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 you eat them. Collecting them and growing them into little potted plants is a great option 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 for that hard shell to rot away, which not only takes far too long but also comes with an extremely low germination rate. No plant lover is going to wait for that, I'm sure.
2. Remove the Shell
At this point we can give the cherry seeds a helping hand and remove their hard shells, then move on to the germination-forcing stage. There are many ways to remove the shell from a cherry seed - pliers, scissors, nail clippers, any of them will do. This is where we see what clever tricks our plant lovers come up with!
3. Forcing Germination
After removing the shell, the seed actually still has a layer of skin, so don't overlook it. Once you peel off that skin, you're left with plump, creamy-white cherry seeds. Next, place the prepared cherry seeds on a paper napkin that has been completely soaked with water, water them every day to keep them moist, and after about a week the seeds will sprout.
4. Transplanting
Once the seeds have sprouted, plant them in a pot filled with fine river sand and place it outdoors for care. Gradually, the seeds will grow. After leaves appear, they can be moved into normal soil for growing, and by then the seeds have already become a potted plant.
One thing I should mention to all you plant lovers: growing a cherry tree from a cherry seed is easy, but don't count on it producing fruit. Even if it does bear 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 besides, cherries take far too long to fruit.