I of course have been reading thread after thread. Everyone contradicts the other person so its hard for me to learn. I have fresh seeds from apples, grapefruits, tangelos, lemons, avacados, mangos, papayas, peaches, and plum. Some say to put in the fridge for a couple of months for the "fake" winter. Others say to put on a tray in a wet paper towel and put on the fridge, and yet another said to plant them right away. I tried looking up my zone and i think its USA Zone 11. Its still cold at night, around 30's and 70's in the day. Is it safe to plant them in pots outside right now? And whats the best thing to do with fresh seeds?
So many questions, so many answers, so many seeds too! Forget the Mango, min. temp for Mangos and Papaya are at least 15-17c. any cooler and if the roots stay wet, they perform very badly..my papaya is two years old, sad looking and barely 24 cm!....... to plant, get started, protect from frost, keep in the warmest sunniest sheltered region until they are established, and not in 36c. heat, at least not yet...you will likely need to gage their performance daily, until large enough to plant in the ground...
Germination requirements vary according to the type of seed. Citrus seed does not need stratification (i.e. cold treatment) and should be sown fresh.
The Avocado should be staked out in water until it sets a root, then planted; if you search the web for "rooting avocado" you'll get the method. The Mango and Papaya should be planted directly and put in a warm place, as KBaron suggested. ***For the Papaya, you absolutely MUST be certain that the potting medium is completely sterile; they are very vulnerable to damping off. It will also help you if you remove the jelly seed casing.*** The stone-fruits (Plum and Peach) should be cold-stratified to encourage the pits to break open. The Apples and Citrus can and should be sown direct.
Wow. Thank you everyone so much. I took the fresh grapefruit seeds and planted them. Also some old pomegrante seeds. A post said to let them dry first. I dont know if it will work. The papaya and mango havent been cut open yet. Neither have to peach or pear or plum. The pineapple i have been waiting to plant was planted today. A site said to use orchid mix so thats what i got for them. I love to try new things and if i can get something to grow.........well thats a beautiful things. Keeping them alive will be the challenge for I am in Arizona in the USA.
Sun, heat a c good mix required for your endeavour, but watch out for the scorching heat coming your way ...say April?
Forget about the apple seed. Apples do not come true from seed. It is estimated that the chance of an apple tree that is started from seed ever producing a good tasting apple is 1 in 100,000. A grapefruit from seed will take 10-12 years before the tree grows enough nodes to mature, and bear fruit. Plant a mandarin seed and receive fruit in 5 years, or a Key Lime seed and receive fruit in 2-3 years. Orange seed takes approximately 8-10 years to mature. You can read all about planting citrus seed on the citrus forum. - Millet
wash the seeds clean of the sugars that might be left on them while they were in the fruit. For citrus don't dry the seeds out..plant them right away, half inch depth in the pot. For pear I hear the seeds need to be chilled then planted.
I planted the magos, peaches, plums, apples, lemon, lime, grap.....you know all of em. I have 3 avacado pits staked out in water. But im having trouble with my pineapples. The tops dry out even though i spray them. One of them molded on the bottom and one was so dry i threw it out. I have one thats doing good and two others in water.
Pineapples will be really hard for you.... Try staking them out in water the same way you have for the Avocadoes - this used to work for me when I lived in the the southern deserts. And whatever you do, don't put them in direct light - Pineapples are full-shade critters.
i had them in jars with water until they started rooting. Then i put them in potting soil. One of them molded and the other looks ok. I do have them in the morning sun by a window inside. Maybe thats where im going wrong. Thanks.
Your other problem might be the potting soil itself - I've always planted mine into cactus or orchid mix. Pineapples were selected from an epiphytic bromeliad so they don't need a whole lot of rich soil. Plantations here use fine volcanic gravel and sand.
