How to Grow an Apricot Tree from Seed (2024)

It is not hard to grow an apricot from seed, and the process is well worth the effort. If you live in USDA hardiness zones 5 to 8, you have no excuse not to grow one of these lovely deciduous fruit trees!

Plant your seedling in a sunny spot, and in a few years, you can start harvesting your very own fruit. Use these steps to make sure you have the right conditions to grow a healthy, happy, fruit-bearing tree.

How to Grow from Seed

Step 1: Extract the Pit

Take the pit from a ripe apricot and wash away any flesh of the fruit. You then need to get the kernel out of its hard outer shell. You can do this easily with a nutcracker – just be gentle so you don’t damage the delicate apricot seed inside. If you don’t have a nutcracker, use pliers, a shifting spanner, or a knife to carefully pry open the seed at the seam.

Step 2: Soak

Once you have the kernels released from their safety pit, soak them in warm water overnight. Prepare a few seeds because some may not germinate.

Step 3: Package the Seeds

To get the apricot seeds to germinate, you’ll need to prepare them for cold-stratification. Use a jar with a lid or a plastic bag. Add some water to coconut coir to hydrate it, then squeeze out the excess. Use the coconut coir to fill your chosen container halfway. If you prefer, use a moistened paper towel to wrap your seeds before placing them in the jar.

Make sure no one eats the seeds. They contain cyanogenic compounds, and although they are of medium toxicity, they are still not a good idea to consume.

Step 4: Cold Stratify

Place the seeds on top of the moistened coir or paper towel and seal the jar or plastic bag. Place it in the refrigerator. The temperature should be between 32 and 45°F (0 and 7°C).

After 4-6 weeks your apricot seeds should have sprouted enough to plant in pots for growing on. If the seeds have not sprouted, rehydrate the coir and place them in a warm place for a few more weeks.

Step 5: Prepare Your Pots

Fill some pots (around 15 inches in diameter) with a seedling mix or germinating substrate and plant one germinated seed in each pot, being careful not to damage the little root. Cover with about half an inch of soil and water well.

Step 6: Monitor

Keep the seedlings well-watered in a warm, shaded place and watch them grow. As they get bigger, repot them into bigger pots until they are big and strong enough to go out into the garden with lots of leaf cover.

Step 7: Harden Off

Before planting out, give them a little more sunshine each day to prevent the shock of the full sun in the garden. Start with one hour a day and then move on to two hours and so on, until they are acclimated. This process is called hardening off. Keep your seedlings sheltered until you are ready to plant them out.

Step 8: Pick a Planting Spot

The best time to plant apricot trees is in autumn, when they can settle in over the winter. They’ll then burst forth with new growth come spring. Alternatively, plant in spring when the soil has warmed a little.

Choose the spot for your tree carefully. They will need at least 6-8 hours of direct sunlight a day to get a good flowering going, and this will ultimately give you a good harvest of fruit.

The site you choose must have well-draining soil, more towards the sandy side, and then add plenty of organic materials like compost and a general slow-release fertilizer into the planting hole to give them a good head start.

If needed, stake your tree when you are planting so that you don’t damage the roots later on when trying to stick a stake in the ground. Use two stakes on either side of the tree and tie them all together with a figure-of-eight tie you can adjust as the tree grows.

Make sure to protect the trees from strong winds so that the flowers don’t blow off the tree before they can form fruit.

Step 10: Plant

Dig a hole twice the size of the pot your sapling is in and twice the depth. Set the topsoil aside and then set the subsoil aside in two piles. Add the compost and slow-release fertilizer into both piles and mix well, returning the topsoil pile into the hole first to bring it up to the correct level. The stem of the tree should be at the same level it’s in the pot when you are done.

Carefully take the tree out of the pot and place it in the hole, backfilling with the rest of the soil as you go. Make a basin around the tree to ensure you get the most out of your water supply and water it in well.

Step 11: Water and Support

If needed, stake your tree when you are planting so that you don’t damage the roots later on trying to stick a stake in the ground. Use two stakes on either side of the tree and tie them all together with a figure-of-eight tie that can be adjusted as the tree grows.

Make sure the trees are protected from strong winds so that the flowers are not blown off the tree before they can form fruit.

Apricot trees need very little care, but a few things should be done for the best results. Water well for the first year to get it established, and then leave it to the rain unless it’s very hot. Don’t overwater your apricots. To get them rooted and well-settled, water twice a week for the first two months. Overwatering may cause diseases to attack the plants and root rot to take hold.

Only feed your apricot trees if they are not growing well enough and are a bit stunted. You shouldn’t have any feeding issues if planted in the right zone. A boost in spring is advisable should your plant not look too good.

Keep an eye out for any pests and diseases and act quickly to eliminate any threats.

Step 12: Maintain Healthy Growth as Tree Matures

Of all the maintenance items on the list for apricots, pruning is perhaps the most important, as with all deciduous fruit trees. This is because you need sunlight to reach inside the tree to produce flowers and then fruit. The inside branches need to be pruned to get the light into the tree. Annual pruning takes place in late winter.

Start by removing any damaged or diseased branches and all the branches crossing each other with a sharp saw or pruning shears or loppers. Cut any suckers away from the base of the stem. Choose three to five main branches, the strongest and healthiest, and then remove up to 25% of the other branches to form a V-shape. Make sure the light is getting into the center of the tree.

Follow up in spring with a tree thinning when the fruit is the size of a grape. Cut away some branches so that the remaining fruit has space to mature, leaving about 6 inches of space around them. This may seem counterintuitive, but in the end, you will have a better, sweeter crop of apricots. It also keeps the tree healthy and productive.