How to Plant From a Cherry Pit

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Overview

Many different types of cherry trees (Prunus spp.) exist, some of which produce sour fruits and others that bear sweet cherries. Depending on the species, many cherry trees can grow in a wide range of climates, even tolerating winter temperatures below 0 degrees Fahrenheit. With their beautiful spring flowers and edible fruits, cherry trees make for lovely landscape specimens. You can grow a cherry tree from the fruit's pit, but plant at least 10 pits to increase your chances of getting a few of them to germinate.

Step 1

Remove the pits from several cherries and rinse off or remove any excess fruit from the pits.

Step 2

Place the cherry pits into a small plastic sandwich bag filled with moist peat moss or vermiculite. Keep the cherry pits in the refrigerator for six to eight weeks.

Step 3

Fill 4- to 6-inch-diameter planter pots that have drainage holes in the bottom with a lightweight, sandy potting mix. Plant two or three cherry pits in each pot, planting them about ½ inch to 1 inch deep into the potting mix.

Step 4

Water the potting mix gently to moisten it. Set the pots in a location with normal indoor air temperatures.

Step 5

Keep the potting mix evenly moistened by watering the cherry pits lightly each day. The cherry seed pits should germinate and begin to sprout in about two to three weeks. Move the pots into bright, direct sunlight when the pits sprout.

Step 6

Select the strongest cherry seedling in each pot after the seedlings are about 3 to 4 inches tall. Thin out and remove any other seedlings that have sprouted.

Tips and Warnings

Remember that a cherry tree grown from the seed pits won't produce a clone of the parent plant. You'll likely end up with some variation of the parent cherry tree, meaning that even if you plant a pit from a sweet cherry, you could end up growing a tree that produces sour cherries. You'll have to wait seven to 10 years to find out, however; that's when the cherry tree begins to produce fruits.

Things You'll Need

Cherries
Plastic sandwich bag
Vermiculite or peat moss
Planter pots, 4- to 6-inch diameter
Sandy potting mix

References

New Mexico State University: Growing Cherry Pits
The Growing Edge: Start Sweet Cherries from the Pit

Who Can Help

California Rare Fruit Growers: Capulin Cherry

Keywords: grow cherry trees, plant cherry pit, cherry tree pits

About this Author

Sarah Terry brings 10 years of experience writing novels, business-to-business newsletters, and a plethora of how-to articles. Terry has written articles and publications for a wide range of markets and subject matters, including Medicine & Health, Eli Financial, Dartnell Publications and Eli Journals.