Someone on the Fruit and Orchard Forum likely could give you a more precise answer about the odds of success as well as how much cold stratification a peach seed might need in order to sprout.

For what it is worth, my brother tried for years to get a decent peach just from planting the peach pits, and he got some trees that produced some fruit, but never a high-quality fruit that was comparable to the fruit from which he originally saved the peach pit/seed. When you plant a peach pit, you never know what you're going to get, so you need to plant several of them in the hopes of getting at least one tree that will produce good-quality fruit.

Also, modern-day peach trees are grafted onto rootstocks that perform better than the roots you'll get from a seed-grown plant, so you might find a seed-grown tree to be lower in vigor or pest resistance or it could be slower growing and less productive.

I'm going to link an article by author Lee Reich that appeared in Mother Earth News several years ago. It tells in detail how to raise a peach from seed.

Remember that peach varieties tend to be regionally-adapted, so in order to get one that will perform in the climate where you live, you should get a peach pit/seed from fruit grown locally. If, for example, you were going to plant a peach seed from a fruit grown on the Gulf Coast, that variety likely would have a low number of chilling hours, while here in OK we need plants with a much higher number of chilling hours.

I've only seen one peach tree grown from a seed here in my neighborhood, and it lived for several years, but died without ever producing a peach. It did bloom for a couple of years, but it didn't form fruit. I'm not saying you cannot grow a peach from a pit, but just that getting one that actually produces fruit worth having isn't guaranteed.

Usually, it will take a minimum of 3 to 4 years to get a seed-grown tree large enough to finally start producing peaches.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: The Article at MEN

Our peach tree produces delicious peaches from the root stock of the original grafted tree, the top of which died several years ago. But they are very fragile. As soon as they are picked, even if picked ripe-but-still-a-bit-hard, they start going mushy. I've never intentionally planted the pits but if you want some, send me your address and I'll box up some.

The OSU Extension advises purchasing named peach tree varieties over seed. Seed is variable and unreliable as Dawn mentioned so considering the time it takes to grow one, it sounds like its worth the little bit of extra expense and good advice to follow to avoid a long wait and disappointment.

Thank you all so much. I've put some pits in the fridge, but I'm thinking ill have more luck if I buy a grafted peach tree from some place local. Thanks again! So appreciate your responses!! God bless

In the Spring, I transplanted some peach seedlings that were growing under a peach tree and were the seedlings of fallen fruit. I plan to use the rootstock for practice in grafting a good peach. It may fail, but at least I will get the grafting practice. They were tiny when I moved them but they have grown well this year and should be ready to graft in late Winter/early Spring. I had lots of room to let them grow, so nothing wasted.

karrjr, You're welcome.

I do think you'll be happier with a grafted tree if your actual purpose is to get fruit, but I didn't want to try too hard to talk you out of growing one from a pit because those sort of experiments are both fun and educational. A lot depends on how much space you have. When space for trees is precious, a gardener is less likely to "waste" space on a tree that might not produce yummy fruit.

I've grown fruit trees from seed just for fun, including native plums and native persimmons, but we have a lot of space for stuff like that, so I'm not using precious, limited space for a tree that might not produce good fruit.

At the time I collected persimmons and sowed the seeds, we'd been here less than a year and I hadn't realized how many persimmon trees we actually had scattered in groves all over the place. I now know how much wasted effort that was because, in fact, the native persimmons are everywhere and grow readily on their own in the woods and pastures with absolutely no help from me. The issue with them is that they have to get pretty large before you know if you have a male or female tree. By the time I can tell a tree is a female, it usually is too big to move. It was fun doing all the work to get some to sprout and grow though.

I think that on our place, the birds and coyotes and other creatures that eat native fruits do a good job of 'planting' lots of stuff for us, and usually in places where we don't want it.

Carol, That sounds like a fun experiment. Let us know how it all works out!

Dawn

I should add that my mother in law used to just plant peach seeds, she had lots of trees and always had plenty of peaches that tasted great. This guy that works at the extension frowned on the idea when I asked about doing that years ago.

I have done it and I have got some tasty and big peaches.
not all plants will be great, but some will. :)

Thanks everyone-I'll let you know if I have any luck with peach seeds :)