Wild Apple Seedlings

[buckvelvet]

I'd never heard of this place and just randomly ran across it. Seems like it'd be decent rootstock (although expensive for that) or would be a good more affordable option for someone looking to get some hardier plants growing.

http://www.n40wildapples.com/index.php?page=2

 

[leexrayshady]

All they are doing is they have some wild tree out back they harvest the seeds from. Nothing different than you going to the nearest orchard and collecting the fallen apples and starting the seeds, I would just by a bunch of b118 stock and plant those. But thanks for sharing the link, it's always nice to have options out r there

 

[wiscwhip]

Do you get a refund for the trees that don't produce apples? No guarantee whatsoever that a seed grown apple will produce fruit. So after you plant them and nurture them for 5 to 7 years only to find they don't produce, only produce sporadically, or produce pea sized fruit, you can start over and have lost all that time which could have been spent growing known producers on quality rootstocks. Doesn't seem like much of a bargain unless your in your early 20's and have years to burn.

 

[leexrayshady]

If your truly want wild tree get some kazak seeds / scions from grin.

 

[buckvelvet]

Hey ya'll i just meant if someone wanted a head start on planting something if they are just getting their feet wet on seed plantings.

 

[buckvelvet]

Do you get a refund for the trees that don't produce apples? No guarantee whatsoever that a seed grown apple will produce fruit. So after you plant them and nurture them for 5 to 7 years only to find they don't produce, only produce sporadically, or produce pea sized fruit, you can start over and have lost all that time which could have been spent growing known producers on quality rootstocks. Doesn't seem like much of a bargain unless your in your early 20's and have years to burn.

Yeah if they don't produce you just pissed a lot of time away for sure.

 

[wiscwhip]

I would suspect, like with most apples planted from seed, that they would produce something. It's ending up with tree after tree with marble-sized fruit that would be the real heartbreaker.

 

[sandbur]

I have started a bunch of crab apples from seed. Some are good for the birds and grouse and some are deer sized crabs. Still OK for me.
I have 4 or 5 seedlings that are still holding dolgo sized fruit.

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

It's actually pretty easy to get free apple trees if you have a bunch of buckets and some seeds leftover from eating apples. I used to plant a lot of apples from seeds when I had more free time and fewer kids. I saved lots of seeds from store bought apples that I ate and I would throw them in random pots and throw them in my backyard. I would typically have 20 or 30 pots with seedlings growing at all times. Usually I let a couple seeds grow in each pot to see which one grew the best. I'd leave the trees in the pots all winter and let the winterkill determine the winners. Normally half of the trees died from winterkill or were severely stunted, but some survived and a few would look great. I would plant the best looking survivors both in my backyard as well as at my hunting property. One of the seedlings was the fastest growing apple tree I've seen - it would grow 3 feet a year and it was flowering by the 3rd year. I was disappointed when the fruit turned out to be some type of crabapple about an inch in diameter. That would be a nice tree for the deer, but not so nice in my backyard.

My little experiment taught me that there's significant variances between the trees grown from random seeds and a lot of them aren't suited to grow in Minnesota. But some of them grow great and you might get lucky and get a great free apple tree from seeds that you would normally throw away.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Another source for wild apple seedlings is SLN. They sell them for $3 /piece or $25 for 10. I got 5 of them 3 years ago and they've grown pretty well. The tallest ones are 6 ft. tall. For 15 bucks, it was worth the money to get 2 ft. seedlings that I didn't have to mess with - just plant 'em. Even if they're only 1" crabs, the deer & critters will eat them.