Don't throw away cherry seeds - collect them and grow cute potted plants

It's peak cherry season right now, and plenty of plant lovers have started enjoying them, but here's the thing: don't throw away the cherry pits after eating. Collecting them and growing them into little potted plants is a great choice too.

1. Germination

If we drop cherry seeds straight into potting soil, the germination rate is basically zero, because cherry seeds have a very hard shell. For them to germinate naturally, you'd have to wait until the hard shell rots away, which not only takes far too long but also comes with an extremely low germination rate. I doubt any plant lover would wait that long.

2. Remove the shell

At this point we can use a little human help to remove the hard shell from the cherry seeds, and then move on to sprouting them. There are many ways to remove the shell from cherry seeds - pliers, scissors or nail clippers all work. It just depends on what clever tricks you plant lovers have up your sleeve!

3. Sprouting

After removing the shell, the seed actually still has a layer of skin, so don't overlook it. Once you peel that skin off, you're left with plump white cherry seeds. Next, place the prepared cherry seeds on a paper napkin that has been completely soaked with water, water them every day and keep them moist, and after a week like this the seeds will sprout.

4. Transplanting

Once the seeds have sprouted, plant them in a pot filled with fine river sand and leave them outdoors to grow. Slowly, the seeds will grow bigger, and once leaves appear they can be moved into regular soil. By then the seeds have already become a potted plant.

One thing to tell all you plant lovers: growing a cherry tree from cherry seeds is easy, but don't expect it to bear fruit. Even if it does produce fruit, the taste will be very different from the cherries we buy. So the cherries we grow can only be kept as potted plants, and cherries also take far too long to bear fruit.