Cherry seeds?

Has anyone had any luck spouting cheery seeds?

I am trying some, don't know yet. I do know that I have had good success in growing seedling peaches from seed. I plant fresh seed in the summer, and they come up the following spring. My neighbor has a bunch of pie cherry trees that he said grew from seed. They seemed pretty consistent and really good.
The peaches would vary, but all had edible fruit. Up here there is a virus that affects peaches, so the trees only have a lifespan of 10 years or so, so the seedlings are a good way of getting cheap trees. They grow really fast from seed.

That sounds very hopeful! ty

I've had excellent success growing hybrid bush cherries from seed. Cherry seeds need stratification (chilling) before they will germinate. One method is to soak the seeds overnight in water, then plant in trays with a mix of potting soil and clean sand. Keep the seed trays in the refrigerator at 40 degrees for 90 days. Keep the seeds moist. (Another method is to just leave the trays outside over the winter- be sure to put hardware cloth screens over the trays.) Then put the trays in a warm, sunny place for germination.
Keep in mind that cherries do not usually grow "true-to-seed", in other words, the offspring seedling plants will be different from the parent plant(s). Typically, the fruit will be smaller and less sweet. Good luck!

Wonderful!! I had already put them in wet potting soil, and stuf them in the freezer, and about a month ago I pulled them out and put them in the refrigerator. I guess its time to bring them out and pot them up? I do my echinacea the same way, only I know that its time to plant them because they sprout in the refrigerator. I guess I dont need to wait until cherries start sprouting?

I think you have already got your problem solved.

hope it works, i tried last year, but got nothing.

Some cherries need a period of warm stratification to permit the embryo to mature, and then the cold stratification. One month cold may not be sufficient; most sources call for at least three. The stratification temperature is above freezing, so the time in the freezer shouldn't be counted. I stratified a bunch of Kerr sour cherry seeds last year, and they sprouted in my root cellar after a few months. This year I left the seeds on the bushes as long as possible, and it appears that they received enough cold in the field, because they germinated without additional stratification (which I didn't expect, so it was a problem).

Wow thanks! good information! ty

I put half a dozen cherry seeds in the freezer 4 months ago and going to try and germinate them, wish me luck?

William Ingram wrote:I put half a dozen cherry seeds in the freezer 4 months ago and going to try and germinate them, wish me luck?

Good luck to you!
I had good result germinating apricot and peach pits but zero with cherries.

Yep, good luck! I did manage to grow cherry trees from seed once, but the germination rate was rubbish. Two germinated, out of I think between 20 and 30 seeds. Also, one of the seedlings developed into some sort of freak. The top of the plant couldn't decide if it wanted to be leaves or a very weird flower - I was afraid it might attempt to eat me! Later on, it died. But the other one is doing great, growing extremely vigorously.

I stratified the seeds in the fridge, don't remember how long. (This was sweet cherry, Prunus avium, in case it matters.) My understanding is that the stratification works best above freezing, and more or less pauses at freezer temperatures. Not sure if that's true for all plants, or if there are seeds that need to be deep frozen to germinate?

Every now and again I save seed from shop bought fruit and plant it in a pot and just leave them outside.....One of the cherry pits that grew I planted out some years ago. This year it has fruited for the first time - looks like it has more fruit than my 'proper' cherry trees, and possibly a yellowish rather than red fruit. I'm hoping the birds leave me some so I can try it!

Exciting .. I hope the Nancy-cherries taste good!

I have never had the first luck with cherries. This year rather than try chilling and all that, I am just burying handfuls of seeds in a pot of potting soil. They'll sit there all year and through the winter and we shall see. Putting them in the fridge was a big zero, maybe neglect will work.

It's funny, there are wild cherries sprouting everywhere, like weeds. Wish the sweet cherries were as congenial.