I grew an apple tree from a seed of a granny smith apple. I keep it outside, it is only about 1ft tall. It dies back in winter and grows back in spring. I live in San Antonio, Texas. How do I or can I get it to grow apples? And is it better to keep it in a pot or plant in the ground?
a lot has been written about seedling fruit trees. chances of a decent seedling is low with apples. (compariosn: chances are pretty good wiht apricot seedlings) you can graft onto your seedling, but your seedling may not be as good a rootstock as an apple seedling that has selected and named to be rootstock. seedling fruit trees can take a many years to first flower. peaches, apricots, plums tend to fruit while young. apples and pears tend to need more years to phase into adult stage (flowers). i've read that there are ways to manipulate the seedlings to mature sooner. notching, bending down branches. i've never deliberately tried any of these. unless your soil is incredibly bad, you can find a rootstock that grows decenlty in your soil. so avoid pots.
Something is seriously wrong if it is dying back. This problem must be identified and overcome before your little tree will grow on to fruit-bearing age.
Granny seedling Monica, when I lived in Wenatchee, Wash (apple capitol) for many years, I would grow apple seedlings just to see what they would do. Most turned out just fine if the parent tree was from any local orchards. If you just wish to have a backyard or patio tree, I think your little tree will be very rewarding, even if the fruit is smaller than a commercial grade tree. Pot it or plant it, protect it in severe winter weather from too much frost or drying, and it will do quite well. It needs some below freezing weather to become entirely dormant and therefore it's most productive the following summer. "Dying back" as you say, is just the dormant process and obviously nothing to worry about if the tree leafs out each spring. Good Luck!!!
