Growing Apples From Seed

[Bowsnbucks]

Maybe Antonovka rootstock doesn't do as well in your sandier soil there. Antonovka does really well here, but camp has a clayish-loam soil. Our trees on Ant. roots are doing great. One thing about Antonovka that I noticed is they don't do much in the first 2 or 3 years, but once they get in gear, they really grow.

Bur - from all your posts over several years, it seems Dolgo is a winner for you there. If it works ....... it works. Hard to stray too far from success !!!

 

[PoorSand]

I've had decent luck with my trees grafted to Antonovka rootstock. No complaints there.

It is just the Antonovka seeds I got that I was disappointed with. I think they were duds.

 

[sandbur]

Maybe Antonovka rootstock doesn't do as well in your sandier soil there. Antonovka does really well here, but camp has a clayish-loam soil. Our trees on Ant. roots are doing great. One thing about Antonovka that I noticed is they don't do much in the first 2 or 3 years, but once they get in gear, they really grow.

Bur - from all your posts over several years, it seems Dolgo is a winner for you there. If it works ....... it works. Hard to stray too far from success !!!

I have several 30 year old trees on Anty and they have done ok.
I agree that they sit still for awhile the first few years.

I have some trees from a Michigan nursery on Anty and they have been very slow to do anything. I left a few of the rootstocks grow and had some fruit I wasn’t impressed with plus the Anty trees always looked sick with CAR and who knows what.

Are there different strains of Anty?

The trees from SLN on Anty have done Ok.
They do not get first year growth like those on dolgo, but they are ok with time.


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[cavey]

I have Antonovka root stock that has come up from failed grafts that grew up next to a variety of trees grafted to the same antonovka root stock order and many of those Ant. shoots have clearly out paced the growth of those grafted trees. I left a few of those better RS trees grow and this spring I moved a few out of my nursery to their new homes. Trees gowing into there 4th growing season post graft on 1/4" RS that now are 8' plus trees with 2" caliper trunks. Granted I have a few Antonovka RS's from failed grafts that have not put on that much growth but are comparable to my grafted trees from the same batch. From my limited experience I would say that the grafted trees on Ant. Root stock are not as vigorous as just the Antonovka root stock from failed grafts. Im sure I have one or two root stocks I just planted without grafting but those would have been cull or un used at the time of grafting - assuming less desirable stock. I think you can get a mix of results - its just fate sometimes

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Bur - I don't know if there are different strains of Anty or not as far as rootstock. I have seen a couple varieties of Antonovka apples listed on web sites. I'm not sure what those differences mean. SLN used to say in their catalogs -

"A vigorously growing seedling apple which is used as a rootstock by northern growers. The fruit is nothing to write home about; a large yellow apple that can be used for drying, cider, sometimes even fresh eating depending on the seedling. (Each one is genetically different.) A good choice for wildlife plantings."

That sounds like what Cavey describes above.

 

[PoorSand]

Sandbur:

I just noticed your earlier question about chip depth.

Some years, I dump three inches of wood chips (chipped up brush and limbs) under my trees to help hold moisture in my soil. If suckers come up from a desirable seed grown tree’s roots, I dump three more inches of chips over them, so that the original layer of chips stays moist and invites the suckers to root in that layer. If the chips don’t have much in the way of fines in them, I shovel sand (my field soil) on top for the rain to wash in, to prevent air pruning of the roots that form.

Sometimes the suckers are a couple feet tall by the time I notice them. For those, I shovel alternating layers of chips and sand over them about three-fourths of the way up.

I found a few new ones this morning and swept back the chips to see where they were attached. They were coming up under three inches of chips from the curve where a main root transitions to the trunk. None have self-rooted yet. I pushed another three inches of chips onto them. (Photo attached.)

 

[PoorSand]

I just found some more. These have three inches of chips over them at present. Some of these are too small and delicate to put more chips over just yet, but I'll at least put some wire around them today. I snagged some other suckers off this seed grown tree when the frost went out this spring. Those all had roots like bottle brushes.

The parent tree is several years overdue on blossoming for its first time. I suppose I will transplant these next year, and if the parent still hasn't blossomed by the year these are 3/4" caliper, I'll cleft graft something else onto them.

 

[sandbur]

Bur - I don't know if there are different strains of Anty or not as far as rootstock. I have seen a couple varieties of Antonovka apples listed on web sites. I'm not sure what those differences mean. SLN used to say in their catalogs -

"A vigorously growing seedling apple which is used as a rootstock by northern growers. The fruit is nothing to write home about; a large yellow apple that can be used for drying, cider, sometimes even fresh eating depending on the seedling. (Each one is genetically different.) A good choice for wildlife plantings."

That sounds like what Cavey describes above.

It seems like I got a few apples with the description you just had. I tried to topwork it and that failed.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

^^^^ I've never gotten named Anty rootstocks and just let them grow out. We do have 5 seedling apple trees from SLN at camp. They all look a bit different - the trees themselves. None have fruited yet & they're in 6th leaf this year. All 5 show no disease problems, and all appear vigorous & healthy. Good crotch angles on all of them. What the fruit will be like remains to be seen.

 

[PoorSand]

Telemark: I see what you mean about Granny Smith seeds germinating inside the apple. I cut the core of one open today. Photo attached of what I found inside.

 

[PoorSand]

I believe you can dig roots out and directly graft to them. I saw a video of someone - lopping up roots into 4 or 5 inch sections and grafting to those. They were doing them in mass and bedding them in damp sawdust filled boxes. I saw it on the internet so it must be true.

Here's a link to an article by a guy who says he has "grafted thousands of Apple trees in the past using root pieces with excellent results" and explains how he does it.
http://rfcarchives.org.au/Next/CaringForTrees/RootGrafting9-91.htm

 

[sandbur]

I believe you can dig roots out and directly graft to them. I saw a video of someone - lopping up roots into 4 or 5 inch sections and grafting to those. They were doing them in mass and bedding them in damp sawdust filled boxes. I saw it on the internet so it must be true.

Here's a link to an article by a guy who says he has "grafted thousands of Apple trees in the past using root pieces with excellent results" and explains how he does it.

Missing link?


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[PoorSand]

The link should be showing up now.

 

[sandbur]

Kinderkrisp seedling in the middle is now waist tall. (OK, I am short).

Other two are Crabby Crisp seedlings.

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[Bowsnbucks]

Is that dill behind the seedlings?? Makin' pickles??

I think I posted on another thread about one of our SLN seedling apple trees at camp. It has fruit this summer for the first time. So far, they're about 1 1/2" dia. greenish apples - about 10 of them on that tree. I'll let you know how they turn out - taste, hang time, etc. This tree is one of the 5 seedlings from SLN that I referenced in post #89 above. One finally fruited.

 

[sandbur]

Is that dill behind the seedlings?? Makin' pickles??

I think I posted on another thread about one of our SLN seedling apple trees at camp. It has fruit this summer for the first time. So far, they're about 1 1/2" dia. greenish apples - about 10 of them on that tree. I'll let you know how they turn out - taste, hang time, etc.

Yup, dill.

My wife wants it for pickles.
I have a recipe for fish on the grill, with dill, chopped cucumber, onion, and butter on it.


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[sandbur]

This tree is from seed I planted about thirty years ago.

It is a early, fairly large, yellow apple.


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[sandbur]

ABC crab(a seedling) is showing color.

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[sandbur]

I should have removed crabs from the central leader on this tree. My seedlings planted for the deer might get a bit of pruning and a fruit tree spike, but they are on their own. Most have tipped central leaders from the fruit load.

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[sandbur]

Various other seedlings.

The deer have matted the grass down a bit under that last crab apple. It appears to be more of a dolgo type.


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