How does this work. I have some apple seeds from an apple that has been eaten and then I keep the seeds from it, dry them out and pot them up? Not looking to grow a tree, just curious on the practice.
Yes, dry them and then plant them. However, you'll want to note that your chances of getting the apple you ate from the tree you grow are something like 1/100,000. Most commercial eating apples are grown from grafted branches, not original stock.
This reminds me of one of our kids. Each day he'd eat an apple an go and plant the seed. I hated the idea of discouraging his interest by telling him that it won't work, being apples from cold climate. I brought home 2 tropical Eisenheimer apples for his birthady about 3 or 4 years ago. They have established well and the fruit fly beat us this year but we'll have some nice fruit next year :} I might get the kids planting the seed of one, to see if they will germinate, as the delicious seed that the young fella was planting never did germinate. I guess they'll have a chance of seeing them fruit. Grafting is done to achieve fruiting earlier and maintain the quality of the fruit alike. Because apples cross pollinate (hence my 2 plants sometimes different species are needed), you could end up with either better fruit or worse I guess, but as Lorax pointed out you may not get to see them.
I heard that the seeds have to be chilled for 6 weeks in the refrigerator in a ziplock bag with peat moss.
You'd probably be right there, as I was trying to point out that the seed wouldn't germinate here because we don't get cold enough weather. I guess the peat moss is supposed to give a growing media and keep extra moisture around the seed until it germinates? check these two sites... http://www.parentchildeducation.com/units/apple/activities/plant_seed.php http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/24824/how_to_plant_and_grow_apple_trees_from.html
Peat keeps seed from drying out under refrigeration. Which brings up the point that drying the seed before planting may not be desirable, I'd check on this before doing it. Some kinds of seeds enter a dormancy if dried between harvest and planting, making germination less quickly and easily achieved.
Both of the links I put up definitely recommend wrapping them in wet paper towels so they do not dry out.
I have grown hundreds and I just plant the seeds in a yogurt container with drainage holes punched in the bottom and half filled with dirt. Cover with 1/2 inch of dirt, place in a plastic bag in the bottom of your fridge for 6 weeks, pull out and place in a warm space and watch them grow. I don't usually dry my seeds as I find that not nearly as many germinate if they have been dried first. If you collect seeds from grocery store apples in Jan/Feb, you can even skip the cold stratification step as apparently cold storage since harvest has already done that for you.
