Last edited on October 16, 2026. View history
Apricot
How to sow apricot: Transplant bare-root plant
Sun requirement for apricot: Plant in Full Sun
The apricot is a small fruiting tree in the genus Prunus (of which other stone fruits like peaches, plums and cherries are also members). It is a section of the Prunus (Plum) subgenus. The apricot tree has a dense, spreading canopy with white to pinkish flowers. It's fruit are yellow to orange, smaller than peaches, and have smooth or velvety skin. The apricot can tolerate winter temperatures down to −30 °C, making it slightly more cold-hardy than peach trees. However, it is susceptible to spring frosts killing the blooms because it tends to flower very early. Some varieties are self-pollinating, but all apricot trees benefit from a pollination partner with the same bloom time within 15 meters. Standard and dwarf rootstocks are available. Dwarf trees can grow to 3 meters, standard to 4.5 meters. Depending on the size chosen, the tree will bear fruit within 2-4 years of planting.
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Apricot facts
Lifespan
Height × spread
450cm × 450cmRow Spacing
450cmCrop cycle
Max altitude
Optimal light
What are growing degree days?
A plant grows with warmth, not with days. A growing degree day is one day's worth of useful warmth: how many degrees the day's average temperature is above the lowest temperature the crop grows at. Add them up from planting and you know how far along the crop is, whatever the calendar says.
Say that lowest temperature is 10°C. A day averaging 17°C gives 7 growing degree days. A day averaging 8°C gives none, as it is too cold for the crop to grow. That is why the same lettuce takes about 50 days in a summer and 90 in an autumn: it needs the same total warmth either way.
For apricot, the FAO EcoCrop database gives a lowest growing temperature of 7°C and a shortest growing cycle of 180 days at its best temperature, about 3150 growing degree days to a first harvest.
Where you've told us where your garden is, we use this and the weather there to predict when your apricot will be ready to harvest. We don't use it for how long a plant lives or when it finishes: we go by what members have logged for that.
How members grow apricots
Sunniness
Planted from
Plant apricots with
leek
Photos
Photos
Apricot crops
Video
Where apricots grow
Only plantings by members who have set their locations are shown.
What people are saying about apricots
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Who's planted apricots
- jok Garden · Surrey UK
- corvi terrace garden · salt spring island
- fe2h2o Orchard · North of the River...
- trishf42 Side garden (tiny orchard) · Woomelang, AU
jok
Apricot harvests
Nobody has harvested this crop yet.
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Time to harvest
If sown now, expect a first harvest in about 180 to 240 days.
From the growing cycle in the FAO EcoCrop database, which is the same wherever it is grown.
Ecological requirements
Data from the FAO EcoCrop database for Prunus armeniaca L.
| Family / Taxonomy | Magnoliopsida Rosidae Rosales Rosaceae |
|---|---|
| Killing temperature | growth: -1 °C, rest: -5 °C |
| Life form | tree |
| Life span | perennial |
| Habit | erect |
| Optimal soil depth | deep (>>150 cm) |
| Optimal soil texture | medium |
| Optimal soil fertility | moderate |
| Optimal soil drainage | well (dry spells) |
| Optimal soil salinity | low (<4 dS/m) |
| Photoperiod | short day (<12 hours), neutral day (12-14 hours), long day (>14 hours) |
Learn more about apricots
Resources outside Growstuff.
