Last year when on holiday, there were loads of Almond tress. In true Brit style, I picked up a couple of nuts from the ground, hopefully for a lasting souvenier..... A couple of months ago, I popped them into small pots, covered them over and put them in the boiler cupboard to keep warm. Making sure they kep moist too. Nothing has happened. Does anyone know how to germinate Almonds? They are in their shells - someone said to crack them open???? But this doesn't seem right... :confused: :confused:
I've never tried, have heard of people growing peach stones which is similar, As you've got two you could try just cracking one and see if that helps. Of corse, there's always the chance that the seed is not viable, or maybe it should have been put outside over winter, that would have helped to break down the shell.
You definitely need to crack open the shell, the actual seed is in side there, the almond. By the way an almond is actually the seed of a type of peach.
ALMONDS prunus dulcis Unpruned sweet almonds grow about 5-6 mtrs tall, with a similar spread. they crop regularly only in areas with warm dry summers, and frost free winters. in cooler areaas they are often grown as ornamentals. Almonds are insect polenated. most are self fertile, but crop better if a pollinator is grown nearby. To grow from the seed is not easy, and may require a great deal of patience. chit the seed[nut] with corse sand paper along the wider bottom of the nut until you see the creamy coloured centre, plant in heat on edge in gritty compost, keep moist from the bottom, and could take up to a year to send out any root, if at all. you will not get any fruit [nut] at all from this method, it will only produce leafy grow for many years, on the rare occasion it may produce an odd nut. to get the almonds you need to keep as mentioned at the beginning
Ta for that, Rossco - I mean it - I hope you do teach somewhere!! It would be such a pity if you didn't! :D
Thanks for the nice remarks Den........m I do give talks to garden clubs[paid of course] also do home visits to groups on varying subjects, usually weekends. if you know of something????
This is very strange- I was doing some sorting out at the top of my garden and next doors', long used as a rubbish dump, and I found an almond which had sprouted. The shell had come apart and it must have been there a couple of years. I also found a seedling pussy willow about 4" tall, 2 little oaks, and a walnut sprout. I have potted them all up to see how they go. When the area is tidy I will make a nursery bed for them as I would like to grow them as bonsai.
