Growing Plants from Grocery Store Fruit

Why would one want to sow seeds from grocery store fruit? There are several reasons. Seeds for exotic plants are often expensive, but with fruit they come for free. You can get beautiful and unusual houseplants that you wouldn’t find in a garden store.

Growing plants from seed is surprisingly exciting compared to just buying houseplants. With fruit plants, you may even be lucky enough to get fruit – or at least beautiful flowers.

Easy Container Gardening

Almost all fruit seed can be sown and will grow into a plant, even in a container on a windowsill, though most potted plants will not bear fruit, or it will take years before that happens.

Generally fruit plants are not as picky or difficult to grow as one might think. Some do not tolerate drought well, but as with most houseplants, overwatering is more likely to kill them. Most exotic plants can be grown even in climates with limited sunlight and humidity during the winter, though it helps to have a fluorescent bulb to provide light during the darker months.

The seeds should be washed well first, as remnants of fruit pulp can encourage rotting and mold. Sowing is usually simple and straightforward: place the seeds in moist soil, small seeds nearly on the top of the soil and bigger seeds a little deeper. Remember to keep the soil moist. Plants usually sprout in 1-3 weeks.

If the seeds do not seem to sprout, two tricks that can be tried are soaking them in water for a few days before sowing, or soaking them first and then keeping them in the fridge for a few weeks (to simulate winter).

Good Fruit Plants to Grow From Seed

Pomegranate seeds tend to sprout reliably and quickly, in about a week. The plants are otherwise easy and in a few years will grow into a beautiful bonsai tree. The only caveat is that you have to prune the plant all the time, as most will not branch naturally without cutting.

Pomegranates, being trees, usually drop their leaves in the fall, so artificial lighting is recommended in the winter. Drought may also result in shedded foliage.

Passionfruit comes from passionflower, a vine with exquisitely beautiful flowers. The seed may sometimes be tricky to get to germinate, though, so it’s a good idea to sow many. Soaking the seeds in orange juice is said to help germination by mimicking the natural rotting process of the fruit.

Citrus fruit like oranges, tangerines, limes and lemons can be grown into small trees, which often bear fruit even on a windowsill, if the container and the plant are large enough. There are some varieties intended specifically for container gardening, but usually their fruit are not flavourful and only good for decorative purposes.

Annona or cherimoya is a luscious tropical fruit with seed that germinate well. The plants look relatively plain, but with luck they produce beautiful, magnolia-like flowers. Cape gooseberry has similarly fairly unimpressive foliage, but it can produce fruit even as a houseplant.

Other fruit to experiment with include e.g. apples, lychee and rambutan, peaches, apricots, grapes, plums, avocado, mango and cherries – of course tomatoes and peppers work, too. Papaya is usually quite tricky to get to germinate. Pitahaya (dragonfruit) germinates well, but in a container the plant will be a tiny seedling for years.

Commercially sold bananas are seedless, so banana is one of the few grocery store fruit that cannot be propagated at home. Banana seeds are, however, available in some seed vendors, but the plant needs more care than most fruit plants.

Other Ways to Propagate Exotic Plants

Pineapple can be grown at home by planting the “crown” or top. Choose a fruit with an intact green foliage and check that it’s free of any insects or mold. Cut off the top and trim off all pineapple flesh and some more until you see the brown root buds. Strip off some of the lower leaves.

Let the crown dry for 3-5 days before planting it in well-draining soil. At this point the soil should be kept moist, but when the plant has rooted, it will do with very little watering. It may take 2-3 attempts to get a pineapple crown to root. Beware that the plant will grow rather big.

Most root vegetables can be propagated by planting the sprouty top of the plant. Generally this will not result in pretty houseplants, one exception being sweet potato. Ginger can be grown simply by planting a piece of the fleshy root. Albeit not a fruit plant, it has beautiful, fragrant flowers.