What to know about the propagation of fruit trees
Basically, it is conceivable to grow a cherry tree from a cherry pit. It is more than uncertain whether this tree will bear the same fruits as it will react to fungal attack and whether an early or late variety will develop from the core.
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- Growing peach yourself - this is how a cutting becomes a stately tree
- Pull out the apricot tree yourself and enjoy the fruit
In order to avoid this risk, the cherry trees are propagated in practice through grafting. Another part of the tree (called “noble rice”) is grafted onto a rooted part of the tree (called “base”). The noble rice is cut from a cherry tree whose characteristics are to be preserved.
Germinate cherry stones
In order to germinate the cherry pits, they have to be subjected to a cold treatment - just like in nature. For this purpose, several kernels are buried in the garden in late autumn and left to overwinter in the ground. Another possibility is to store the cherry stones in containers with damp gravel or sand in a cool, but frost-free place. Both of these should cause the shell to soften at the end of winter so that the seeds can germinate. The seedlings are singled out and planted in a seed bed.
If this method seems too tedious for you, you can try to crack open the harvested cherry stones so carefully that their insides remain intact. The seeds, freed from the hard outer shell, are placed in a little water for a few days to pre-germinate (preferably in the refrigerator) and the seedlings obtained in this way are planted outdoors in spring. However, there is no guarantee that the cherry pits will actually germinate, so take several pits at once as a precaution.
Tips & Tricks
Sex is always a risk, even with plants. A tree pulled from the cherry pit is the child of two parents; both equip it with their genes. Due to the division of the chromosomes and the new combination - similar to human children - you simply never know what will come of it.
