Here's How To Grow A Cherry Tree From A Pit

Growing your own fruit is a rewarding process that can take some time to master. Cherry trees follow this trend, as they can be finicky, especially before they've even touched soil. While there is plenty of nuance to the process, anyone with enough time and patience can successfully grow a fruit-bearing tree within a few years.

The first thing you'll have to do is choose your cherry. While you can potentially grow a tree from any pit, it's best to get fruit from a local nursery so you know the cherries are of the variety that grows well in your area. Choose the freshest cherry possible to give the pit the best chance to germinate. You can use this funnel hack to pit your cherry, ensure the pit is clean and dry it before putting it in a plastic bag with a moist paper towel, and then place it in the fridge. Thus begins the stratification process, replicating the conditions a planted pit would experience over the winter.

After you've patiently waited for 10-12 weeks, your pit is ready to plant. Use a small pot filled with well-draining soil so you don't overwater it. Once it's time to germinate, plant the pit around an inch deep in the soil. This will keep it moist while leaving room for the sprout to breach the surface.

Once the seedling is about a foot tall, it can be moved outside for the next period of its growth cycle. In the U.S., cherries grow well in USDA hardiness zones 4 to 9, with sweet cherries, like the Chelan variety, growing better in cooler climates. First, the seedling needs to be hardened off, which acclimates it to life outside. Expose the tree to direct sunlight for a few hours a day over a few days, increasing the exposure by an hour each time.

Once properly hardened off, you can start digging a hole for the seedling to grow in. Ensure the area you choose is suitable for the tree, which requires six to eight hours of sunlight per day. Don't forget it should be large enough to accommodate the tree's mature size, which can reach between 8 and 30 feet tall and wide. Dig the hole twice as wide as your plant's current pot, but at the same depth. This ensures the root flare remains at the soil level and won't get buried too deep.

Make sure the soil where you plant the tree is as well-draining as the soil was in your pot. Once the tree is planted, fill in the hole and surround it with mulch to improve moisture retention and reduce weed growth. Once the tree is planted, your job is finished for the next five or so years when it starts bearing fruit, other than moisture management and replacing the mulch every year. With a cherry tree of your own, you'll be one step closer to eating food like our founding fathers.