How to Grow a Cherry Tree from a Pit: The Patient Gardener's Journey to Sweet Success

I still remember the first time I tried growing a cherry tree from a pit. It was after a particularly memorable Fourth of July barbecue, and I'd been spitting Bing cherry pits into a bowl all afternoon. Something about those glossy, mahogany stones made me wonder—could these actually become trees? That curiosity launched me into what would become a decade-long fascination with stone fruit propagation.

Growing cherry trees from pits isn't just about sticking a seed in dirt and hoping for the best. It's an exercise in patience, a lesson in genetics, and honestly, a bit of a gamble. But there's something deeply satisfying about nurturing a tree from something most people toss in the trash.

The Truth About Cherry Pits Nobody Tells You

Before we dive into the how-to, let's address the elephant in the orchard. That cherry tree you grow from a pit? It probably won't produce the same cherries you ate. Commercial cherries come from grafted trees—essentially Frankenstein creations where the tasty variety is surgically attached to hardy rootstock. When you plant a pit, you're rolling the genetic dice.

Your pit-grown tree might produce cherries that are smaller, more sour, or take fifteen years to fruit instead of five. I've grown trees that produced cherries so tart they made my eyes water, and others that surprised me with fruit sweeter than their parents. It's nature's lottery, and personally, I find that unpredictability thrilling.

Choosing Your Pits: Not All Stones Are Created Equal

The journey begins at selection. Fresh, local cherries give you the best shot at success. Those waxy, perfect cherries shipped from halfway across the world? They've often been treated with growth inhibitors or picked so early the pit hasn't fully developed.

I learned this the hard way after trying to sprout pits from some gorgeous but ultimately sterile Chilean cherries in January. Nothing. Not even a hint of life after months of waiting. Now I stick to farmers' market cherries or, even better, cherries from a neighbor's tree. The uglier and more irregular the cherry, the more likely it came from a tree grown from seed—and those genetics tend to be more vigorous.

Sweet cherries (Prunus avium) and sour cherries (Prunus cerasus) both work, though sour cherry pits tend to germinate more reliably. If you're in a colder climate, sour cherries are your friend anyway—they laugh at frost that would make sweet cherries weep.

The Cold, Hard Truth: Stratification

Here's where most people fail. Cherry pits need to experience winter before they'll germinate. In nature, a cherry falls, gets buried under leaves, freezes through winter, and sprouts in spring. We need to replicate that process through cold stratification.

After eating your cherries, clean the pits thoroughly. Any flesh left on them will mold, and trust me, opening a container of moldy cherry pits after three months is an olfactory experience you won't forget. I use an old toothbrush to scrub them clean, though some people swear by letting them sit in water for a few days until the flesh falls off naturally.

Once clean, you have options. The traditional method involves planting the pits outside in fall and letting nature do its thing. But if you're impatient like me, or live somewhere with unreliable winters, artificial stratification works beautifully.

Mix your clean pits with slightly moist (not wet!) peat moss, sand, or even paper towels. Seal them in a plastic bag or container and stick them in your refrigerator. Not the freezer—despite what some internet sources claim, freezing can damage the embryo. The back of the fridge, where it's coldest but not freezing, is perfect.

Now comes the hard part: waiting. Cherry pits need 90 to 120 days of cold treatment. Mark your calendar. Set reminders. Because I guarantee you'll forget about them otherwise. I once discovered a bag of cherry pits that had been in my fridge for two years. Surprisingly, some still sprouted, though their vigor was definitely compromised.

The Crack of Life: What to Watch For

Around month three, start checking your pits weekly. You're looking for cracks in the hard shell and, if you're lucky, a small white root tip poking through. This is genuinely exciting—I still get a little thrill every time I see that first sign of life.

Some pits crack but don't immediately sprout. That's fine. They're ready to plant. Others might surprise you by sprouting right in the fridge. I've opened bags to find a tangle of pale roots searching desperately for soil.

Not all pits will germinate. In my experience, even with perfect conditions, you're looking at maybe 50-70% success rate with sweet cherries, slightly higher with sour. This is why I always stratify more pits than I think I need. Twenty pits might give you ten seedlings, and of those, maybe five will be vigorous enough to bother growing on.

Planting: From Pit to Pot

Once your pits show signs of life, it's time to plant. I prefer starting them in pots rather than direct sowing, mainly because I've lost too many seedlings to squirrels, slugs, and late frosts.

Use a well-draining potting mix—cherry trees despise wet feet. Plant the pit about an inch deep, root tip down if it's already sprouted. If the pit has just cracked, plant it on its side. Nature will figure out which way is up.

Keep the soil consistently moist but not waterlogged. Place your pots somewhere bright but not in direct sunlight. A cold frame or unheated greenhouse is ideal, but a bright window works too. The first shoots usually appear within a few weeks, though I've had stubborn pits take two months to show green above ground.

Those first leaves are cotyledons—seed leaves that look nothing like true cherry leaves. Don't panic if they're yellow or oddly shaped. The true leaves that follow will look more familiar.

The First Year: Nurturing Your Sapling

Young cherry trees grow with surprising enthusiasm. By midsummer, your seedlings might be a foot tall or more. This is when you need to make decisions about their future.

If you're planning to keep your tree in a container long-term (dwarf cherries can live happily in large pots), transplant to a bigger container when roots start circling the bottom. If you're planning for an orchard addition, you can plant out in early fall or wait until the following spring.

I've found fall planting works well in mild climates, giving the tree time to establish roots before spring growth. In harsh winter areas, keep your seedlings in pots in a protected spot their first winter. An unheated garage or shed works perfectly—cold enough to maintain dormancy but protected from the worst weather.

The Long Game: Years Two Through Ten

This is where growing from seed tests your patience. While grafted trees might fruit in 3-5 years, seed-grown cherries typically take 7-10 years, sometimes longer. I've had trees take twelve years to produce their first blossom.

During these years, focus on shaping your tree. Cherry trees naturally want to grow tall and narrow. Without intervention, you'll end up needing a ladder to harvest three cherries from the top of a twenty-foot tree. Start pruning in year two, encouraging horizontal branches and an open center.

Feed your young trees sparingly. Over-fertilizing encourages leafy growth at the expense of root development and eventual fruiting. A light application of compost in spring is usually sufficient.

The Moment of Truth: First Fruits

When your tree finally blooms—and oh, what a moment that is—you'll face new challenges. Many cherries need a pollination partner. Even if your tree is self-fertile, you'll get better fruit set with another cherry nearby. This is where that genetic lottery pays off. Your seed-grown tree might be self-fertile when its parent wasn't, or vice versa.

The first fruits are rarely impressive. My first tree produced exactly seven cherries in year eight. They were small, more pit than flesh, and the birds got five of them. But those two cherries I managed to taste? They were mine, grown from a pit I'd planted nearly a decade earlier. They tasted like accomplishment.

Is It Worth It?

If you want reliable, delicious cherries in the shortest time possible, buy a grafted tree. If you want an adventure, a connection to your food that goes back literally to the seed, and don't mind if your cherries turn out weird, then growing from pits is for you.

I now have five mature cherry trees I've grown from pits. Three produce decent fruit—not grocery store perfect, but good enough for pies and preserves. One makes cherries so sour they're basically inedible fresh, but they make incredible cherry bounce. The fifth has never fruited well, but it's gorgeous in spring and the birds love it.

Each tree is unique, with its own personality and quirks. That's the real joy of growing from seed—you're not just growing a tree, you're participating in the continuation of genetic diversity. In an age of clonal monocultures, there's something rebellious about growing a tree that's genuinely one of a kind.

So save those pits. Clear out a corner of your fridge. Start your own cherry tree adventure. Just don't expect quick results, and definitely don't expect predictable ones. But I promise you this—the first time you bite into a cherry from a tree you grew from a pit, you'll understand why some of us can't help but save every seed we find.

Authoritative Sources:

Hartmann, Hudson T., et al. Plant Propagation: Principles and Practices. 8th ed., Pearson, 2013.

Janick, Jules, and Robert E. Paull, editors. The Encyclopedia of Fruit and Nuts. CABI Publishing, 2008.

Reich, Lee. Growing Fruit Naturally: A Hands-On Guide to Luscious, Homegrown Fruit. Taunton Press, 2012.

Rom, R.C., and R.F. Carlson, editors. Rootstocks for Fruit Crops. John Wiley & Sons, 1987.

University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources. "Cherry Growing in the Home Garden." UC ANR Publication 8051, 2007. anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/pdf/8051.pdf.

USDA Forest Service. "Prunus avium L. - Sweet Cherry." Fire Effects Information System, 2018. fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/tree/pruavi/all.html.

Webster, A.D., and N.E. Looney, editors. Cherries: Crop Physiology, Production and Uses. CAB International, 1996.