Hardiness Zone: 7a
Edie White from Whitmore, CA
To start a cherry tree from a pit, remove the pit from the fruit and clean off any remaining flesh. Don't try and remove the hard part of the shell that surrounds the pit. Cherry pits need a chilling period before germinating. To mimic the necessary winter-like conditions, place the pit in a plastic bag filled with moist vermiculite or peat moss (or damp paper towels) and store the bag in the refrigerator for about 10 weeks. Check the moisture level in the bag now and then and don't let the pit dry out. After about 10 weeks of chilling the pit is ready to be planted. You can start it in a pot indoors or plant it outside. Plant seeds about 1/2 inch deep in nutrient-rich well-drained soil with exposure to full sun. You should expect to see growth in after a few weeks. If our planting outdoors during cold weather, the seedling may just stay chilled and resume growth the following spring.
Good Luck!
Ellen
This page contains the following solutions.
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
How many cherry pits should I plant in one hole to get a good size tree to grow?
By Wanda M
Cherry pits should be planted in the late Fall because they need the cold weather of Winter to germinate in the Spring; this is called "stratification". I would plant several pits (but not in the same hole) to make sure you get at least one or two to sprout and when they are around 18 inches high, transplant them to their permanent location.
Can I plant a sweet cherry pit and grow a tree?
Hardiness Zone: 8a
By karen from Charleston, SC
I got at least 50 by throwing the pits left from canning out into the flower bed. We gradually trimmed out all but one. It doesn't produce heavily, but it's in mostly shade. What it does beautifully is give us shade on the house.
When is the best time to plant cherry seeds and is Louisiana the right climate to do so?
Fall
My cherry seed has germinated producing white leaves. What is the problem?
And how can I solve it?
Sometimes leaves become white if a plant was exposed to too strong sunlight or too suddenly after growing in shade or half-shade. If this is the problem you should protect the plant from direct sunlight.
Hope this helps !
I started some cherry and Contender peach pits several weeks ago in my greenhouse. I checked and I might have a cherry growing, but it looks nothing like the seedling pictures, rather a small clump of purplish green leaves. I dumped a pot out and can't even find a pit! Help please.
By Lesley
Its a Purple leafed sand cherry. They have purplish leaves, produce cherries, but a word of caution, overly bitter fruit should not be eaten, the leaves and pits contain a poison and should also not be consumed. * all cherries are like this) sand cherry fruit that is bitter should not be consumed.
I need to buy cherry seed. Where can I find them?
By Conrado
