Apple trees from seeds

Discussion in 'Fruit and Nut Trees' started by lleegle, Feb 10, 2009.

  1. lleegle

    lleegle Member

    Messages:
    2
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Talladega USA
    I have attempted many times to grow apple seeds from trees. I have no problem getting the seeds to sprout...and no problem transplanting that to a larger container. But for some reason when the plant grows to about two inches high...it dies. It appears that the trunk (?) of the plant has been choked out about halfway up. I water it every day..making sure not to overwater.

    Any ideas in this regard? thanks
    DLove9709@charter.net
     
  2. Applenut

    Applenut Active Member

    Messages:
    79
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Southern California, USA
    Your tiny trees are suffering from a fungus, damping off.

    Try planting them in a commercial sterile planting mix. Once they get about 6 leaves, transfer to a pot of plain dirt with about an inch of compost on the top. They will grow about 5' the first year. You can bud graft a good variety onto it by August.

    Applenut
     
  3. Applenut

    Applenut Active Member

    Messages:
    79
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Southern California, USA
    Apples do not reproduce true to seed (nor have they ever); which means that if you plant a seed from a good apple, you'll most likely get a sour dud; only one in 10,000 is good. Good varieties are propagated by grafting a cutting onto another tree, which is cloning.

    However you can use the tree started from seed as a vigorous rootstock. I have done this for plantings that are going up in the mountains where they will not be irrigated, as the roots go down deep and they survive just like any other forest tree.
     
  4. Pipestone

    Pipestone Active Member

    Messages:
    37
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
    I have grown hundreds of apple trees from supermarket seeds: Royal Gala and Pink Lady are the best, but I have also had great luck with Pacific Rose, Fuji, Granny Smith, Braeburn, etc and have heard from others that Macs and Spartans also grow well. The only time I have lost plants was when I didn't transplant them out of my crowded yogurt tub (thick as grass in there and the stems turned red-brown, they wilted and all died) into individual 1 liter milk containers. If you start supermarket apple seeds in Jan or Feb they are already cold stratified for you and they should reach 12-18" by spring. It makes a great project for kindergarten classes.
     
  5. Millet

    Millet Well-Known Member 10 Years

    Messages:
    1,698
    Likes Received:
    5
    Location:
    Denver,Colorado USA
    Besides what Pipestone writes, I fully agree with Applenut. Apple seds are easy to grow, but It has LONG been known that apple seeds do not grow true from seed, and nearly ALWAYS produce very inferior fruit. The actual figure of obtaining a good tasting apple from seed is thought to be about 1 in 100,000. However, there is always an every so slim chance (about the same as winning the lottery) of a seedling apple producing a quality fruit. Red Delicious is a case in point. Millet (1,432-)
     
  6. Pipestone

    Pipestone Active Member

    Messages:
    37
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
    I absolutely agree that apples don't come true from seed, and that's half the fun. But I don't think the odds of growing an edible/useful/delicious apple is quite as bad as 1 in 100,00. I know too many people who have great seedling apple/apricot/cherry trees in their yards for the odds to be that slim. My in-laws, for instance, have a seedling tree that they are pursuing the whole propagation rights thing with. Judging by its age and appearance, it seems likely that it is a Golden Delicious seedling that resulted from an old compost pile in their yard. The apples are better tasting, store better and look stunning when crated up as a group because they are very uniform. Their Rojen apple happens to be the only seedling apple they have ever grown, but they have oodles of plum seedlings that look so uniform you can't tell them apart. However, I do agree that 1 in 100,00 likely is the odds of producing another Honeycrisp/commercially relevant variety.
     

Share This Page