"Bill" wrote in message
...

Apples never grow true from seed, and seldom are very good, but at least
an apple tree that you grew from a seed will be *unique* :-)

Best regards,
Bob


Yup, the worse that could happen is the tree dies. The best, he gets a
good tasting apple. Most likely, he gets a shade tree, but the kid gets
to, mayby, develop an interest in growing things and that's the
important part.

Bill

If the kids are typical, they will have forgotten about the tree in about 3
minutes. Meanwhile you will be stuck with a tree that is almost guaranteed
to be worthless in terms of fruit production and which is likely to grow
quite large. If the kids are 7 now, they will be about 17 when the tree
first produces apples. You know how excited a 17 year old can get about a
tree producing inedible apples -- I'd say about as excited as making
sauerkraut or doing the ironing. Meanwhile you will be picking up the
rotting fruit that attracts yellow jackets and other wildlife. Furthermore,
the typical family moves about every 5 years, so the chances of even being
around when the tree produces is quite slim. I see people make really poor
plant choices in my neighborhood and then move. The problem is ultimately
passed along to someone else. That innocent experiment or impulse purchase
turns into someone else's expensive tree removal.

There are lots of plants you can grow from seed besides apples. If you want
to teach a science lesson then by all means do it. If you want fruit grown
on a manageable tree, then buy one. There is no need for both "experiments"
to be linked. I see parents project their own interests onto children. It
is surprising how little Megan becomes interested in making ice-cream when
it just happens that mom is interested in making ice-cream. Therefore, mom
justifies her purchase of the $400 ice-cream freezer based on her 6 year
old's sudden interest. This is a scenario that actually happened in my
family.