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Apple Tree From Seed in Mid-Atlantic
Charles wrote: On Sun, 03 Jun 2007 18:54:13 -0400, John Bachman wrote: On Sun, 3 Jun 2007 14:46:29 -0400, "Buck Turgidson" wrote: My wife sowed some apple seeds from a grocery store apple, which germinated just fine. Would these things do ok in the Mid-Atlantic region? This was more of an experiment for our young kids, but I am wondering if these things are viable here. Maybe, but it is most likely that you will not be happy with the result. Apples are grown on rootstock so that the rootstock determines the growth habit of the tree and the variety is determined by what is grafted to the root stock. When you plant the seeds you get the variety of apple on that trees rootstock which may not be suitable at all. If you really want to grow apples I suggest that you decide which variety you want and buy a tree from an nursery or supplier. Be prepared for some serious pruning and pest control to get quality apples. My experience is that nearly everyone wants to grow their own apples until they find out how much time and money must be invested to get quality fruit. Then buying from a local orchard seems much more acceptable to them. Good luck, John Clearly I don't know enough botany to understand this, but how does the root stock genetics affect the new seed? I can see the pollen and egg genes getting mixed in the new seeds, of if apples reproduce by apomixis, then the top stock could show up in the new seeds, but I can't figure out how the root stock would. Charles, There is no genetic connection between an apple rootstock and the variety of scion (branch from the apple tree you want to propagate). The rootstock simply acts as a base to feed the scion the nutrients it needs to grow. Apples do not reproduce by apomixis. They require pollination either from themselves (self-fertile), or another tree. The reason apples cannot be successfully grown from seed is due to regression of the genetics. Almost all apple seeds carry the genetic information of some 'average' of it's parents with those of the populations these parents came from. Because apples usually require another apple tree to pollinate them, these recessive genes are not weeded out from generation to generation. Grafting on the other hand, is an exact genetic copy of the original apple. Peaches are usually self-pollinated, so these undesirable recessive genes have been weeded out. That's why you would have much better luck growing a peach tree from it's seed. Hope I haven't confused you with the genetics. Sherwin D. |
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