I am thinking about attempting to grow a peach tree from a stone. I hear that peach trees grow well in South Carolina and I would love a fruit tree in our back yard. Is there a type of stone that might have a better chance in producing better fruit than others? Should I even attampt it?
You could but if you buy a peach tree at a nursery the resulting peaches will be far superior. The peach stone(pit) will sprout but the peaches may not be very good. Plus if the peach came from the grocery store it might not be a variety that will grow well in your area. Peach stones need to be stratified before they can sprout. You can let nature do this by planting it outside and letting the freezing and thawing of the earth do the work or you can soak it in water for 24 hours, wrap in paper towels, place in a plastic storage bag and refrigerate for 3-4 months. Peaches will taste different from year to year and from tree to tree depending on which peach they were pollinated with. The pollination can be done either by hand or let nature do it's thing. Also, good quality peaches are grown on grafted stock. So to get good fruit you will need to graft your seedling onto good variety of fruiting peach. I guess for a nice tree, grow it from the stone. For peaches you can actually eat, buy a tree at a nursery.
thanks toni. Thai is kind of the consensus that I a getting from surfing the internet. I will have think on it.
Toni is right,grafted stock is the way to go. Here in Cincy, I have grown a few trees and the only problem I had was peach leaf curl and Peach tree borers. I have read that peaches are the hardest fruit trees to care for and do not produce as long. But with alittle spraying, you talk about good. They will squirt you in the eye with every bite and are some of the best tasting fruit you will ever have. Give it a try and enjoy!!!!
