Growing Peach Trees from Pits

Plant the pit in the ground and treat it like a seed. I know a woman whose granddaughter planted her peach pit in the garden when she was little. Now they eat peaches from that tree.

By Carol in PA

If you are trying to grow peaches from seed the first thing to know is that the new peach may not be the one you started with. The seed will be whatever they grafted to which sometimes is smaller but tasty. For example you have a nice large cling free peach and the seed or pit comes up. When the tree bears it, it will be the original tree not necessarily the one you ate.

As for growing from seed I have found that planting the seed on top of the ground in the fall or with very little sand or soil on it (in South Georgia) will produce a nice small peach tree by January or February. I don't cover the seeds until after they send the root down to sprout. I tried planting the seed and they all rotted. Just my experience.

As for the new varieties they are grafted to an old type tree and won't be like the seed usually. Plant it on top of the soil or barely under it and protect it from the squirrels and rodents that eat it with a wire and it will take about 5 months and cold weather to germinate. The picture is of the seeds I started in September from my peach tree (original from seed) that I like (an old white peach with cling free seed).

By gbk from GA

I want to start peach trees from pits. Do I have to remove the seed from inside the pit first?

Lea from Santa Fe, NM

Answers:

East Coast Is Better For Peaches

I think you would have to remove the seed from the pit. I noticed that you are from Santa Fe, NM. I know that you'll have a real problem trying to grow a peach tree out west because of your hot climate. Peaches are grown more on the east coast not the west coast. Marge from NY

By Marge W.

Colorado State Website

Colorado State University had this information on their website: http://coopext.colostate.edu/4dmg/VegFruit/Fruits/pits.htm

By the way - the pit IS the seed - so just plant it as is. Good luck -and enjoy seeing what your new plant does! I love trying things like this - it is fun!

By QueenBeeCrafts

California Grows Great Peaches

Goodness, Marge, have you been to California??? We have lots and lots of peach orchards. Your post put a smile on my face :) Hope you have a great day!

By Luvyabye

Just Plant It Like It Fell Off The Tree

No, there is no pit to remove. Just think of how nature does it and you have it. The peaches drop from the tree and voila. (smile) I have an online friend who tells of the peach tree they have in their garden that was planted there by her grandaughter when she was a child. They now each the peaches from that tree. They live in IN.

By Carol in PA

Plant The Whole Pit

The seed is inside the pit. You plant the whole pit and leave the rest to Mother Nature!

By Shelly

Compost Pile Peaches

I'm in Arkansas, and I believe we're in the same climate, although not the same altitude. I just throw my pits in my compost pile, and later scatter the decomposed compost around my garden. Every year, there are some peach trees that have germinated, along with some plum and cherry trees. Sometimes, I think it may take more than a single season for them to germinate, so be patient. And yes, I have gotten peaches from the new trees.

By susanmajp

I have a friend who lives about 50 miles away, at the foot of the mountain. On a tip from her wiser friend, she piled everything left from canning peaches in a heap in the garden. That means not only skins but peach pits and cut-out bad spots. The next spring, they started seeing little trees come up. They've been giving them away to friends as they appear, so it never gets overcrowded.

We are in zone 4-5. As to what kind of trees they will become and what kind of peaches they will produce, no one knows yet. It's only been two years. But any peach is better than no peaches!

By Coreen from Rupert, ID