Anybody Else Planting Apple Seeds?

sandbur

5 year old buck +
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I tried several times with a local farm apple tree and had no luck. Cleane and put sees in wet paper towel in plastic in fridge. Never had any germinate.
 
I have 10 pots of seed-planting failures in my back yard, and the seed came from Sandbur. Those failures avg. 3 ft. tall and the biggest failures are now 49" and 55" tall. :emoji_grin: :emoji_wink:

Thanks Bur !!!!!
 
I collect from my columnar apple trees, persimmon and paw paw. Many apples dropped this year before seeds are all brown. I also have seeds from last year in the fridge that I didn’t try to stratify and germinate. I need a spot to grow them long enough for them to fruit. My 4/5 year old seedlings haven’t yet. I’ve tossed all the seedlings that don’t inherit the columnar mutation. I tried growing persimmons last spring but that was a total failure. None germinated.
 
I tried several times with a local farm apple tree and had no luck. Cleane and put sees in wet paper towel in plastic in fridge. Never had any germinate.

I think local, wild apple or crab trees are a winner.

I will plant these seeds in the garden in a week or so and Mother Nature takes care of stratification.

Last spring’s weather, hot, then cold killed nearly all of the seedlings.


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I found a giant pear tree (>14" DBH and ~30' tall) late last November (zone 4b) that was still holding loads of its average sized pears in someones yard. I stopped in to ask about it but no one was home. I took a couple pears that were on the ground and started a few seeds. I collected 11 seeds from the 3 pears that I picked up. I managed to start and pot 6 trees that I need to transplant this fall.

I also noticed that there were a ton of seedlings growing in their landscaping, some as tall as 6 ft that were already fruiting.

This spring I returned an inquired if they would let me dig a few out of the landscaping. They kindly allowed me to dig some and was able to get about 2 dozen seedlings of various sizes. I transplanted most of them to my property and gave a few to a friend.

I also took a cutting, the tree was already leafed out but I managed to get a limb graft to take on a Oikos ECOS pear that I already had.
 
Many (maybe 15) years ago, I planted a couple dozen apple seeds, most which germinated. I sorted the most vigorous 12 and planted to small pots for anther year, then into semi-protected areas that were caged. Two years later, only three were hanging on, and now, after 15 years, only one is still alive and it is maybe 6' tall and on it's last legs. Moral for me... there is a reason people grow rootstocks and graft known varieties to them. I suck and at growing trees, and I am not much better at grafting... a nurseryman's best customer! I have to admit it is fun, so I have nothing against growing anything from seed - good luck guys!
 
We never know what we'll get from seedlings - maybe good, productive trees - maybe not. Worth a shot if we have time & space to try, IMO. One of us could end up with a gold medal winner that's a big hit for eating or wildlife .................. or a cider spectacular for the cider makers!!
 
I’ve got seeds from a Dolgo & another local crab pulled so far. Going to try a few wild plums as well. Not really out anything besides a little time…View attachment 37186

Tell us about the local crab and why you selected it.


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I broadcasted and then raked in some Dolgo seeds in a sandy garden area in Spring 2020. I noticed nine growing in there when I walked by yesterday. I'm using the garden as a parking lot for the seedlings until some orchard trees die and I want to replace them. Then I will dig them up for transplant as needed. Roots pull out of my sand pretty easily when the ground is saturated in Spring.
 
I broadcasted and then raked in some Dolgo seeds in a sandy garden area in Spring 2020. I noticed nine growing in there when I walked by yesterday. I'm using the garden as a parking lot for the seedlings until some orchard trees die and I want to replace them. Then I will dig them up for transplant as needed. Roots pull out of my sand pretty easily when the ground is saturated in Spring.

Do you have fencing to keep rabbits away from them?


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No, it would be a rare occurrence to see a rabbit around here. I have some old concrete reinforcement wire around them.

I noticed something yesterday that has me scratching my head. I had a seed-grown Antonovka that was about 10 years old and still only five feet tall. I cut the top one foot off it and cleft grafted Golden Russet onto it this spring and got five feet of new growth from the scion -- actually, both buds grew five feet. I thought that was a lot for a tree that had been averaging only six inches its previous years.

I also had an about 12 year old whip grown from Red Delicious seed that was still only six feet tall. I similarly cut one foot off it and cleft grafted an Ide's of March scion on top and got three feet of new growth from both buds on that scion.

I'm wondering whether some seed-grown trees that appear not to thrive have growth habits that form a lot of root, but not a lot of top, and when a more vigorous variety is grafted on, there is plenty of root to push nutrients to the different top wood. I don't know. I'm still scratching my head over this. I've found a few more old dinky whips to try cleft grafting onto next spring to see if the results are repeatable.
 
^^^^^^^ - If it works ........ it works. Good luck with them.
 
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