The Best Way to Grow Apricot Trees from Seed: Timing and Care Tips
Don't throw away your apricot pits! Learn how to plant and care for these seeds to grow a beautiful, fruit-bearing tree that will provide shade for decades.
Amy Grant
Why try growing an apricot from seed? A flavor-packed fruit from a market stall starts it right. A fresh apricot seed pick boosts chances over store-bought ones. Timing matters – get it wrong, and nothing grows. Handle with care, and the tree has a good chance.
When you are growing an apricot tree from seed, it will need a cold kick to kickstart, as well as getting the soil and timing down. Don’t overwater – it’s a killer. Fresh apricots from a market stall, bursting with flavor, give you a seedling that’ll grow if you don’t overdo the water, and give it what its needs. About 70% of properly handled seeds germinate, so pick carefully.
Harvesting and Preparing the Seed
To plant an apricot tree from a pit, You’ll need to know a few basics things. The entire process of going from the seed to fruit is going to be a very slow one, but the tree can certainly be worth the wait if you keep at it.
1. Choosing the Right Apricot
Grab ripe apricots – local or heirloom like ‘Moorpark’ or ‘Harcot’ work best. Soft, flavor-packed fruit from a farmers’ market or orchard gives seeds with an 80% germination shot. Your average grocery store apricots are often picked green, and drop to about 30% success. You can test for ripeness by giving it a gentle squeeze. It should yield just slightly.
2. Extracting and Cleaning the Pit
Crack the fruit open. Pull the pit out. Wash it under cool water to clear sticky bits – any leftover flesh breeds mold fast. Dry it with a cloth. A clean pit is ready for action; waiting even a day risks damping off, so move quick!
3. Stratifying
Seeds are going to need a nice cold snap, called stratification, to wake up – just like winter would do. Soak them in lukewarm water for a day, then tuck them into a damp paper towel in a sealed bag – don’t let it get soggy. Do your best to keep them at 35–45F (2–7C) in the fridge for around 60-90 days. They need anywhere from 300 to 1,000 chill hours, depending on cultivar. Be sure to check them once every 5–7 days or so to keep the towel damp, not dripping, to avoid any nasty fungal pathogens that may ruin things.
4. Planting the Germinated Seed
Spot a white root after chilling? That means now is time to get it going. Make sure that you use a larger 12-inch (30 cm) deep pot to give the roots some room to grow and stretch out. I find that it works best with a mix of half peat moss, half sand, and a pH 6.0–7.0. Next, you’ll set the seed about 1 inch (2.5 cm) deep, root facing downward. After that, water just enough to settle the mix in and take those air pockets out. About 100 ml or so will be plenty, usually.
Keeping seeds indoors helps to keep frost away. Spring outdoors will work in zones 5–9, however. Indoor pots give you the ability to control the exact light and heat, hitting even higher seedling survival. Outdoors risks frost but helps build tougher plants. Cover with plastic until a shoot appears – usually 2–3 weeks – then remove to stop mold.
Caring for an Apricot Sapling
Seedlings demand sun – 6–8 hours daily. No less. Place by a south-facing window or a bright outdoor spot. The temperatures will need to stay at 65–75F (18–24C). Below 32F (0C) kills them, and they will fail to pop out. Keeping a close eye on the temperatures using a good quality thermometer, like one of these from Amazon, catches dips. Full sun boosts growth. That growth will slow down in partial shade.
Water when the top inch (2.5 cm) of soil’s dry – check with a finger. Overwatering cuts survival. A good quality soil moisture meter, like this go-to on Amazon, nails things down with more precision. Feed them monthly with a half-strength 10-10-10 fertilizer in year one to push their growth without burning roots.
After 6-12 months, your sapling will probably start to become root bound. Now, it’s time to move them to an 18-inch (45 cm) pot for some more root room. For the great outdoors, you can wait until the seedling is about 1–2 feet (30–60 cm), in spring in zones 5–9. Start by hardening them off over a period 7–10 days, starting with only 2 hours of sun daily. The best bet is to pick a sunny spot with a soil pH of 6.0–7.0.
Long-Term Growth
Flowers will start to show up about in 3–5 years, while fruit can take more like 5–7. ‘Harcot’ self-pollinates, but a second tree lifts yields significantly. Seed-grown trees vary – expect unique flavors or sizes, unlike parent fruit. Many may not even produce viable fruit. Check your local chill hours (700–800 for most varieties).
Always prune in late winter, cutting dead or crossed branches with a Fiskars Pruner like I use from Amazon. Water weekly, using around 10–15 liters for established trees. Feed 10-10-10 annually in spring, Follow package instructions. With care, it pumps out Delicious fruit and shade for 20–30 years.
