11-03-2004, 11:16 PM
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apple seedlings
(Mihai Cartoaje) wrote in message . com...
"Cereus-validus" wrote in message .com...
Not advisable to grow apples from seeds because the hybrids will not come
true.
I have read on it, although if someone has experience with hybrids
from non-crab apples, it would be interesting to read about.
I thought about planting seedlings because,
- Here in Quebec, (zone 4b agriculture canada 2000, 3 USDA, -40
Celsius in winter), farmers plant McIntoshes and Cortland. I was
counting on the 10 to 20 Celsius degrees of extra cold resistance
seedlings have.
- Apple trees prefer sexual reproduction.
Saying apples "prefer" sexual reproduction seems to be an example of
anthropomorphism. If people hadn't used grafting to clone apple trees,
there would have been just one 'McIntosh' apple tree, and we would not
be eating 'McIntosh' apples today.
There is always a slim chance that you will obtain a superior apple
cultivar from a seedling. Many apple cultivars originated from
seedlings without any intentional breeding including 'McIntosh' and
'Granny Smith'. 'Cortland' is a cross between 'Ben Davis' and
'McIntosh'.
Many apple cultivars are self-sterile so cannot self-pollinate. Apple
orchards of these self-sterile cultivars must contain a second
cultivar as a pollenizer. Therefore, seeds of some cultivars will be
hybrids of two cultivars. However, each seedling with two parents will
be slightly different because of the "mixing" of genes that occurs in
sexual reproduction.
References
"A" is for antique apples
http://www.foodhistory.com/foodnotes...iqueapples.htm
Cortland apple
http://www.epicurious.com/c_play/c04.../cortland.html
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