[IBC] Apple (or crabapple) seeds
 

At 02:18 PM 4/10/03 +0000, Matteo Scarabelli wrote:
I have received seeds from apple (or crabapple, I don't know) species... Any
suggestions to make them germinate? (period of the year, soil,...)

Matteo

Apple (Malus species) seed is very easy to germinate. Just keep it moist in
the refrigerator for a month or two and then sow, or just sow it directly
and it should eventually sprout. Don't let them dry out.

Having said that, I really discourage folks from growing apples from seed.
The beauty of apples is the flowers and fruit. Malus take something on the
order of twenty years to flower and fruit from seed. Although twenty years
is a typical training period for bonsai, it is a hell of a long time to
wait to see what the flowers and fruit will eventually look like, what size
they will be, etc.

Crabapples are fairly easy to grow from cuttings in summer. With cuttings
you avoid problem grafts and you have a plant that will start flowering and
fruiting in a year or two (assuming you took the cuttings from mature
wood). One of my favorite sites in the nursery is a flat of little three to
four inch crabapple cuttings blooming away in early spring. After this
initial rooting and blooming period, they usually don't flower for another
year or two, but after that they bloom every year.

I have a bunch of apple seedlings and Washington hawthorn seedlings
(Crataegus phaenopyrum) that I bought as two year old seedlings in 1984 and
'85. No flowers yet, ...sigh.


Brent in Northern California
Evergreen Gardenworks USDA Zone 8 Sunset Zone 14

http://www.EvergreenGardenworks.com

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