Grow your own produce with these high-quality fruit seeds
It can be fun to plant your own fruit, but which seeds are best? We've reviewed the top seeds so you can make the right purchase.
12 best fruit seeds to plant
Fresh fruit is essential to a well-balanced diet, providing key vitamins, nutrients and fiber. Whether you eat it with a meal or have it on its own, it’s a healthy way to give yourself a sweet treat.
But while the grocery store offers a wide variety of fruit, you may find more satisfaction — and save some money — if you grow your own. Growing fruit can be intimidating, but if you choose premium fruit seeds, you can enjoy a steady supply of fruit from your own backyard.
What fruits should I grow?
When choosing fruit seeds to plant, consider how much time you’re willing to invest and how quickly you want to harvest your fruit. Some fruits, such as melons, strawberries, raspberries and blackberries, grow quickly and produce fruit within the first year. Others, including apple trees, take as many as three to five years to provide their first harvest.
If you’re new to growing fruit or just impatient to see your first harvest, melons are an ideal fruit to start with. They typically take three months or less to grow from seeds, so you can plant watermelons or cantaloupes in the spring and enjoy the fruit by summer or early fall. If you like berries, strawberries are the fastest-growing when starting from seed. You can typically expect fruit within three or four months.
For those willing to wait longer for their first harvest, cherry trees are worth considering. They usually take three to four years to establish themselves and produce fruit, but they’re easy to care for, aren’t as prone to as many pest or disease issues as other fruit trees and require little pruning.
However, you should also take your climate into account when choosing fruit seeds. Some fruits need a mild or near-tropical climate for healthy growth, while others do best in cooler temperatures. To ensure your fruit plants and trees will thrive, check the seed package for the recommended United States Department of Agriculture’s hardiness zones to see if your area is included.
Best fruit seeds to plant
Burpee Mama’s Girl Watermelon Seeds
These watermelon seeds produce large, tasty fruit ready for harvest in just over two months. They are annual plants good in all USDA plant hardiness zones and aren’t genetically modified.
Available at Amazon
MySeeds.Co Red Delicious Apple Big Pack
These apple seeds produce hardy, adaptable red delicious trees that grow medium to large fruit. Each pack contains 500 seeds that can grow well in USDA hardiness zones 3-8. They are also non-GMO.
Available at Amazon
Home Grown Fruit Seeds Variety Bundle
This seed pack contains over 500 seeds in total across seven varieties. It includes individual packets of kiwi, cherry, apple, strawberry, raspberry, blackberry and blueberry seeds, so you can grow multiple types. The seeds are hardy in USDA hardiness zones 5-9.
Available at Amazon
Seedz Sweet Watermelon Heirloom Seeds
These certified organic watermelon seeds offer impressive germination rates and grow seedlings that sprout in as little as a week. They aren’t genetically modified and come with growing instructions to help you plant successfully.
Available at Amazon
Heirloom Fruit Seeds Melon Variety Pack
This pack includes several melon varieties, including watermelon, cantaloupe and honeydew. It has 25 non-GMO seeds for each type, all packaged in a Mylar bag that zips closed to keep them fresh.
Available at Amazon
MySeeds.Co Black Cherry Big Pack
This package includes 500 black cherry seeds that are hardy in USDA hardiness zones 4-9. They germinate within 20 days and come with detailed growing instructions to help you choose the right spot to plant.
Available at Amazon
Sow Right Tri-Color Watermelon Seed Collection
This packet contains seeds for three watermelon varieties: red jubilee, orange tendersweet and yellow petite. They grow well in hot weather but can be started indoors in cooler climates. They come with planting tips, so they’re ideal for beginners.
Available at Amazon
Organo Republic Melon and Watermelon Variety Pack
This seed packet includes seven types of melon and watermelon seeds for a total of 420. It includes honeydew melon, sugar baby watermelon, jubilee watermelon and more. They can be grown in both indoor and outdoor gardens, and they’re not genetically modified.
Available at Amazon
Burpee Mignonette Strawberry Seeds
Grow heirloom strawberries with this packet of 125 seeds. They grow as perennials in USDA hardiness zones 5-10 and produce plants that can reach 6 inches in height and 12 inches in spread. They are organic and non-GMO.
Available at Amazon
Seed Needs Crimson Sweet Watermelon Seeds
These sweet watermelon seeds produce large fruits, weighing up to 25 pounds, and come with sowing instructions to help you start the seeds successfully. The seed package has latex glue along the edge, so you can seal it if you have any leftover seeds.
Available at Amazon
Sow Right Cantaloupe Fruit Seed Collection
These non-GMO heirloom seeds come in three packets for each melon type. They include honey rock melon, Hale’s best cantaloupe and green honeydew melon seeds, which all thrive in summer. They’re easy to grow, because they come with planting instructions on each package.
Available at Amazon
Gardeners Basics Melon Fruit Seeds
This variety pack offers five types of melons, including cantaloupe, crimson sweet watermelon and sugar baby watermelon. They’re all non-GMO and harvested in the United States. They grow well both indoors and outdoors.
Available at Amazon
Sow Right Melon Seed Collection
This selection of seeds contains large individual packets of different melons, including green honeydew melon and crimson sweet watermelon. All the seeds are non-GMO and heirloom, open-pollinated varieties. Each packet has growing instructions on the back.
Available at Amazon
Other top products
- These Organo Republic Summer Vegetable and Fruit Seeds Variety Pack feature a mix of 25 fruits and veggies that grow well in warm weather, including honeydew melon and sugar baby watermelon.
- If you’re a fan of sweet melons, these Sow Right Honey Rock Melon Seeds are a perfect addition to your yard, growing five to seven melons per vine.
- These MySeeds.Co American Elderberry Seeds Big Pack contains over 1,000 seeds that grow shrubs producing berries in USDA hardiness zones 3-9.
- This Survival Garden Tri-Color Watermelon Collection Seed Vault features yellow petite, crimson sweet and tendersweet orange watermelon seeds, so you’ll have a range of flavors in your garden.
- The MySeedsCo. Antonovka Apple Seeds Big Pack offers 400 seeds for Antonovka apple trees that can grow up to 23 feet tall and produce fruit that can be eaten raw, baked in pies or fermented into cider.
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Jennifer Blair writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money.
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