How to Dry Cherry Seeds to Plant

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Things You'll Need

  • Cherry seeds or pits

  • Paper towels

  • Lidded jar

  • Refrigerator

  • Peat moss or clean sand

Picking your own cherries from a tree starts with a cherry seed.

Cherry trees produce attractive blossoms and bear delicious fruit. With many different varieties, cherries fall into two distinctive groups: the sour cherry, which is good for baking and cooking; and the sweet cherry, which is ideal for eating raw. You can grow a cherry tree from the seed or pit inside, but it will be years before the tree is mature enough to bear fruit. Also, most cherry trees are grafted onto a stronger root stalk or are hybrid. Because of this, the cherry tree you grow from a seed may not have the exact same type of fruit as the original seed.

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Step 1

Remove the cherry seed, or pit, from the cherry and clean the seed by washing it.

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Step 2

Place the washed seeds on several layers of paper towel to dry. Leave the seeds on the paper towel for several days to dry thoroughly. Then, remove any pulp that may still be on the seed.

Step 3

Place your clean, dry cherry seeds in a jar. Loosely place a lid on the jar.

Step 4

Store the jar of cherry seeds in your refrigerator for 8 to 12 weeks. Cherry seeds, and trees, require a period of cold, usually 90 to 150 days each winter.

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Step 5

Remove the jar of seeds from your refrigerator after the 8 to 12 weeks. Mix the cherry seeds with damp peat moss or clean sand and return them to the jar. Place the jar into your refrigerator. Be sure the peat moss or sand is not too wet.

Step 6

Leave the cherry seeds in the refrigerator until the last hard frost of spring has occurred. Plant the cherry seeds to a depth that is twice as deep as the seed size, generally 1/2 inch deep.

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