Help with Apricot seeds please

I have some seeds from a delicious Apricot-the person who gave them to me told me the tree was from a seedling- I put them in the fridge in July. Now what do I do? Should they be nicked or cracked, or do I just plant them? I would love to grow a tree.

i have never grown an apricot tree on purpose, but they come up in my compost pile all the time and I didn't do anything to get them to grow. I expect they would like to be frozen over the winter, so I would put them in pots outdoors. They get a lot of freezing in the compost pile over the winter and it doesn't hurt them. Probably helps them. I think your chances are great. You could probably soak them then put them in the freezer and plant them in the spring also. Great luck!

I can't take any credit ( or blame) for the information below. I found it on a web site called All Experts and it was not attributed to anyone individual.


"Fruiting can taking from 5-7 years. You can plant the seeds (you can remove the seed from the pit to quicken germination) 1 inch deep in a pot of good potting soil and leave the pot outdoors for the winter making sure it is frequently watered. The seeds should sprout in the spring. The other way is to place the seeds wrapped inside a damp paper towel and seal it in a plastic baggie and place in the fridge for 60-90 days. After that, plant in a pot of good potting soil as previously described but keep in a warm area (70-70F) and sprouting will take place over several months. After the seedlings have their second set of true leaves (not the first set of seed leaves which are evidenced after germination) you can gently prick out the seedlings and pot them up separately for preparatin for planting out doors. The process in both scenarios is called vernaliztion and also is known as stratification, cold-stratification or cold treatment. The seeds of most pit fruit require a cold period (40 degrees minimum) to break dormancy. Once it warms up after 60-90 days, the seed will germinate."

A five - seven year wait for friut sure requires patience!

That advice is not unlike what I have experienced in my compost pile. Waiting 5 to 7 years, does require patience -- but it is fun to grow your own. You can buy a nursery bred one for about $25 around here, but that's only if you are in a hurry.

Some of the darndest things can come up in a compost pile. The biggest surprise I've had (so far) was a small florists hydrangea that was a Christmas gift. In spite of careful tending and watering in the house it lost all it leaves. So in February I tossed it in the compost pile. Freezing below 0 temps February mind you. But in late spring, there it was sticking out of a corner of the pile with new buds. So I stuck it in the ground in an out of the way corner where it is now growing, slowly. No flowers, of course. But we'll see what happens this winter and next spring. I did provide it some winter protection. You just never know.

Yes, compost piles provide lots of insights into plant growth. Not long ago I tossed some unshelled beans into the compost pile because they had become moldy. A few days later I went out and found they had all sprouted! I thought, maybe I should have shelled and eaten them after all!
A compost pile can be a great laboratory. Quite a few years ago I rented a house that had a pile of organic stuff in the corner of the back yard. It also had 4 plum trees in the yard so I assumed these were the remains of the previous summer's plums. Well those plum trees never did produce any plums for me, but in the spring after I rented the house there were little "plum trees" coming up in the compost pile. I potted them up and gave them to friends. One was planted in downtown Albuquerque and got quite large but I haven't heard of any fruit from it because the house where it was planted was bought up for a big office project, though I don't know if it ever was torn down.
But the second one went to Utah with some friends who said it produced the nicest apricots they had ever seen. So that is how I know it is possible to grow apricots from seed -- even if you think they are plums.

ROTFLOL - That's a good one. At least you had the genus figured out. That's more than I can do sometimes.

The friends liked the apricot tree, so I guess all is well. I learned quite a bit from this experience, though I have to agree that it was hilarious!

My request has resulted in some very interesting replies! Thanks, all of you for your input. I plan to remove the shell of some of the pits, and leave the others. I will pot them up and see what comes up- they were chilled for nearly 4 months, so they should be good to go.