Found growing in a pot with a shrub in, the compost mut have originally come out of my compost bin. I pulled it thinking it was a weed and saw the stone was shooting.
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Originally posted by Containergardener View Post
Haha oh god . That long?😄
Peaches and nectarines actually grow well from seed. They grow very quickly, and reach fruiting maturity at a young age and small size. They can bear fruit in as little as 2 years from seed.
I grew some from seed a few years ago. The seeds sprouted in September 2020. I had 2 flowers on one of them March 2022 (no fruit). In spring 2023 I planted one of them outside, and the other in a large pot. Both flowered, the outdoor one didn't pollinate (poor weather, or perhaps the peach leaf curl), the potted one I hand-pollinated and it produced 7 fruit in the end. This year, both flowered quite a lot, still no fruit on the one in the ground, the potted one set about 20 fruit, and 15 grew to maturity and ripened.
To grow on your seedling, just pot it up in a 9cm pot for now, and keep potting it on to a slightly large one as it grows (it will grow very quickly with enough nutrients and water. I had to pot mine on 3 times in its first 6 months, and most of that was over the winter).
It will need protecting from peach leaf curl by keep it out of the rain between November and early May. The easiest way to do this is just to keep it in a pot and move it under cover over winter (it needs somewhere cool, though, so not in the house). Mine never lost its leaves in the first winter, and just kept growing all winter in my conservatory. Yours may well do the same, since it has only just germinated. In subsequent years, though, it doesn't need light over winter as it won't have leaves, so if you have no space in the greenhouse it could go in a shed (although it will start growing in March).
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Originally posted by Containergardener View PostOooh an unexpected fruit tree
I will be able to overwinter in the gh. Does it mind if it gets really cold?
Although if it's still less than maybe 18 inches tall come winter it might benefit from some extra protection, just for that first winter when it is still very small.
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I had three germinate in the edge of my spud patch this spring. I potted them up at the same time as I planted the spuds and they are almost two feet tall.
One died and I think that was because I did not leave the two halves of the stone around the kernel.
I think the shell contains something that the seedling needs before it has formed a couple of pairs of true leaves.
I am tempted to plant them out in an area that has wind breaks on the north, south and west.
Near Worksop on heavy clay soil
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Peach trees are amazingly hardy. Ameno is really knowledgeable, so to say I agree with Ameno is extremely presumptuous.
But I planted four bare root peach trees of different varieties maybe 18 months ago and pretty well abandoned them to their fate due to lack of water. All have survived and one has easily 18 fruit developing this year. I should probably have thinned them out, but I expected all the trees to die, so haven't kept up with their progress.
Cold isn't an issue, in my view.
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This is one of mine that sprouted this spring where the stone had been over winter in the edge of the spud patch.
It is in a 13 inch pot with a tree guard due to some kind of damage that has been done to hardwood saplings. It is physical because the tree guards stop it. It was potted up when the spuds went in.
Near Worksop on heavy clay soil
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Originally posted by Plot70 View PostOne died and I think that was because I did not leave the two halves of the stone around the kernel.
I think the shell contains something that the seedling needs before it has formed a couple of pairs of true leaves.
Peach, like many fruit tree seeds, need a period of cold in order to prompt germination. One way to achieve this is obviously just to toss the stones on the compost heap and hope they sprout next year. Another way is to pot them up and leave them outside over winter.
But if you're impatient, the best way is to crack the stones open, get the kernels out, and put them in a tub or plastic bag with some damp compost in the door of your fridge. In theory they need about 2 months of cold, so you should be able to take them out at that point and they will sprout. However, it's easier just to leave them in the fridge until they sprout on their own (they will do so, even in the cold of the fridge), as that way you avoid the risk of taking them out too early.
You do need strong nutcrackers and great care to crack them open, though. The stones are very tough, and if you use too much force you will crush the kernel. It's easiest to try and split them along the natural seam in the stone.Last edited by ameno; 19-08-2024, 12:53 AM.
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Originally posted by Snoop Puss View PostPeach trees are amazingly hardy. Ameno is really knowledgeable, so to say I agree with Ameno is extremely presumptuous.
But I planted four bare root peach trees of different varieties maybe 18 months ago and pretty well abandoned them to their fate due to lack of water. All have survived and one has easily 18 fruit developing this year. I should probably have thinned them out, but I expected all the trees to die, so haven't kept up with their progress.
Cold isn't an issue, in my view.
In England, the South East is probably the best place, as it's dryer and has colder winters than the South West (where I am). Although further north would probably still be fine, as long as it's not excessively wet.
Several growing guides say that they can't be grown further north as they won't ripen in time, but I think this is probably nonsense. Peaches ripen very early; mine were all ripe by mid-July. Late frosts killing early blossoms could be more of an issue, but if you have a potted tree you can protect it from that, plus colder winters mean that it will come out of dormancy later, anyway, and thus flower later.
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