If you have any way to do it at all I would recommend growing them from seed if you want to plant more than a few. 7$ per pound for nuts ( 18-25 per pound for extra large) or 25$ per tree. At the speed that they grow you won't lose much time that way either. Its not for everyone but with just a little research and time it seems to be going well so far. They've actually started sprouting ahead of schedule and I'm hoping to have a few hundred to plant by fall for the price of 6 trees and some time.

Thanks Gib, yeah I have been there done that. I have pear and persimmons that I have grown from seed. It just take's so much time and effort while they are young. God for bid you miss a couple of watering days lol. I had some mold issue's like you said you did. I had a lot better luck with wrapping them up in a dry towel and putting them in a zip lock bag. The first time I tried it with a damp one and had mold all over them.

Here are some of the pears that I will be planting in a few week's. This was there first summer pick.

And here are a few apples with there first fruit.

Ah. Very nice man. The long fibered sphagnum moss seems to be the way to go with them. I only had mold with the first batch in reg potting soil. I probably would not have started all this if I had to start from scratch. My mom used to be big into growing flowers so I had access to lights pots and grow tables and a small greenhouse that she is no longer using. It may get old after a while but I've been enjoying it so far.

Did you buy the pears? I have a few trees around that are loaded every year and have considered trying to graft them but have no experience with it at all.

A buddy of mine had a kiefer pear tree and he brought some pears to eat last year I asked him to save the seeds when he was done. I put them in the fridge for a few months months and they sprouted.

So they'll all be hybrids of the keifer and what pollinated it but I'm sure the deer won't mind one bit!

I'm going to plant them next to my other keifer I already have growing and a Moon glow pear
They should all pollinate well.

I thought I would add a few pics of the progress.

Dang, those are doing great. Did you wait until they sprouted to put them in the cups?

Yeah I took them out of the fridge as they sprouted. There are about 100 or so left that I'm going to go ahead and warm up tomorrow though. They've had plenty of time so hopefully they will wake up.

Did you do anything else after taking them out of the fridge besides put them on top of the potting soil and water them?

Not a thing. Just made sure the radicle was beneath the soil so the air wouldn't kill it. I had a couple I didn't pay enough attention to that early on and the original root died. One of those has 3 sprouts coming up in the same pot now though.

So the same nut put out 3 more sprouts? I had no idea they could do that.

I had no idea either. I will take a picture of it tomorrow if I think about it.

Did the sprout have any color to it when they first sprouted? I just checked mine and had some that could have had a sprout but I think it was just the hair on the tip ends of the nuts that had matted together from sitting in the damp peat moss. I will be surprised if any of mine sprout. I bought them on ebay and even though after asking the guy told me he had kept them in the fridge in damp peat moss, I sort of doubt it.

I looked and found this picture of the first sprouts I had. They are all this color when they sprout.
I have some that have been in there since Thanksgiving and they have still been sprouting a little at a time. If they still sink in water and aren't squishy when you mash on them I wouldn't give up on them.

Thanks for the picture. That looks like a sprout from an acorn, and I definitely don't have any doing that. I'll keep waiting and watching. I guess I need to check them every week or so.

I didn't have very good luck with the peat moss either. The ones in the peat were the slowest to sprout. I removed them and put them into the sphagnum moss and they seemed to speed up. I think the peat just doesn't hold the moisture like the sphagnum does.

Great pictures Gib, keep us posted on the progress.