Peepal tree will generally not grow even if you plant a bucketful of the fruits or seeds. The seeds have a thick protective coat which gets digested in the gastrointestinal tract of birds and animals that eat them. Once these seeds are disposed from the digestive tract along with the organic wastes they would be active for germination.

That is the reason why you find these plants growing in unlikely places like building walls/roofs, flyovers, below the roof water tank and even on the branches of other trees. Though the birds Defecate/excrete in open also but plants does not grow in open space because Peepal seeds need some cavity to germinate.

It takes quite some time for the tree to sprout from the initial seed (smaller than a mustard seed), but once it does it can easily grow into a strong and healthy plant.

If you want to propagate the plant you could try to:

1. Graft branches from an existing healthy tree. (Not Recommended/Difficult)

2. Collect the droppings of these animals/birds (an excellent source of manure) and provide them the favorable settings in a container to germinate and grow. (Possible but difficult)

3. The best way to plant Peepal is to collect the grown saplings already germinated from different places like walls, tanks etc and plant in a pot for few days. While rooting out the plant, take care to plant with major route. The best time to take up this activity is just before onset of Monsoon. After ten to fifteen days, when you get assured for the revival of plant, take it out from pot with soil and plant it where ever you want. During rainy season, there may not be need for watering the plant but for first summer season you have to take care of the sapling. I have planted four Peepal trees by this method. The sequence of my latest plantation is depicted below:

How to Plant a Peepal: