Apple Trees from seed

[Cadalot]

I bought some apple trees for my first allotment and have saved the pips or seeds from them and I'm thinking of sowing some and trying to grow new trees from them for my second allotment.

My plan is to train them along wires and form a short fence between me and my neighbour. Although they won't have dwarf root stock they will be grown in 30 litre buckets in the ground to restrict the tap root growth in a similar way that the Victorian Kitchen Garden used slabs under the trees to do the same.

I'm guessing that I need to sow around Feb/ March in the unheated greenhouse to be successful

Do you think this is a bonkers idea, and I should just buy the trees like I did before?

[Guest]

No it is not a bonkers idea. Just to let you know as it is from seed it is not likely to come true to the tree you took the apple off and there is no way of knowing when it will fruit. Buffs dwarfs trees by cutting the tap root with success I will see if I can find the details for you in a bit.

[boatsman]

I think it's an excellent idea. Just bear in mind you'll probably have to wait at least six years or more before you see any fruit. I have a citron that is now three feet tall that I planted from seed just a month over three years ago. I don't expect any flowers or fruit on it for at least another two years.

[seasprout]

Seed.

I'm trying to germinate some seeds for the first time, they are currently in the fridge on damp tissue paper.

I found some instructions on-line.
They say leave for about 2-3 weeks then check for signs of germination.
I'm not expecting much, just a bit of fun.

If you actually want Apple trees and have a space ready then I'd look at purchasing some trees, otherwise as others have said, you could be waiting a very long time for your first fruit which might not be up to much.

Also there is a user on this forum called FB. Who has exempleraly knowledge all things Apple.
They may see the title of this thread and be along with wisdom at some point.

[Bigmallly]

Do you think this is a bonkers idea, and I should just buy the trees like I did before?

Yes and Yes................

[Alison]

My brother and sister in law did this year's ago and get tonnes of fruit off the trees. This picture is their harvest from a few years ago.

[veggiechicken]

As an alternative, take cuttings from your trees and root them in buckets. Will gave you a head start and the apples will be the same as the parent tree.

[Lardman]

Do you think this is a bonkers idea ..

Yes - but it didn't stop me doing just that at the beginning of this year.

It depends on what you're trying to achieve, if you're doing it to get more tree's there are much quicker ways that will give you a more reliable crop. If you want to grow a tree from seed for poops and giggles - why on earth not.

I didn't mess about with the pips - I just dumped them into a 20cell 1/2 tray full of multi-purp and had around 90% germination. The runts of the litter died quickly, some I potted on into a large pot to grow on for a year.

If you have 5 minutes there's a good tube channel called " skillcult " it's worth watching some of his red fleshed apple rearing videos.

If you're just after tree's and fruit, get some root stocks and some scion wood it's much quicker.

[Guest]

Here is what Buffs does

Create a good branch structure over a period of about 3 yrs so you have the necessary framework that your plant needs to produce a good crop.
Having trained the top growth, you can train the roots when the plant is 3/4 of your required size.
Wait for the tree to go dormant and lift it out of its pot, hose off the roots to expose some of the big roots, but not all, leave some root soil to act as a start in its new pot.
Try to separate a heavy root and ease it away from the rootball, you must be able to see the end of that root, you don't want to be cutting all the main root as you would leave it without enough to support the plant.
Aim to cut one about one and a half ins or about 30/35mm thick but never take more than one large root at a time, if 2yrs on it is growing too much, then you could unravel and trim another one.
Use john Innes no3 and a handful of of bonemeal when repotting

[nellie-m]

Like NG pointed out: apples don't produce true offspring. Each apple variety is like a mongrel, produced by a chance crossing of other mongrels. You could use the seedlings for grafting, of course, to get your original varieties.

Other than that, be prepared to grow quite a few until you get one that actually produces a good apple. You might be lucky and create a new variety that way. Chances are, however, that you'll chop them down again after having waited for years and years because they don't satisfy for some reason. I had a seedling with apples that looked really nice, good size, but sadly not even remotely edible. (There is a reason why people in the olden days invented the art of grafting... if pips had been the way, why would they have bothered?)

Of course, if you just want a nice fence it's a different matter. The bees will thank you in spring -- to them, all apple blossoms are equal!

[yummersetter]

BBC Radio 4 - Book of the Week, The Apple Orchard, Episode 1 Did you hear this? It was broadcast over four days last week and there's a lot about growing apples from seed.

[mothhawk]

Apple seeds germinate easily. I throw all my apple cores onto the garden for the blackbirds and have to pull out lots of little seedling apple trees every autumn.

[veggiechicken]

BBC Radio 4 - Book of the Week, The Apple Orchard, Episode 1 Did you hear this? It was broadcast over four days last week and there's a lot about growing apples from seed.

Thank you yummersetter I've listened to 3 parts - one to go. I thought of you with their trip to Somerset

[mothhawk]

If your apple trees from pips turn out not to be eaters, you can always make cider from them

Or even verjus if you want to be posh.....

[Cadalot]

Thanks for the guidance, I'm going to try a few different suggestions and see what I get. Quite possibly I will just buy some more of the same as the ones on my first allotment as they are only three years old and are producing a reasonable quantity of nice apples. They are nice sweet eaters but we did make a number of apple crumbles with them this year.