In botany, a drupe is a fruit in which an outer fleshy part surrounds a shell (the pit or stone) of hardened endocarp with a seed inside. These fruits include but are not limited to Plums, Nectarines, Peaches, Olives and Dates.

In one of our last posts (Summer Foraging Taupo - Yellow Plums) @mamajeani asked in the comments 'How hard is it to grown plums from their seeds?'

The short answer is 'Easy as!'

The long answer goes a bit more like this.

Yes but there are some things to consider.

A one year old Plum sapling

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Stratification

A lot of seed species have an embryonic dormancy phase designed to protect them from sprouting on a warm Autumn eve only to find that two weeks later they are being crystalised by frosts and then mushified by the sun the next day. A seed that needs to be stratified is a seed that needs to experience a prolonged time in a cold environment, i.e they need to drop off the parent plant and lie in the soil for a winter. This chilling off period needs to be at temperatures of between 1 - 5 °C (33-41 °F) for about ten to twelve weeks. Generally, seeds of this type will not sprout until this dormancy is broken. Some seeds may also have very tough outer husks that need to be softened up by frost and weathering action.

How To

There are two ways to stratify a seed; the tried and tested natural method and the just as viable human intervention method.

Natural

The easiest way is to place the seed in the ground and wait till winter is over. If you are lucky then in the spring a green shoot will appear. However, there are some things you can do to increase the chances of the seed germinating and make it easier to move the seed after it has sprouted.
Plant the seed into a pot of good quality soil, about 5 cm or 2 inches deep, with some mulching on top and then place the whole pot into the soil so that the top is level with the ground surface. Make sure to mark where you have buried the pot so you can find it again. You won't need to water the pot, simply let the local weather do it for you. Now in spring if the seed sprouts you can easily pull the whole pot out, without damaging the roots, then transplant or sell the plant at will.

Human

This method is an attempt to mimic the natural method but in a controlled environment thereby making it easier to get good results. Take your seed and wrap it in a moist paper towel then place inside a plastic ziplock bag. You may want to soak your seed overnight in water as this soaking can help with the stratification process. Now put this bundle in the refrigerator. Make sure that the seed isn't going to touch the back or sides of the refrigerator as this may lead to unwanted freezing. Now leave the seed there for six to eight weeks after which you should be checking it every few days to see if there is any germination. As stated above you will probably have to leave the seed for at least ten to twelve weeks to achieve a satisfactory stratification period.
Once the seed has germinated plant it in a pot, about 5 cm or 2 inches deep, with good soil and mulching on top. Keep it in a warm, bright area out of direct sunlight (to avoid heat stress) and make sure it stays moist but not waterlogged (to avoid rotting). Within a few days to weeks depending on the species, you will see the small green shoots of a new tree appearing.

Year-old Plum saplings. The tape measure is set to 1/2 a metre. On the left you can see a year-old Cherry cutting that has rooted and is growing new foliage.

Additional

It should be noted that we have had peach and nectarine seed that sprouted after being placed in six cell pots with a small scattering of seed raising mix on top. They were neglected and almost entirely forgotten about for the whole winter, spending most of their time bone dry under a bench, until late in spring when out of twelve seeds two sprouted.

Life is tenacious!

Nectarines grow fast. This one is only six months old.

Remember that everything we Humans do to help plants grow is simply to increase the number of seeds that survive to make new plants so that we may benefit from the abundance. In the wild a parent plant will make hundreds if not thousands of seeds as that gives a better chance of continuing their genes through future generations. Many seeds will not make it but those that do will be strong and healthy. With careful Human stewardship, it is possible to take hundreds of seeds and germinate hundreds of new plants. At PFC, however, we wonder if this is, in fact, the best method to ensure that the healthiest plants survive. Through our experimentations, we have noticed that often when you carefully nurture every seed there will always be those that are stunted, deformed or diseased right from their first days. When it comes to having the healthiest and most productive crops there will have to be those seedlings or saplings that end up on the compost heap. So our advice is to germinate every seed you can, allow them some hardship and discard any that look 'wrong'.

Also, it should be noted that when growing from seed you will have to factor in genetic variance. This can basically be described thus.
You have a Plum tree that fruits with the most delicious plums you have ever tasted. Hoping to capitalise and sell hundreds of 'the tastiest ever' (name a work in progress) Plum trees you germinate as many seeds as you can. Yet many years later when they have reached maturity you find that a lot of the fruit isn't exactly like that of the parent plant.
But so what. You still get fruit. :)
Actually, this isn't so much of a problem with Plums and other Drupes unless they are some specialised hybrid created by the horticultural industry. It is more of a problem with Apples and some Citrus as these do not 'grow to type' very well or often.
If you are after exactly the same fruit as the parent plant then we suggest that growing from cuttings or grafting is the way forward. But a tree grown from seed will always be stronger than those from cuttings or grafting.

This year-old Plum sapling suffered through a wet spring and then a hot summer and has developed Bacterial Leaf Spot. Over winter it will lose its leaves and in spring if looked after should grow more leaves without this disease. Most of our young Apple trees suffer from Powdery Mildew for their first few years until they grow strong enough to overcome the problem.

Closing

If you are interested in growing your own trees for fruit then you will have to do a bit of research when it comes to selecting varieties. Some trees will take many, many years to mature, Pine Nut trees take between 6-8 years to mature and then another 2-3 years for the cones to develop, while others, such as Peaches, can mature to produce fruit within three years.

Plum trees generally will take four to six years before they have matured enough to produce fruit. You will also need to consider your local climate as Plums need winter chill to produce a good crop. This means that the tree will need to spend a winter, between 500 to 1000 hours, depending on variety, at temperatures equal or below 7°C (45°F).

We have rather a few trees grown from seed. Including Pinenut, Avocado, Nectarine, Peach, Apricot, Apple, Lemon, Lime, Grapefruit and Orange. Now we just need some land to plant them on.

Jam season!

Chunky Plum Jam on pikelets.

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