I found a couple of old apple trees that produced the
best apples I had since a child. I have always wanted
to try planting apple seeds and now with these two
wonderful apple seeds, I did just that.

I have two apple trees (same tree) that grew almost 3
ft in one year! I'm ready to plant them in the ground as
soon as the weather cools.

The other apple seeds that I planted, are just now
popping up in my make-shift hot box.

My question....will these trees produce anything near
to their mother plant? I have other dwarf apple trees
and I'm not worried about pollination. But I don't
know what if any type of apples these trees will produce.

Is a seed a seed and will it keep growing and be like
the mother seed from which it came?

Donna
in WA

On Wed, 16 Sep 2009 08:43:49 -0700, "DEM" wrote:


I found a couple of old apple trees that produced the
best apples I had since a child. I have always wanted
to try planting apple seeds and now with these two
wonderful apple seeds, I did just that.

I have two apple trees (same tree) that grew almost 3
ft in one year! I'm ready to plant them in the ground as
soon as the weather cools.

The other apple seeds that I planted, are just now
popping up in my make-shift hot box.

My question....will these trees produce anything near
to their mother plant? I have other dwarf apple trees
and I'm not worried about pollination. But I don't
know what if any type of apples these trees will produce.

Is a seed a seed and will it keep growing and be like
the mother seed from which it came?

Donna
in WA

http://www.gardeningtipsnideas.com/2...m_se eds.html

DEM wrote:
I found a couple of old apple trees that produced the
best apples I had since a child. I have always wanted
to try planting apple seeds and now with these two
wonderful apple seeds, I did just that.

I have two apple trees (same tree) that grew almost 3
ft in one year! I'm ready to plant them in the ground as
soon as the weather cools.

The other apple seeds that I planted, are just now
popping up in my make-shift hot box.

My question....will these trees produce anything near
to their mother plant? I have other dwarf apple trees
and I'm not worried about pollination. But I don't
know what if any type of apples these trees will produce.

Is a seed a seed and will it keep growing and be like
the mother seed from which it came?

Donna
in WA

There are two reasons why you might not get a tree that you like.

One is that if the original was grafted (and the seedling obviously isn't)
the different root stock may change the nature of the tree and its
hardiness, although it shouldn't have much direct effect on the fruit.
The second is that when grown from seed there is a degree of genetic
variation due to random recombination of genes from the parents, this is
more marked if the pollinator is another variety.

You mention dwarf trees, dwarfing is done by grafting good fruiting wood on
to dwarf rootstock. Your seedlings will not be dwarfs unless from dwarf
fruiting wood which is probably not the case.

Commercially raised apple trees are grafted. The rootstock is a hardy one
(eg resistant to root disease) and/or a dwarf one and the scion is cut from
of a known good fruiting performer, you probably won't get either of these
benefits but you might still get a nice apple tree, it's a matter of chance.

David

Thank you! the link was very informative and have it
saved. My seeds grew so fast at first I thought them
weeds or sunflowers. But they're apple. Six years is
a long time but it'll be worth the wait.

Donna
in WA



"brooklyn1" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 16 Sep 2009 08:43:49 -0700, "DEM" wrote:


I found a couple of old apple trees that produced the
best apples I had since a child. I have always wanted
to try planting apple seeds and now with these two
wonderful apple seeds, I did just that.

I have two apple trees (same tree) that grew almost 3
ft in one year! I'm ready to plant them in the ground as
soon as the weather cools.

The other apple seeds that I planted, are just now
popping up in my make-shift hot box.

My question....will these trees produce anything near
to their mother plant? I have other dwarf apple trees
and I'm not worried about pollination. But I don't
know what if any type of apples these trees will produce.

Is a seed a seed and will it keep growing and be like
the mother seed from which it came?

Donna
in WA

http://www.gardeningtipsnideas.com/2...m_se eds.html

On Wed, 16 Sep 2009 08:43:49 -0700, "DEM" wrote:


I found a couple of old apple trees that produced the
best apples I had since a child. I have always wanted
to try planting apple seeds and now with these two
wonderful apple seeds, I did just that.

I have two apple trees (same tree) that grew almost 3
ft in one year! I'm ready to plant them in the ground as
soon as the weather cools.

The other apple seeds that I planted, are just now
popping up in my make-shift hot box.

My question....will these trees produce anything near
to their mother plant? I have other dwarf apple trees
and I'm not worried about pollination. But I don't
know what if any type of apples these trees will produce.

Is a seed a seed and will it keep growing and be like
the mother seed from which it came?

Donna
in WA



Maybe, odds are against it. You best bet is to get a branch of the
tree which you enjoyed the fruit and graft it onto a well-established
apple tree. You want a tree with an excellent root stock for
starters, then you can graft (up to ~150) varieties onto it.

On Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:38:04 -0700, "DEM" wrote:


Thank you! the link was very informative and have it
saved. My seeds grew so fast at first I thought them
weeds or sunflowers. But they're apple. Six years is
a long time but it'll be worth the wait.

Donna
in WA

"brooklyn1" wrote

http://www.gardeningtipsnideas.com/2...m_se eds.html


Six years is way too long on a maybe. Go to a local nursery and buy
some fruit trees (they don't cost much), you'll have apples by the
second year.

Thank you! the link was very informative and have it
saved. My seeds grew so fast at first I thought them
weeds or sunflowers. But they're apple. Six years is
a long time but it'll be worth the wait.

Donna
in WA

"brooklyn1" wrote

http://www.gardeningtipsnideas.com/2...m_se eds.html


Six years is way too long on a maybe. Go to a local nursery and buy
some fruit trees (they don't cost much), you'll have apples by the
second year.

My semi-dwarf apple trees were bought by a local nursery as were my
semi-dwarf cherries trees. I'm hoping to have some fruit next year on
both.

The seeds I planted and actually grew (not a natural green thumber)
were all from decades old trees....at least 50 years old or older. They
just don't make em like this any more and I'm old enough to know
that....so since they're growing anyway, I'll just wait and see what
happens.

Who knows....maybe nothing. But it's worth the try.

Donna
in WA

On Sep 16, 6:08*pm, "DEM" wrote:
My semi-dwarf apple trees were bought by a local nursery as were my
semi-dwarf cherries trees. *I'm hoping to have some fruit next year on
both.

The seeds I planted and actually grew (not a natural green thumber)
were all from decades old trees....at least 50 years old or older. *They
just don't make em like this any more and I'm old enough to know
that....so since they're growing anyway, I'll just wait and see what
happens.

Who knows....maybe nothing. * But it's worth the try.

Maybe you should market those seeds, or seedlings?

Karen

"Karen" wrote in message
...
On Sep 16, 6:08 pm, "DEM" wrote:
My semi-dwarf apple trees were bought by a local nursery as were my
semi-dwarf cherries trees. I'm hoping to have some fruit next year on
both.

The seeds I planted and actually grew (not a natural green thumber)
were all from decades old trees....at least 50 years old or older. They
just don't make em like this any more and I'm old enough to know
that....so since they're growing anyway, I'll just wait and see what
happens.

Who knows....maybe nothing. But it's worth the try.

Maybe you should market those seeds, or seedlings?

Karen

Not a bad idea. Was in touch with a company that
wanted a branch from an old 75+ year King apple
tree. Oh how I loved those apples as a child.

I'll think about your idea....who knows!

Donna
in WA

"DEM" wrote:

The seeds I planted and actually grew (not a natural green thumber)
were all from decades old trees....at least 50 years old or older. *They
just don't make em like this any more and I'm old enough to know
that....so since they're growing anyway, I'll just wait and see what
happens.

Who knows....maybe nothing. * But it's worth the try.


Actually it's not worth the try, it's a very poor investment, in a
large block of wasted time and the wasted growing space, plus your
hopeful expectations will ultimately be dashed... when you could have
planted grafted true to form sapplings that would be productive in 2
years for like $15 each... Lowes, Home Depot, Walmart, etc. sell
potted fruit trees in season for cheap, the exact same trees sold at
fancy schmancy nurserys for trice the price. And fruit trees require
a lot of maintenence, not worth it for throw back fruit. I can see
planting fruit pips from a tree you're sentimental about, for potted
foliage if all you have is like one or two apartment windows, but odds
of pips producing true to form fruit are slim to zero. If you live on
rural acreage plant your seedlings at the edge of the woods where they
can produce critter food, and probably beautiful blossoms. I wouldn't
destroy them, planting trees is always a good deed, and will gift the
planet same as any tree, but if it's apples you want then it's true to
form grafted apple trees you need to plant.

brooklyn1 wrote in
:

"DEM" wrote:

The seeds I planted and actually grew (not a natural green
thumber) were all from decades old trees....at least 50 years
old or older. *They just don't make em like this any more and
I'm old enough to know that....so since they're growing
anyway, I'll just wait and see what happens.

Who knows....maybe nothing. * But it's worth the try.


Actually it's not worth the try, it's a very poor investment, in
a large block of wasted time and the wasted growing space, plus
your hopeful expectations will ultimately be dashed... when you
could have planted grafted true to form sapplings that would be
productive in 2 years for like $15 each... Lowes, Home Depot,
Walmart, etc. sell potted fruit trees in season for cheap, the
exact same trees sold at fancy schmancy nurserys for trice the
price. And fruit trees require a lot of maintenence, not worth
it for throw back fruit. I can see planting fruit pips from a
tree you're sentimental about, for potted foliage if all you
have is like one or two apartment windows, but odds of pips
producing true to form fruit are slim to zero. If you live on
rural acreage plant your seedlings at the edge of the woods
where they can produce critter food, and probably beautiful
blossoms. I wouldn't destroy them, planting trees is always a
good deed, and will gift the planet same as any tree, but if
it's apples you want then it's true to form grafted apple trees
you need to plant.

and how do you think new apples come into being? by grafting trees?
nope. you have to start by planting seeds. some are ok, some are
really really good. you won't get bad fruit from seed, and you might
get something great.
for old fogies like you, maybe planting fruit seeds takes too long,
but (thankfully) we aren't all like you, willing to buy trash trees
at WalMart.
lee

enigma wrote:
and how do you think new apples come into being? by grafting trees?
nope. you have to start by planting seeds. some are ok, some are
really really good. you won't get bad fruit from seed, and you might
get something great.
for old fogies like you, maybe planting fruit seeds takes too long,
but (thankfully) we aren't all like you, willing to buy trash trees
at WalMart.
lee


You might get something great, but it's a long shot. Most apple
orchards plant crabapples for pollinators because they produce a *lot*
of pollen over a long blooming season.

Even an apple that is worthless for eating might be really good for
making cider or jelly.

If (when) your apple tree eventually fruits and they are nasty little
disease-ridden crabapples, you can still graft a named variety (or two)
onto the tree and convert it over in a couple of years to a grafted tree
without totally losing all those years you waited. Or just enjoy your
unique crabapple tree for what it is.

Bob

The seeds I planted and actually grew (not a natural green thumber)
were all from decades old trees....at least 50 years old or older. They
just don't make em like this any more and I'm old enough to know
that....so since they're growing anyway, I'll just wait and see what
happens.
Who knows....maybe nothing. But it's worth the try.
Donna
in WA


I'm jumping in late to this thread .. sorry.
Can anyone say whether-or-not
directly planting "branch-clones" of old fruit trees
will produce the same fruit of the original tree ?
"branch clones" being the result of girding & rooting
a branch _ON_ a fruit tree - then cutting and re-planting it.
... or does this rooty-branch need to be grafted
to a strong root stock ? later on.
The property where I grew up has some ancient
fruit trees - 3 or 4 apple and 1 winter pear -
that might be worth preserving.
John T

hubops wrote:
The seeds I planted and actually grew (not a natural green thumber)
were all from decades old trees....at least 50 years old or older. They
just don't make em like this any more and I'm old enough to know
that....so since they're growing anyway, I'll just wait and see what
happens.
Who knows....maybe nothing. But it's worth the try.
Donna
in WA


I'm jumping in late to this thread .. sorry.
Can anyone say whether-or-not
directly planting "branch-clones" of old fruit trees
will produce the same fruit of the original tree ?
"branch clones" being the result of girding & rooting
a branch _ON_ a fruit tree - then cutting and re-planting it.
.. or does this rooty-branch need to be grafted
to a strong root stock ? later on.
The property where I grew up has some ancient
fruit trees - 3 or 4 apple and 1 winter pear -
that might be worth preserving.
John T


A simple Google search will lead you to numerous articles on just this
question. You can also contact your state agricultural extension service
for answers. Try this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fruit_tree_propagation

hubops wrote:
The seeds I planted and actually grew (not a natural green thumber)
were all from decades old trees....at least 50 years old or older.
They just don't make em like this any more and I'm old enough to
know that....so since they're growing anyway, I'll just wait and
see what happens. Who knows....maybe nothing. But it's worth the
try. Donna in WA


I'm jumping in late to this thread .. sorry. Can anyone say
whether-or-not directly planting "branch-clones" of old fruit trees
will produce the same fruit of the original tree ? "branch clones"
being the result of girding & rooting a branch _ON_ a fruit tree -
then cutting and re-planting it. .. or does this rooty-branch need to
be grafted to a strong root stock ? later on. The property where I
grew up has some ancient fruit trees - 3 or 4 apple and 1 winter pear
- that might be worth preserving. John T



It should work. If you want to search for information, the technical
term is "air layering". I air layered a magnolia limb when i was a kid
just to see if i could. The resulting magnolia tree in my parents' yard
is pretty big now.

You could also harvest some "bud wood" or "scion wood" and graft it to
another apple tree to keep the old variety going.

HTH,
bob