You could put all the plums in a 3 or 5 gallon pot, and all the nectarines in another. Like a layer of pits and slightly burry them. Stick them outside and see what happens this spring. They transplant easy as they all wake up. That way you don’t have to watch 40 different pots for sprouts if only 2 make it. I will often make a layer 2 pits deep. And then split them out as they sprout. We try to save every pit from grocery store and home peaches and nectarine for root stock. I donate them to the pta plant sale at my kids school every spring. Last years pit grafts once they leaf out. Ditto for the apple seeds.
I would crack the pit open and see what the seeds look like. If they still look good, I would probably still put them in a damp paper towel inside a ziplock bag and put in the fridge until they start to sprout and then plant them.
Agreed with cracking them open. I have started a lot of seeds, and peaches/nectarines by far have the most problems with viability in my experience. And not store bought, local orchard peaches seem to always have shriveled or moldy seeds.
Tapping on the side with a hammer you can hear when the shell cracks.
If peaches are just left in the field they are extremely viable. I get a couple dozen volunteer seedlings most years. The only other fruit making regular volunteers for me is pawpaws – no apples, plums, or apricots. I got one cherry and one pear volunteer. If you want to be more methodical just plant them in a designated nursery spot as soon as you have them.
I eat a lot of apples and when I’m done I take the scraps and cut them in pieces and throw them in my larger potted trees, to feed the worms. When I do this in the spring and fall I will have tiny apple trees sprouting in my pots like crazy. When I do this in the summer, nothing sprouts. Sometimes I just pull them out and dispose of them, but sometimes I’ll pull them out and repot them by themselves. I have prob. 15-20 sprouting up right now in some of my potted trees. I have to stop keeping them because I have approx 60 or so apple seedlings already, some of them are 6-7’ tall and the diameter of my thumb. Maybe one day I will get an ok piece of fruit off one of them.
I would assume that peaches and nectarines purchased, especially from chain grocery stores, have been stored chilled for 2-3 weeks prior to purchase. Wouldn’t this count as some of the stratification time and explain why some sprout earlier than others?
I’ve had lots of fruit seeds from the store sprout without any additional cold stratification. Sometimes apple seeds are already germinating when I cut open the apple! I don’t have personal experience with peaches or nectarine pits, but I just had a bunch of seeds fresh from a (store bought) pear sprout after only a week in the fridge.
I have 60 or more apple trees I’ve planted from seed. They are from 1’ to 7’ high and I def don’t have the room to plant many of them but I can’t make myself get rid of them. Same with peaches and nectarines I’ve planted from seed. I have about 30 now.
