Saving and Starting PITS

[signseeker]

Okay, so I canned 5 quarts of Mirabelle Plums today. If you haven't heard of them, they are fan-tas-tic!! They are from the southern part of France, I guess.

http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ExIwePjW_IQmOM:http://www.culture-routes.lu/uploaded_files/infos/ar/00000157/0000000565/0000000565_1.jpg (http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.culture-routes.lu/uploaded_files/infos/ar/00000157/0000000565/0000000565_1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.culture-routes.lu/php/fo_index.php%3Flng%3Den%26dest%3Dbd_ar_det%26id%3D 00000157&usg=__7F86NuwZ7LfvlhsFyOnN802c9Ng=&h=297&w=375&sz=27&hl=en&start=5&sig2=QexcOEIw_oIbtO8GdU7M-g&um=1&tbnid=ExIwePjW_IQmOM:&tbnh=97&tbnw=122&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmirabelle%2Bplum%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%2 6um%3D1&ei=dCuTSoeiGY62sgPb99zQDw)

They are golden with a "blush" of red sometimes. The fragrance of their flowers is so... I mean, I can't even describe it. You know how smells bring back memories? It's like the fragrance thrusts you back to the pre-existence or something, I'm not kidding. Your eyes roll back in your head...

Earthling- Your daughter HAS to look these babies up while she's over there - they are amazing.

Anyway, I'd like to grow some more trees, from the awesome tree we have.

Has anyone grown fruit trees from pits before? Do I need to dry the pits out first? How do you do it?

I've always just purchased baby trees from the nursery, but I'd like to be able to do this when it's TEOTWAWKI. :thumbup:

[signseeker]

Nothing? Nobody?

See, I knew it was just a matter of time before I could BLOW all your prepsters' minds.

[signseeker]

Alright, I'll be the leader then...


Instructions:

Step 1
Choose very ripe fruit. If the fruit clings tightly to the pit or seed, the fruit may not be ripe enough. It can be beneficial to choose fruit that you find particularly tasty. Although it is not guaranteed that the seed's offspring will have identical characteristics, it will improve your chance of growing a fruit tree you love. Remove the pit.
Step 2
If the fruit has a pit, crack the hard outer shell of fruit pits with vice grips. Be very careful when you do this not to damage the seed inside. You do not want to use a hammer, pliers or any object that might damage the seed inside the pit. Vice grips are ideal because they will not close past a determined point. You do not need to remove the seed from the fruit pit. It is better if you do not because this may cause damage to the seed. Simply make sure the pit is cracked.
Step 3
Three months before your last frost date, place the fruit seed in a small plastic cup filled with good potting soil (http://www.ehow.com/soil/) or compost. The plastic cup will need to be small enough to fit into a ziplock baggie. Dampen the soil, being careful not to make it soggy. Place the cup inside the baggie. Zip the bag closed. Store it inside the refrigerator until your last frost date has passed.
Step 4
Just after your last frost date, take the cup out of the refrigerator and the bag. You should notice roots have developed. Place it in a sunny window keeping the soil moist and the temperature at about 70 degrees. After a few weeks of adapting to the new temperature, you can transplant you small fruit tree outdoors. Spring is the perfect time to transplant. When you are ready to plant your fruit tree outside, clear the area of weeds and grass. Keep the new tree well mulched and watered. Don’t forget to mark the location of your tree with a stake, so you do not accidentally mow over it.



Now, it doesn't say what to do with the pit between the time to collect it until you are cracking it open. I think I'll just rinse it off and let it dry and keep it ... in the fridge?

[Aldon]

I find that conversing with ones self is often the most intelligent conversation I have during a day:)

[Toni]

Okay, I didn't answer because I didn't know. And I certainly didn't know you had to crack open the pits. No wonder none of my seeds (pits, like plums, apricots, peaches) grew when I tried.

What about things like nuts? Would you crack the seeds and open them, also?

[signseeker]

Here's another method for plums. I'm going to look into the nut trees, too.

Instructions

Step 1
Choose very ripe fruit. If the fruit clings tightly to the pit or seed, the fruit may not be ripe enough. It can be beneficial to choose fruit that you find particularly tasty. Although it is not guaranteed that the seed's offspring will have identical characteristics, it will improve your chance of growing a fruit tree you love. Remove the pit.
Step 2
If the fruit has a pit, crack the hard outer shell of fruit pits with vice grips. Be very careful when you do this not to damage the seed inside. You do not want to use a hammer, pliers or any object that might damage the seed inside the pit. Vice grips are ideal because they will not close past a determined point. You do not need to remove the seed from the fruit pit. It is better if you do not because this may cause damage to the seed. Simply make sure the pit is cracked.
Step 3
Three months before your last frost date, place the fruit seed in a small plastic cup filled with good potting soil (http://www.ehow.com/soil/) or compost. The plastic cup will need to be small enough to fit into a ziplock baggie. Dampen the soil, being careful not to make it soggy. Place the cup inside the baggie. Zip the bag closed. Store it inside the refrigerator until your last frost date has passed.
Step 4
Just after your last frost date, take the cup out of the refrigerator and the bag. You should notice roots have developed. Place it in a sunny window keeping the soil moist and the temperature at about 70 degrees. After a few weeks of adapting to the new temperature, you can transplant you small fruit tree outdoors. Spring is the perfect time to transplant. When you are ready to plant your fruit tree outside, clear the area of weeds and grass. Keep the new tree well mulched and watered. Don’t forget to mark the location of your tree with a stake, so you do not accidentally mow over it.

[signseeker]

And here's the grafting method. I think this would just be cool. I mean, any of them are cool, cuz I've only bought trees from the store, like I said. There was a man in our ward who was really smart (he worked on the Apollo projects) and was a Master Gardener. He grafted all these trees and stuff. He's passed away, unfortunately.



Difficulty: Moderately Easy
Instructions


Step 1
Select a shoot. You'll need a healthy shoot of new growth from the tree that you wish to replicate. It should be about the thickness of a pencil. Remove it from the tree with sharp pruning shears.
Step 2
Prepare the budstick. Use a sharp knife to remove the tip and the leaves from the budstick.
Step 3
Remove a budchip. Slice into the budstick 3/4 inch below a bud. Slicing at a 45 degree angle, cut 1/4 inch into the wood. Make another cut and 1 1/2 inches above the first one and cut behind the bud to the first incision. Do not touch the inner layer of wood. Store each budchip in a plastic bag to keep them from drying out.
Step 4
Prepare the rootstock. Remove all leaves and shoots from the bottom 12 inches of the stem that you're budding into. Make a shallow cut in the bark of the stem. Starting 1 1/2 inches above this cut, cut downward toward it to leave a small "lip" of bark at the base of the cut. Again, don't touch the newly exposed layer of inner wood.
Step 5
Position the budchip. Place one of the budchips onto the rootstock so that the inner layers of both match each other and are touching. Use plastic tape to bind the budchip to the rootstock. Remove the tape in a few weeks.
Step 6
Remove the growth above the bud. The following winter, use pruners to cut off all growth just above the grafted bud, cutting the stem at an angle.