I got a pair of vise grips today (yes, I’m not the guy who has every tool, other than every gardening tool 
). Of course, I had to try it out right away and met with pretty good success (compared to before). I did 10 and got:
3 nearly perfect
3 slight damage
2 very damaged
1 complete destruction
1 shriveled (poor pollination?)
How damaged can the seed be and still germinate? Roughly how long should it take? I know, I’m being impatient by checking them again, only 4 days in (unless they are as speedy as beans…).
[quote=“Sas, post:147, topic:5823”]
You will find that many are not even viable, as much as 70 % could be bad seeds.
[/quote]
I guess I got good pollination to have only 10% bad. When I destroyed twice this many the other day, I think there were only 1 or two shriveled ones, so this seems pretty representative. Maybe having a dozen (or more) varieties on the same tree helps with pollination.
There were actually 3 as of a few days ago on that graft. I ate one which had just started to color (maybe 15% brown), as there was a potential frost that night. It wasn’t bad (light, crisp, moderately sweet), but I need to let one ripen better for a good comparison. It looks like we got past the potential frost, so I’ve got at least ~8 more days, before it is forecast to get close again. I think that should be enough for both the elongated ones on the graft and the large one on the new tree to ripen.
Update- adding pic of pliers (Vise Grips). $19.97 for the pair at Home Depot. I like the loop at the end, which makes it easier to tighten than a knob. I slipped a spoon (a screw driver would probably be better) into it and used it like a lever, which was much easier on the wrists.
