We don't realize it when we throw them away, but all pips, seeds and other pits have an incredible power: that of germination. Discover how to easily obtain beautiful plants from this plant waste. Instructions for this fun, economical and 100% eco-friendly experiment to grow plants!

They usually end up in the household waste bin, and yet, pips, stones, legumes, cereal grains are concentrates of life that you just have to wake up to see them germinate. They are still alive. This is also the case for roots and tubers like potatoes or sweet potatoes: we realize this phenomenon when we forget them at the bottom of the vegetable drawer and find them adorned with small budding shoots. Overall, even if some pips can die, their ability to germinate is most of the time intact and most can, with the right technique, quickly develop roots and a shoot that will amaze young and old. Remember that cherry or plum stone spat in a corner of the garden and which gave rise to a tree a few years later…

How to choose?

We all remember the lentils that we sprouted on a wet cotton pad at school, or the avocado pit suspended with toothpicks in a glass of water. In reality, almost anything can sprout. Ideally, we will choose organic varieties because the less the fruits have been treated or processed, the more likely they are to "take". Exotic fruits such as lychee, dates, passion fruit, will sprout easily if they are grown in a warm place, but also citrus fruits (lemon pips, oranges, grapefruit, etc.) or pear pips, apple pips, apricot pits, as well as almonds, and even zucchini, pomegranates, pumpkins, beans, walnuts and hazelnuts, kiwis, chickpeas or even tomatoes and grapes! Some germinate quickly, others grow more slowly. All of them will give you pretty plants, and will be able, for the most assiduous, most patient (and luckiest) green fingers, to reproduce the tree which will in turn bear fruit once replanted.

The techniques

All seeds need warmth and humidity to germinate, but there are some techniques that can help you increase your chances. Generally speaking, either place the seeds on damp cotton while they germinate or immerse them in water to moisten them before replanting them, or directly in damp potting soil. Some need to be exposed to cold to "wake up", as if they had just spent the winter and are thus ready for spring: this phenomenon is called "breaking dormancy". For each seed or stone, you can find tutorials on the internet indicating first how to recover the seeds, how to germinate them, the necessary conditions but also how to replant them and maintain them afterwards. You will find below some of the most accessible examples.

How to sprout an avocado pit

Wrongly called the stone, it is in fact the only seed of the fruit. Stick 3 pins or toothpicks at equal distances halfway up so that it is held in the center of a glass filled with water so that it is 1/3 submerged. Keep it warm and change the water regularly: after about 3 weeks, it will crack and reveal roots and then a shoot. When the plant is a few centimeters tall, place the root without breaking it with the stone in soil, to be kept moist and in the light.

Germinating a lychee stone

If the culture is delicate in the long term, the germination on the other hand is fast and pretty. Choose the smoothest, non-atrophied stones, remove all the flesh of the fruit and make
-soak them for 2 days in a glass of water. Then plant several stones (because not all of them will germinate) in very damp potting soil, rounded side up and sticking out a little. Place in a warm place, and in 2 to 3 weeks you will see small leaves appear. When they have grown 10 centimeters, you can replant them.

Growing a sweet potato

Unfortunately ephemeral, the sweet potato plant is very beautiful when it flowers! The ideal time to germinate it and keep it as long as possible is in March. With the heat of summer, it will last until fall. To prevent it from rotting, start germination in water by immersing the sharpest pointed part. Once the stems and roots are out of the potato, plant it in potting soil, or in the garden. Bonus: the leaves are edible, like spinach.

Germinate citrus seeds: orange, lemon or grapefruit

When you buy them, citrus fruits have often been placed in a cold room at some point, which replaces the dormancy necessary for their germination. Soak the seeds for 24 hours in a glass of water or between 2 pieces of damp cotton, sow in potting soil, keep at around 20° and water regularly. After 3 weeks, small shoots will appear. When these shoots are strong, plant them in a pot filled with always moist soil. You will quickly have pretty shrubs.

Germinating seeds and pits is a source of satisfaction and a joyful and educational activity especially for children . It is easy to do. So, take up the game to continue the experience and obtain fruit trees and adult and durable plants, or simply pretty shrubs for the house. To your pits!