Hi. Has anyone grown stone fruit such as nectarines or plums from seed on a large scale? Is it possible if you plant enough seeds that it will produce fruit quite similar to the parent and if so what are the chances that this could happen?
Thanks in advance
Peaches and nectarines do pretty well from seed. I have done those. Other stone fruit I have heard will not do as well from seed. I did not try them because they take longer to fruit. Most all of the peaches I did produced good fruit. Only size and ripening time was different between them.
My favorite thing about peaches is they are no work at all. I had a couple dozen volunteers come up this spring and I just moved them to my nursery bed (I mainly use them for rootstocks but I do grow out a few). I almost never get volunteers on other stone fruits. This spring there is a cherry volunteer, my first ever. I am going to grow it out.
Have you had any success growing plum seedlings?
I have never tried plums, and I have only seen a few volunteer seedlings come up. My plum “volunteers” are rootstock sprouts, they can sprout pretty far away. I have used them several times as new stocks to graft to.
Maybe the Weatherman can chime in because he is doing all kinds of plum crosses. @itheweatherman
In my own experience, only apricots come close to the seed parent. I tried pure peach but the result was a hard peach with little flavor.
I sprouted a Euro plum this year, and I will probably do some more when this year’s crop comes in. I have read that Euro plums tend to resemble the parent more than Japanese types, but this is my first attempt growing them. I am also trying to germinate pits from some yellow J plums from Chile.
I was surprised how little free info I could find on the subject. I figure anything that is not useful as edible or ornamental can find a second life as rootstock or compost. I grew up eating pies made from a seedling apple a relative planted. They were the size of mandarin oranges, but hard/dense and tart/sweet. Very little juice, but great texture and flavor when cooked. The key to avoiding disappointment is to keep your standards/expectations low. Your trees do not need to be commercially viable to be a success in your orchard.
@nil
Is the yellow J plum the Lemon Plum from Chile? I like it and plan to grow it from seeds too. Just bought a few fruits from the store.
It is from this one. They appeared in March, and are better in every way. Except the blush, they don’t do that.
This is the seedling today
@nil
Looking good!!
I thought the lemon plums were already very good, now I can’t resist the idea of growing this yellow plum too. Which store did you buy it from? I will try to find them in store in Mar and see if I am lucky. Or maybe you have a few scions to spare next year? 
Any tips on how to germinate the plum seeds? what I gathered is this:
I used fresh coco coir, with all the excess moisture squeezed out. You know to take them out because they will start to germinate in the fridge.
I bought it from Safeway. I hope they get them again this year.
Thanks!
Haven’t been to Safeway for a long time. Gotta check it out.
The lemon plums have not hit the shelves here. I expect them to arrive within a week.
I bought some lemon plums from Lotte last week. They change to orange red if left on the counter for a day or two. Nice aroma. The store just tagged them “Green Plum”.
How old is that seedling please?
I think I planted it in May.
You should graft a branch already to a mature rootstock.
Yes
Italian Plums are pretty true to seed.
