Master Gardener: Fruit fantasies can come true

Think back to the last time you threw out a pit from a peach. Did you wonder if you could grow a fruit tree from the seed in the pit? Perhaps you just want a "science" project to actually see what would grow. Great idea, especially if it involves children. Check out Ron Finley's 5 steps to germinate that "pit/seed" online at MasterClass.com, "How to Grow a Peach Tree from Seed." Or maybe you envision a backyard with a mature peach tree with fat yellow fruit waiting for your eating pleasure – even more delicious than your grocery store peach purchases. You love a DIY project that costs little to no money and not much effort on your part (you think). You are ready to begin. Warning: You need to realize if you are serious about this, there will be difficulties to bring your project to fruition (pun intended!). Are you a gambler? Horticultural scientists will assign you very little chance of attaining that peach pit-to-peach tree dream. Too many obstacles stand in your way. First, it is highly probable the store peach you ate was an F1 hybrid cultivar, such as Babcock, Belle of Georgia or Arctic Supreme, although the retail stores rarely name the cultivars they sell. Cultivars are created when humans take two pure plant species and breed them to achieve a specific taste, color, size, earliness to fruit or resistance to pests and diseases. The plant is bred purposefully until the desired trait(s) becomes very strong and noticeable. Along with these benefits, the cultivar tree will experience the celebrated hybrid vigor. Since this purity process usually take years, cultivar seeds may cost more than seeds from a pure or heirloom species. Your store "pit/seed" most likely will not be carrying the genes of its parent cultivar and no one can predict what genes it may have inherited from its grandparents or the pollinating father tree (if one was involved) or how those genes will relate to each other. The seeds grown from an F1 Hybrid sometimes are not able to produce fruit or even germinate, for that matter. Most likely, it will not carry the true characteristics of its parent. That would be like winning the lottery. Many of the progeny from a cultivar are somewhere between complete failure and total success. Your "pit/seed" tree will be missing another benefit commercial fruit trees enjoy: a rootstock upon which the fruiting tree (called the scion) will be grafted. The scion is most of the tree that you see above ground level. The rootstock consists of the roots and lower portion of the trunk. The scion is grafted onto the rootstock tree a few inches above the ground, leaving an easily seen demarcation. Both trees are normally from the same species. (Exception: Plum rootstocks can also be used for apricots and peaches because these species are so closely related.) According to Washington State University's Comprehensive Tree Fruit Site, "The variety selected for the rootstock determines tree size, precocity, some disease resistance (such as fire blight) and even cold hardiness. And like the fruiting varieties, rootstocks also undergo breeding and selection for their desired characteristics." If you pick your fruit tree at a reputable garden center, you can select a cultivar adapted to your local soil and weather conditions. But before you go, ask your neighbors which fruit trees have provided them with successful results. Even if a tree survives well, you want one that fruits well. What pests and diseases have your neighbors dealt with? You want cultivars with the appropriate resistance. How much room do you have on your property? Some fruit trees require two trees and not from the same cultivar. With bees helping, some self-pollinating trees can bear fruit all by themselves. Nearly all varieties of peach, apricot, nectarine and sour cherry are self-pollinating. But most apple, plum, sweet cherry and pears are cross-pollinating and they need another tree from a different variety of the same fruit for pollination. If you don't have a neighbor growing that different variety of the same fruit, you need to grow both trees. And the bees will help you cross-pollinate also. Catalogs and trained nursery professionals should be able to help in cultivar selection. There is much you will need to learn, but the odds are you will successfully grow your chosen fruit tree. Throw out those pits! You are in luck because NOW is the time to order your bare root (cheaper), grafted fruit trees. Hurry, the best choices will go first!