Apricots

Ever wondered what would happen if you planted an apricot stone? We did today and learned that if we just planted it the likelihood is nothing would happen.

Apricot stones need to be stratified before they will germinate. This means taking the apricot stone directly from a ripe apricot, soaking it for 24 hours, then wrapping in damp paper towel then plastic (or in a bag of damp, sterilized sand, as is done in the nursery industry), and placing this into the refrigerator at about 4 deg. C for a period of four weeks (this cold storage would be four months for peaches and plums). This replicates what would occur in nature: The damp seed from the fruit would fall onto the wet ground and go through a cold, damp winter, which act to break the dormancy the stone retains when taken from the fruit. When conditions warm up again (when you take the stone from the refrigerator) and sow it into potting mix at about 20-25 deg. C, it will then be ready to germinate. Germination, however, could take some time as the hard seed coat makes the process of germination rather slow. Dr Lynette Morgan.

They are currently in soak and we will report back in time - possibly a long time! Miles loves fresh apricots and is hopeful that we will be picking our own soon. I think he'll have to make do with picking the punnet from the shelf for a long while yet!