Any tricks for sprouting apricot seeds (Hunza)

13 years ago

I bought 8 oz of raw, supposedly unpasteurized/non radiated/treated hunza apricot kernels with hopes of sprouting a few.

I've been soaking over night, changing water in morning and soaking the rest of the day. They swell right up like they are germinating. Then planting in peat/perlite mix and not keeping them overly wet.

They all rot without sending out a root. I'm just doing the last batch. But soaking only 12 hours, the planting with bottom heat.

Any other ideas appreciated! Hard to come across these around here. Thanks.

Featured Answer

glib

13 years ago

Did you crack them and extract the seed? That improves the chance of germination by a lot. I have done it only with peaches, and I got 30 peach plants out of 36 cells. I kept the seeds in a ziploc bag in the fridge until I started seeing shoots. The ziploc also had a handful of moist compost.

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Comments (8)

canadianplant
13 years ago
Toss them in your prefered seed germination mix, in a sandwich baggie, then put it in the fridge for 2 or 3 months. This is called stratification, and breaks dormancy amungst other things.

Take them out when the nights dont go below freezing and put them in semi shade. Once you see roots (they germinate in the fridge sometimes), pt them up individually and put them in some semi shade for the first year or 2.

I wont step into the whole "do they come true from seed" debate, but its a 50/50 chance youll get something desierable if the apricot you are growing is a hybrid.
fireweed22
Original Author
13 years ago
Cold stratifying didn't even occur to me for apricots, thanks! They're now in the fridge.
I've had good success with other seeds like this.

Re coming true from seed- I know the answer to that one... since hunzas are seemingly a bit wild-type I'm hoping for the best but planting them off to the side, fingers crossed. I just like the idea of super hardy apricots even if they end up squirrel bait.
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Noogy
13 years ago
In your soak use a 1 cup water:1 teaspoon of hydrogen peroxide right before planting. It speeds up germination x10 and keeps things clean.
I have mine planted in the fall and will be checking for them in July.
canadianplant
13 years ago
I cant exactly remember how long mine were in the fridge. Im guessing 2 or 3 months, then they were put in pots and put outside when the nights got above freezing. They popped in a few weeks and even survived the winter in pots!

As a rule, stonefruit seeds (peach, plum, apricot, cherry and hybrids)need cold stratification to break dormancy. They have inhibiters that cold wet conditions eliminate.

Peroxide works good because it breaks up the flesh left on the seed. I use a 1:10 bleach:water ratio myself.
fireweed22
Original Author
13 years ago
Hydrogen peroxide- too late but great idea next time.

They had been shelled already. I had read you can sprout shelled almonds so hope the same.
roots_feeding
10 years ago

from dried hunza fruit....
Steph
10 years ago
This is timely advice. I've been saving my peach and apricot pits all summer and just tossed them in the fridge but I'd been wondering how much moisture they need.

I'll crack the pits and put them in a baggie of damp seed starter mix this weekend. Hopefully they haven't died from being dry all summer. Wanted to hold off on stratification until fall so that the seeds would be on something approaching a normal seasonal schedule sprouting in spring.