02-05-2004, 08:04 PM
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germinating orange seeds
In article , (Vitmar5) wrote:
I know, this is probably a dumb thing to do and it would be much less
aggravation to just go buy one. But, and I mention this at risk of revealing
myself to be a total whacko, the tree the seeds came from have sentimental
value. The tree was my mom's for almost 30 years. She even revived it once when
I understand completely!! That's much cooler than the philodendron
that's been in my family for 3 generations, by way of of myriad
cuttings 
it appeared to be dead because while she was away it wasn't watered. She died a
few years ago and the tree lived on ... until my brother forgot to water it for
several weeks while my dad was out of town. I was heartbroken. The tree still
had plenty of the little oranges on it, and the insides were still juicy, so I
took a bunch of those seeds and tried to germinate them in hopes of "reviving"
(sort of) mom's tree, and hopefully get enough seedlings for the rest of the
family.
From what I know and have seen, you are more likely to have good
results from citrus seeds, in terms of getting something like the
parent tree, than with most others (tho I know of successful examples
of every sort of fruit tree growing from seed and producing well). The
fruit may not be exactly the same, but it should be recognisable.
Own-root trees are often stronger than grafted trees, too.
Citrus seeds are subject to mold, so be sure you have good drainage.
I'd recommend trying sterile potting soil, and keep it lightly moist
but not wet. Another method that often works is to keep them between
layers of damp paper towels (we did this a lot when I was a kid, using
grapefruit seeds, tho back then fruit was tree-ripened and the seeds
often sprouted inside the fruit).
Lemon seeds will come up like weeds with scant regard for conditions,
and may grow into big, heavy-producing trees in as few as 6 to 7
years. Other citrus seeds seem a bit pickier.
BTW I just talked to someone who has a whopping big volunteer
nectarine that came from a seed her kid spit into the back yard a
few years ago -- she says it has excellent fruit. When its current
crop is ripe I'm going to get some seeds from her and try 'em out.
~REZ~
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