iskhan
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Appricot Growing from Seeds

Dear Expert
I take 12 apricot stone directly from a ripe apricot dry it for a week, then wrap it in damp paper towel then glass jar and place it into the refrigerator for a 40 days after 40 day when I check it max. seed's hard shell are cracked so I put it in the damp soil containing 90% compost and 10% soil approx. 2 weeks left but no germination start. Is it my procedure is OK I do some think wrong.
waiting for your early reply.
Imran

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rainbowgardener
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Usually you would dry the pit for awhile and then crack it with nutcrackers. Take the seed out, wrap it in damp paper towels in a plastic bag and refrigerate for 6 wks. You did the refrigerating, but I don't think it "counted" for the seed as it was still in the husk and dry.

If you succeed in germinating an apricot tree seedling, then what will you do? The reason why the seed needs refrigerating, is that the tree needs a cold winter dormancy. Does it get cold enough in Karachi in winter to provide the needed cooling degree days?

"The chilling requirement for apricots is 350 to 900 hours below 45 degrees F (7 degrees C). ..." www.gardenguides.com/540-apricots.html

iskhan
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Joined: Mon Jun 21, 2010 5:30 am
Location: Karachi

Hi Expert
As I mentioned above that after 40 days in refrigeration max.pits are cracked automatically and seeds are visible then I put it in the damp soil out side the fridge.
Min. temp. in Karachi is 10C Its mean put back them in to fridge.Is it right?

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rainbowgardener
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Yes, I got what you said. What I said is that does not count as cold stratifying the seeds, which they need. To cold stratify the seeds they must be out of the shells and in a damp medium, either the damp paper towels or planted in moist potting soil and THEN kept cold for at least 6 weeks.

"Min temp in Karachi is 10 C".

"
"The chilling requirement for apricots is 350 to 900 hours below 45 degrees F (7 degrees C). ..." www.gardenguides.com/540-apricots.html"

That means for apricot TREES not just germinating the seeds.

So the tree if you get one will not get the cold dormancy it requires. Therefore it will never set fruit and may not live very long. It may survive one winter without going dormant, but that exhausts the tree and it likely would not survive the second one.

iskhan
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Location: Karachi

Its mean put back them in to fridge for 6 weeks or until they germinate then out from fridge. Am I right?

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rainbowgardener
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Not likely to germinate in the fridge I think, but yes needs another 6 weeks as a bare seed in a damp medium in the fridge.

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jal_ut
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Just toss the pits out in the garden and till it. Next year they come up all over. :P

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rainbowgardener
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Probably not so likely to be true when you live in Pakistan!



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