Growing Apricot From Seeds

My neighbor has an apricot tree. Every year she let's us come over and pick as many apricots as we want. There's always too many to go around. This year I saved some pits and Trevor and I are going to grow them. Before I get into details there's no guarantee that the seeds will produce apricots. My plum tree is right behind, back to back from the apricot tree. The apricot flowers bloomed just before the plums but there was an overlap so there is a chance the seeds are of plucots (apricot and plum hybrid). We'll know in 3 to 5 years.

I found 2 methods of growing apricots on the Internet so it's experiment time.
First step is to crack the pits with a hammer or nut cracker. I used a hammer. I found putting a pit on it's side and hitting the edge works best.
We have 18 seeds so 9 of them will be put in between a moist paper towel in a plastic bag in the refrigerator. The other 9 are in a jar with moist soil in the refrigerator. The seeds need a 30 day stratification period so after 30 days in the fridge we will check for sprouting.

Growing Blackberries and Raspberries

Our blackberry seeds have been sitting in the refrigerator for 2 months while our raspberry seeds have been in there for a month. Now it is time to plant them.

Obtaining Seeds
Getting seeds is quite easy. You can either press the fruit towards the side of a glass bowl the fill the bowl with water. The fruit will float while the seeds sink. Scoop out the fruit. Place a coffee filter in a strainer and gently pour the water in. The coffee filter and strainer will prevent the seeds from seeping through.
The way we did it however, was a little bit more simplified. Whenever we ate raspberries or blackberries we had a paper towel handy. Anyone who has eaten these berries know that you get a lot of seeds stuck in your teeth. Gently remove the seed with your finger and wipe it on the paper towel. Leave the seeds overnight to dry. Place a coffee filter in a strainer and gently pick off the seeds. Rinse the seeds.

Growing Seeds
The seeds need to be stratified. Place them in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for at least a month. When you are ready to plant the seeds they will need to be scarified first.

1. Get a large sheet of sandpaper and place the seeds on.
   
   
2. Fold up a corner and rub the seeds between the 2 sheets.
   
   

Experiment
We will be doing an experiment when it comes to growing these seeds. I found this method to soften the outer part of the seed by soaking them in bleach for an hour. Then add 4 cups of water for every tablespoon of bleach used. Using the coffee filter-strainer method, drain the seeds. In a large bowl add 4 tbsp of baking soda and 1 cup water. Soak the seeds for a few minutes to neutralize any remaining bleach.
For the experiment half the seeds were soaked, while the other half weren't. For the blackberries, half of both kinds were planted in seed starter, while the other half are going to be in a paper towel. The raspberries were only planted in seed starter.
We will see if soaking the seeds in bleach will make their germination time any sooner.
I have heard anywhere from 4 weeks to 6 months for the seeds to grow so we'll you up to date.

Moving Pears

So on May 14th we put some pear seeds in a moist paper towel, put that in a plastic bag, then put it in the fridge. It's been 5 weeks and no germination. So we have now moved the seeds to room temperature in hopes that they will grow. Whatever amount of stratification the seeds needed, hopefully they got it during the month they were in the fridge.

Growing Blueberries From Seed

I bought some blueberry seeds from The Kentucky Blueberry Growers Association a few months ago. Their seeds are already stratified so you don't have to worry about doing that. A few weeks ago. April 25 to be precise, I start some seeds. Following the instructional video they have on YouTube, I used my miniature greenhouse. I filled it with seed starter, which is most peat moss, and sprinkled some seeds on top. To be on the safe side, I sprinkled a pinch of seed starter on top to cover the seeds. I used the greenhouse because according to the instructions given to me with the seeds, blueberries need a temperature of 70 to 80 degrees and need to stay moist. The greenhouse keeps those consistent. Heat and moisture are a perfect environment for fungus to grow so I gave it a spray of fungicide every week.
Four weeks later, on May 23, the first of the seeds germinated. More seeds are germinating everyday so I expect to have a full tray by the 6th month. Right now the blueberries are too small to take pictures of but they are growing nicely.

Granny Smith Apple Time

We have a total of 13 Granny Smith apple seeds (not including the already sprouted one) and today we starting the whole planting process. Just like with the previous 2 seeds we placed them in a folded moist paper towel and placed them in a plastic bag. Since we got such a high germination rate with the Gala apples in room temperature, we're going to leave the seeds at room temperature. The Gala apples started sprouted in a week so it shouldn't take that long for the Granny Smith.
As for the Granny Smith apple seed that was already sprouted, it is doing quite well. We'll have updated photos up soon.
Something I have noticed so far with all our apples. They have all gone through the stratification process. Maybe not directly as seeds but definately as the apple. When we bring the apples home they go straight into the fridge. So in a few months Trevor and I will be trying a different experiment, "Is Stratification Absolutely Necessary For Apples?" In August or September we will be going to a nearby apple farm and picking apples directly from the tree. We are going to make sure they don't get refridgerated.

Growing Cherries From Seeds

Our supermarkets are now flooded with cherries so we are going to start growing cherries. We will be trying several methods of growing cherries to see which one is the fastest.
Obtaining pits is simple. Just eat a few cherries and save the pits. Make sure you wash the pits very well and not leave any fruit residue. The sugars can cause molding and fungus.
Outside
Using our 12 compartment seed trays, using potting soil, 6 compartments have pits, the other 6 compartments contain cherry seeds. We cracked several pits open with hammers to obtain the seed. Unlike previous seeds, they are not inside a greenhouse. Doing some research online, I have found that the greenhouse is too hot for the cherry and may harm it.



Seed tray with cherry pits and seeds. One side is pits, the other side is seeds.


In The Refrigerator
One method I have been reading online is to get a jar or bag and fill it with moist soil and seeds. Keep the soil moist and leave it in the refrigerator for up to 90 days. During those 90 days check to see if any sprouting has occurred.
Trevor and I are using jars. One jar will have 20 pits, the other jar will have 20 seeds. We will see which one grows faster.



Me spraying the cherry tray

Growing Strawberries From Seed

Next up on the list is strawberries.

Getting Strawberry Seeds
You can gently pick the seeds off the strawberry or you can slice up several strawberries and throw them into a blender. Add enough water so they are just barely covered and puree the strawberries for about 10 seconds. Wait a few minutes afterwards. The "bad" seeds and the fruit will float to the top while the good seeds will sink to the bottom. Scoop out the top layer of strawberry. Put a coffee filter in a sieve and the sieve over a bowl. Pour out the remaining seed water mixture. Rinse and repeat with the remaining seeds. Let the coffee filter dry over night. Now you have your strawberry seeds.
Growing Seeds

1. Place the seeds in a folded paper towel then into a Ziploc bag. From what I read online the seeds need to be put in the freezer anywhere from 3 weeks to 4 months. A majority of the sites said 1 month so I froze the seeds for 1 month to stratify them.
2. After a month place the seeds in lukewarm water for 1 to 3 days. This softens the outer coating. To keep the water warm place the container on top of a refrigerator or anywhere else that feels warm.
3. We used a 12 compartment seed tray greenhouse. Fill that with seed starter. Over a sink, gently pour the water containing seeds over the soil. Try to evenly spread it. You will also have to rinse the remaining seed out.
4. Place the greenhouse cover and put in a sunny window.
5. They say it takes 7 to 21 days for a strawberry seed to germinate so we'll keep you up to date.

For the seeds being soaked in water we place the container on top of Trevor's computer. At one point it seemed the water was getting so hot that it was evaporating. Getting too hot might have killed the seeds but we won't know for sure for another 7 to 21 days. If these seeds fail to germinate we will be replanting them. Next time instead of soaking them in water we will try scratching them with sandpaper.