Apple trees from back yard apples

[cbw]

We have an apple tree at our house that we do very little maintenance on. It holds fruit into really late season. This pic is from this week.

I’m looking at taking some seeds to see if we can get some trees growing down at our farm.

Right now, I’m planning of cutting the seeds out and putting them in potting soil in some rootmakers. Will transfer to the farm when 6-12” tall. Will cage.

Any thoughts/input/advise?

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[Prof.Kent]

If you want the same apple with the same late-dropping characteristic you will want to graft a scion from the tree to a few new rootstocks.
Planting seeds will most likely get you a completely different apple because the seeds have the genetic material from the mother tree and the pollinator tree.

 

[sandbur]

Apple seeds need some chilling or freezing to grow. Some use refrigerators. I have used Minnesota winters.

 

[bigboreblr]

Grafting will easily get you 2 years ahead of time. Many varieties are not true to seed. What you have on the tree can be something different when reproduced. IT may make the same fruit, but could be a different size. Or the rootstock system has specific disease issues or incompatibility with your soil.

Any reason all those apples are not eaten from the ground?

Alot of nurseries still have lots of rootstock left to sell.

If going the grafting way, most roostocks fit well in a 3 gallon pot.

 

[cbw]

Grafting will easily get you 2 years ahead of time. Many varieties are not true to seed. What you have on the tree can be something different when reproduced. IT may make the same fruit, but could be a different size. Or the rootstock system has specific disease issues or incompatibility with your soil.

Any reason all those apples are not eaten from the ground?

Alot of nurseries still have lots of rootstock left to sell.

If going the grafting way, most roostocks fit well in a 3 gallon pot.

RE: why aren’t apples eaten from the ground…
The tree is right next to our house which is on 4 acres on a highway in the middle of AG. Closest habitat cover is a creek 1 mile away, so in the 18 years we’ve lived here, I’ve never seen a deer on our property. Our farm where I would be trying to get this to grow is 30 mins south.

We usually use a few for eating and apple pie, but as you can see, it is loaded.

Good thoughts all on the grafting. I’ll need to research that more.


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[Teeder]

Grafting is the way to go. I did it for the first time this year and now I'm hooked! It's alot of fun!

 

[cbw]

Those who have grafted, how did you choose what to use for the rootstock? Did you buy it, I assume?


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[Mozark]

Another option to consider, grow out 50-60 seeds. Plant out the best ten to twelve seedlings. The few that are similar to the parent that you like, keep(this may take 7-8years). The seedlings that don't perform as well or that produce fruit with drop times you don't want, graft the mother tree to those seedlings. Grafting the mother back to its own seedling, not much chance of any incompatibility. This is a long time line, grafting the mother tree to rootstocks (while you wait) will help to shorten that. I have rock and clay, m111 does very well here, well anchored, as does Dolgo rootstock.

 

[Teeder]

Those who have grafted, how did you choose what to use for the rootstock? Did you buy it, I assume?


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I bought dolgo rootstock from Blue Hill the year before. Put them in their permanent location for a year and then grafted to them this spring. Worked great! Some of my grafts ended up about 6' tall!

 

[bigboreblr]

The tree I have in the thread local crabapples your keeping an eye on is a great example of seedling variety. All up and down that hill, there are many trees like it. Yellow with a bit of an orange sun blush. Many trees like it, most of them have larger fruit and drop a month earlier. This seedling for some reason has smaller fruit, which I think makes it drop later. Pretty good tasting too. Skunks like the taste too. Seen about 3 or 4 dead ones there. There a nice piebald doe in the field the past 2 years. Debating calling her piebald peach or druham hill.

Not sure if it's grimes golden, golden delicious, or more like yellow newton.

Far as roostocks go. Most of us like large trees. From smaller to largest roughly M7, G890, M11, B118, P18, Dolgo, Antonovka Some of us are in zone 3, so antnovka or dolgo are needed. Heavy clay M111 is good. B118 grows a bit too fast for it's legs, but likes sandy soil. Some leaning or tipping has been reported from folks on here.

Everything I got is young, but I use antonovka for zone 3 sandy soil at camp. At home in zone 5, I got heavy loamy clay. M111 does better in that soil. I got a few trees on B118, my personal plan is to prune it agressively. I am relocating a few 30-06's to camp this spring. Not sure if it'll survive the cold up there, but only 1 way to find out.

 

[cbw]

The tree I have in the thread local crabapples your keeping an eye on is a great example of seedling variety. All up and down that hill, there are many trees like it. Yellow with a bit of an orange sun blush. Many trees like it, most of them have larger fruit and drop a month earlier. This seedling for some reason has smaller fruit, which I think makes it drop later. Pretty good tasting too. Skunks like the taste too. Seen about 3 or 4 dead ones there. There a nice piebald doe in the field the past 2 years. Debating calling her piebald peach or druham hill.

Not sure if it's grimes golden, golden delicious, or more like yellow newton.

Far as roostocks go. Most of us like large trees. From smaller to largest roughly M7, G890, M11, B118, P18, Dolgo, Antonovka Some of us are in zone 3, so antnovka or dolgo are needed. Heavy clay M111 is good. B118 grows a bit too fast for it's legs, but likes sandy soil. Some leaning or tipping has been reported from folks on here.

Everything I got is young, but I use antonovka for zone 3 sandy soil at camp. At home in zone 5, I got heavy loamy clay. M111 does better in that soil. I got a few trees on B118, my personal plan is to prune it agressively. I am relocating a few 30-06's to camp this spring. Not sure if it'll survive the cold up there, but only 1 way to find out.

Thanks. I’m in Iowa (zone 5 I believe), so this is helpful.


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[SwampCat]

I dont have trees that produce anywhere near that - but the apples that do fall from the tree are rarely eaten. Coons and squirrels will eat them in the tree - but deer dont touch them

 

[bigboreblr]

What kind of soil are you planting them into?

How wet or dry is the spot is in general.

I transplanted a pristine tree yesterday. I bought it in june, so its only been in a few months. I recently bought a solar pool heater for my house and it would of shaded the heater when it becomes mature.

I got heavier loam clay. I did what I could, but lost alot of roots in the transplant process. Some folks who make nursery spots for their trees add sand to the soil. This makes digging them up less damaging. I likely did not kill the tree, but had to prune it back a good bit to offset the loss of roots, otherwise the extra leaves would suck the root system dry and die.

It's best to put the trees in their permanent home. You could plant the rootstock, then graft it next year. Or graft it, then plant it. IF you got to wait a week or two, put the trees in some loose soil or sand and put them in the coldest spot you can at home in the dark. I have a spare fridge in the basement. I just kept mine in there a few days in a pot of sand.

A sharp knife and some tape is all you need. Grafting tape is nice, but many have done it with electrical or masking tape too. Certain types of grafts need some sort of wax or grafting/wound sealing compound. Tongue and whip just needs a bit of tape, which is the most common graft for folks doing a dozen or two for themselves. Commercial usually does T budding. Its a coin toss whether one is more successfl than the other. However, T budding is quicker to do and can be done on while a tree is growing.

 

[bigboreblr]

Also, yesterday while I had the rototiller out, I prepped 2 other spots that the pristine tree will be next to. You can do that while you wait for your trees to come in.

Rototilled a 5x8ft spot on the first pass. I put 2 or 3 handfuls of lime, a handful of 15-15-15, and about 3 gallons of peat moss before I rototilled. I dug out the center section of loose soil and put a handful of line another gallon or two of peat moss, and a small handful of fertilizer. I dug out the center of that 4x4ft spot, then dug maybe a 5 gallon pail circle hole another foot down for the taproot to get a new home. Mixed that with some potting soil and peat moss. Lightly tamped everything down and leveled it back up. It's more work that most do, but the reward is great growth the first few years. These trees I see everyday, so I can water them often.

One guy on here uses rootmaker pots and dig with a posthole digger. Give the roots a good chance of finding wtaer quickly that way. I use rootmaker pots for the trees up north and a few I give out to friends.

https://www.amazon.com/GROW-GREEN-Pruning-Vegetable-self-Planting-3G-10P/dp/B09Y53D3ST/ref=pd_lpo_sccl_1/143-6318461-0681607?pd_rd_w=LbiPV&content-id=amzn1.sym.116f529c-aa4d-4763-b2b6-4d614ec7dc00&pf_rd_p=116f529c-aa4d-4763-b2b6-4d614ec7dc00&pf_rd_r=EAHBVN0WAVS1FVT4ZBRJ&pd_rd_wg=Wzs1z&pd_rd_r=e5b8e952-e899-470c-864f-75f278838870&pd_rd_i=B09Y53D3ST&psc=1

The bonus is you can plant the trees mostly any time you like. They do need to go in the ground before winter though. But, I have put them in the ground in september with no poblems. I've even planted them while hunting. Rifle leaned against a tree. You do what you can when you can, expecially with $4 a gallon biden gas and a 4 hour drive to camp.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

If you want the same apple with the same late-dropping characteristic you will want to graft a scion from the tree to a few new rootstocks.
Planting seeds will most likely get you a completely different apple because the seeds have the genetic material from the mother tree and the pollinator tree.

Chad.williams - This. ^ ^ ^ ^ ^

As for rootstocks ........ just a question. Do you have bears where you'll be planting these trees? Folks with bears in their area usually go with full-sized rootstocks to get bigger, woodier trees to survive bear damage. If you don't have bears, you could probably go with MM-111 rootstock to graft your scion to. MM-111 adapts to most soils, and gives a well-rooted tree. Mature tree height on MM-111 will be about 16 to 18 feet. If you want a taller, beefier tree, I'd go with Dolgo, Antonovka, or P-18 rootstocks, which are all considered to produce "full-sized" apple trees of over 20 feet tall.