you may not get the same cherry you bought at the store, because it is the product of two varieties (rootstock and grafted variety); when they grow many fruits they graft the desirable stock to the hardy stock, and your seed may develop as the rootstock variety. Nick

DETAILED VERSION OF CHERRY SEED GERMINATION:

I would encourage you to still try germinating the seeds you have. I'll share with you how I start other cherries from seed and you will be able to get some to germinate but just remember that when they mature and begin fruiting years down the road, your fruit will not taste or even look the same as the 'Bing' we all know and love. Take your seeds and clean off all the pulp. The pulp inhibits germination so it needs to be removed. I do jump start my cherry seeds by soaking them in water for 2 days before cold stratifying them. One thing, dump the water and replace with fresh at least twice a day and don't nick the seeds because you don't want to provide an opportunity for a pathogen to attack the seed during the 3-4 months it will be hanging out in a ziplock baggie in your frig. Cherries require around a 90 day cold moist stratification in order to germinate but preferably 120 days or this particular cherry. In other words, the embryo won't be likely to break dormancy unless you recreate what Mother Nature does for the seed by providing a period of cold damp conditions followed by a period of damp warm conditions. I provide this by rolling the seeds into a damp (not moist) paper towel which is then placed in a ziplock baggie and tossed in the frig for the next 3-4 months where the temps are always around 38F. Ideally, you'd want 40F but your refrigerator is accessible and who wants to set up another refrigeration unit just for a few seeds?

Throughout the months that your seed will be in your frig, you need to check on it to make sure the paper towel remains damp. That's about it. The cold stratification process is really as easy as the above.

Assuming 3-4 months have gone by, it's now time to take your seed out of the baggie! Yay, this is the phase I always like to get to. You're dealing with a tree here that is going to send out a tap root so you'll want to find a pot that is decent sized to accommodate the tap root. I have used flats that are similar to this only much deeper, probably about 8" deep-

Lately I've been using 2-liter pop bottles. I take a utility knife and cut off the top of the pop bottle. About an inch and a half above the label is fine... I'm looking at one right not to be able to tell you where I cut off the top. From there flip the pop bottle over and stick the red hot tines of a meat fork into the bottom to create drainage. I've used a drill before but the tines of a fork are much faster. There ya go, you have perfect pots for starting your seed and no additional cost. I "steal" the 8-bottle trays the wholesalers cart the pop bottles into stores with... just kidding, they give them to me when I ask. These are great to keep same varieties of seed being germinated together as well as great to be able to set down into a tray of water so that the potting medium will remain damp at all times. I can e-mail you a photo if you'd like. I have several flats that have germinated in modified 2-liter pop bottles out there right now.

You can fill up your 2-liter pots with just about anything. I use Pro-Mix. It's easiest for me but seriously, you can use just about anything. You would want your mix to be well draining so keep that in mind. Now place your seed on the top of your mix and then cover it with about a quarter inch of your medium. Place your pots in any container where you can add about an inch of water to the bottom. The water will wick up and keep the medium moist. Now take your seeds outside and place them in a nice sunny location. If you get a heavy rain, drain back down to only about an inch or so. You don't want to drown them.

Now it's time to play the waiting game. Your seed won't germinate for a very long time. Some seed may begin to germinate at about the 4 month mark while others may not even germinate until the following year. For any seed that doesn't germinate, just stash your seed trays in an unheated garage for the winter and put them back out when spring arrives. Keep them damp, not moist over the winter. You're dealing with Prunus avium here and it can take up to 18 months for seed to begin sprouting. Many people assume they failed because they don't realize exactly how long some species take to germinate so they toss their trays prematurely.

For what it's worth, I've propagated cultivars before knowing full well they wouldn't come true to type. It's a great way to learn about the process. I will admit to having a refrigerator dedicated to cold stratification as well as a refrigerator dedicated to providing "touchy" species with a dormancy but this really isn't necessary and only happened because my husband got fed up over having more plant parts in our frig than food. Your frig will work just fine for the seed you have.

One of these days I'm going to get into grafting fruits just for the experience. So far, I plant almost exclusively natives around here so propagation by seed or cuttings is the way to go for me. I buy my fruits for my little hobby orchard already grafted onto appropriate rootstock from people who know what they are doing.

Good luck to you! It will be fun, you'll see.

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Answer 3

Yes. Cherry seeds can grow cherry trees. Plant them like any other seed. Give them light, water, and soil.