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.
Thanks.
Only way to know is to try them. They might be worthless, they might be the next great thing. If you have the time, space, patience, then why not let them grow?
as an aside, when I read mid-Atlantic my first thought was "Out in the middle of the ocean?" Probably not what you had in mind.
LOL. No dry land. Thanks.
Apples are grown everywhere, and they do well in the Mid-Atlantic region.
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.
Waste of time and effort. The odds are that the resulting apples will be awful.
It's a genetic thing.
Sherw> My wife sowed some apple seeds from a grocery store apple, which germinated
There is no 'might' about it. About the same odds as winning the jackpot lotto. Why encourage these people to waste their time? If they had a one in ten chance of a decent apple, I might say try it, but the odds against it are more like 1 in the tens of thousands, or worse. People are going to reply that they had good luck with certain stone fruits, etc., but these are different species of fruit with different genetic characteristics. Apples do not reproduce anything genetically close, directly from their seed. There are no shortcuts in growing apple trees. End of story.
Sherw> >
The apple tree I have in my yard is "Golden Dorset" or "Dorset Golden", a chance seedling from Bermuda.
Unfortunately the people there didn't know as much as you, or they would have eliminated it at the first opportunity.
Things with a one in a million probability happen every day in this world, sometimes people even win the lottery.
I like my story better than yours. While I have lived with the idea of never trying anything that I don't know the outcome, I don't recommend it to others.
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.
Thanks. You have confirmed what I thought was the case. What John posted didn't make sense to me.
I still disagree with you in that I think it might be interesting to grow trees from random seeds as long as not too much is invested in the outcome.
Oh man.......what a great setup!
I'm off to bed.
Care, Charlie
John Bachman expounded:
Perhaps not.
Somewhat true. The rootstock determines the size of the tree heightwise.
This is so far wrong it's incredible.
Growing apples from seeds out of an apple you've eaten is definitely just a fun experiment. You'll probably not get as good of an apple as what you've eaten. Do it for fun, don't do it because you want to start an orchard.
And definitely don't get your genetics lessons from John!
I agree that you wont get as good of an apple from a tree from a seed, but they can still be canned, used as applesauce, and cooked in pies or cobblers.
I have two in my yard started from seeds, a Fuji and a New Zealand rose. We did it as an experiment, and both are not 7 to 8 feet tall. They wont produce for another year or two. We also have a golden delicious and a Fuji ordered from a catalog.
Your kids will love them, and I am glad Johnny Appleseed didn't have the attitude that some of us have about starting trees from seeds. You cant do worse than he did.
Dwayne
"Dwayne" wrote in news:96dd8$4664a3c6$cdf5b0e6$ snipped-for-privacy@st-tel.net:
You know he planted apple trees to make applejack, right?
Are you saying that there is a better chance the resultant apples will taste good? What's really incredible is that you believe that.
We are talking big big odds that you won't get a good tasting apple.
Why bother. There is no question that the seed would possibly produce a tree. You do experiments when you don't know the outcome. If you want to experiment, try grafting fruit onto a rootstock. At least you have
something useful when the experiment is over. Why not plant a peach seed where you have a much better chance of success.
Sherwin D.
These will be standard size apple trees, so don't expect fruit for several more years. Have lot's of sugar on hand for these spitters.
Sure can. Waste your time and efforts. Imagine kids growing up and tasting these awful fruits and telling their parents "what were you thinking about when you planted this?".
sherwindu expounded:
No, I did not say that. Your rabid resistance to anyone having a bit of fun growing an apple from seed makes you see it that way, however.
No, I don't and once again I never said that I notice you didn't bother correcting John's ridiculous statement about the seeds being the result of the rootstock and not the flowering part of the tree. You go absolutely blind with fury every time anyone brings up trying to grow an apple from seed. Calm down!
Now why don't you get down off your high horse and stop trying to convince everyone how stupid they are for trying something for fun?
First of all, I suggest you stop trying to demonize me. I am not the grinch who stole Christmas. I'm simply trying to dispell the belief that someone can expect to get a reasonable tasting apple by planting a tree from a seed. If people think it's fun to plant apple seeds to see if they will make an apple tree and wind up with a spitter, be my guest.
I suggest you check your language vs. mine. You are the one who needs to calm down.
I guess some people don't like having the facts presented to them.
I would not give a chemistry set to a child if I thought they could blow themselves up with it. There are many other gardening things kids can do, which are much more rewarding.
Sherwin D.
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