Direct seeding apples?

[chummer]

crazy idea. I have a tree in my neighborhood that has golf ball size apples that hang into January. What if I picked a bag, kept them in the freezer chest till spring then buried the whole apple. If the freezer is no good I could keep them in the basement. My guess is this is how they spread naturally but not sure on the storage.

 

[dipper]

I've just thrown dirt on top of apples and left them. Germination was good, but your not gonna get that same Apple.

 

[2ndHand]

If you want to grow from seed, I would suggest removing the seed and storing the seeds only in the refrigerator using a zip lock Baggie. I grew about a dozen that way. I would think grafting would be a better option - but it's fun to try different methods. Best of luck!

 

[John-W-WI]

crazy idea. I have a tree in my neighborhood that has golf ball size apples that hang into January. What if I picked a bag, kept them in the freezer chest till spring then buried the whole apple. If the freezer is no good I could keep them in the basement. My guess is this is how they spread naturally but not sure on the storage.

They will grow from seed, but what you will end up with is anyone's guess. The trees grown from seed won't bear the same apples as the parent tree. Something else was involved in the pollination process, who knows what???

Still fun to do. But you will end up with a full sized tree which will take longer to fruit. I've done it, and will do it again in the future. But if mast on the ground is what you are looking for, grafting is the fastest way to get there (or buying trees from a nursery).

-John

 

[chummer]

I know they won't be the same but I have lots of room for experimenting at my new place. I have about 5 acres cleared for plots so lots of borders to plant. In addition there a few dead end logging trails that are 20' across I could plant trees in. These apples are the perfect size to plant a lot of them in no time. I tried taking seeds out of them two winters ago but I think they were exposed to cold to long. I planted 100 seeds inside and only a couple grew and died when I transplanted them.