Subject: How do I grow apples from seed?

From: Kent Eddy <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 04 Dec 96 22:39:06 PDT

Hello,
I'm new to the group.
Does anyone know of a good book on growing apple trees from seeds?
I would like to start an small orchard in Michigan.
Please email me at: [email-masked] or post here.  

Thanks.

---

From: [email-masked]
Date: 5 Dec 1996 13:57:02 GMT

Apples can be sprouted easily from seed, by placing the cleaned seeds in
damp perlite, sphagnum, or some other moisture-retaining material, sealing
them in a zip-loc bag, and refrigerating them for a couple months.  Then
take them out and plant them.

BUT -- why do you want to grow them from seed?  They won't come true to
type, and many of them will be quite inferior in quality.  Even if you get
a good one here and there, it will be years before it bears its first
fruit, since apple seedlings are juvenile.

Apples for an orchard should be budded/grafted to a high-quality scion
variety.  You could bud onto your seedlings, but if you're going to go to
that effort, you might consider the fact that there are many clonal
rootstocks out there that can offer various qualities (such as tree size
control), so you may not want to use your seedlings even for that purpose.

Malcolm M. Manners, Ph.D.
Chairman, Department of 
Citrus and Environmental Horticulture
Florida Southern College, Lakeland, FL