All you have to do is refrigerate an apple for 2 or 3 months and plant the seeds in a good seed starting mix or take the seeds from an apple, put them in some slightly damp peat moss in a Ziploc bag and refrigerate them for 2 or 3 months. Most store bought apples were refrigerated before being sent to the store so you don't have to stratify them quite as long. If you have any more questions email me privately and I'll help you if I can.
Paul

Hi Andy-

The problem though is the apple tree you get will likely not be anything like the apple she ate. Apples do not produce "true to seed" like some other plants do. And usually the 'chance seedling' you get will be of much inferior flavor/quality. Also, because it is not a dwarf, or semi-dwarf tree, like most apple trees are these days, it will grow to be huge, and you'll need to wait many additional years to get your fruit. Most all apple trees today are propagated through grafting a scion onto a rootstock.

As romantic as the idea is, I'd recommend heavily that you do some more research, and go with a grafted tree. Perhaps a nice Disease Resistant tree like Liberty or WiliamÂs Pride, if youÂd prefer not to do much spraying. There are many people here would can help you through the process.

Good luck!
-Glenn

Hi Andy-

As father to a daughter and an uncle to nieces and even a grnadfather to a granddaughter I'd like to suggest that a six year old could really get into the whole process- and it's not too early to introduce her to the reason that the apple seed she planted failed to germinate on its own, and to show her what to go through to make it work.

Glenn's right, of course, about the superiority of grafted stock and I do love my Liberty, but I'll venture that there's time to make that connection down the road. And you'll have a new chance to show her "how it works".

You're very fortunate- ain't it a hoot?!

Best,

Mark

Hi Andy-

Mark's probably right. Maybe I'm being to practical here, and not fatherly enough. :-) I just wantted to make sure you didn't have too high of expectations for the tree.

I have a 4 year old and a 2 year old daughter. We enjoy picking/planting our raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, apples, etc together. One of the reasons why I got into the fruit growing was because it was a hobby I could have and still be home with them. For us, we do the "seed lesson" every spring when we plant sunflowers. Those are good because they grow so incredibly fast.

Have fun!
-Glenn

If you buy Pink Lady apple very late in the season there is a good chance the seeds may have already germinated inside the apple.
I have seen this on many occasions, mainly shown to me by people thinking they have some kind of worm in the middle of their apple.

Thank you everyone, I'm not so worried about the quality of the apples and i supect it would be some time before any apples grew anyway. It's just that kids don't forget. She asked me about it a couple of months ago and I told her we would not see anything until spring.

I am going to try pauls method. Will they germinate at room temperature? 65ish in my house on average.

thanx,
Andy

Yep. They'll germinate at that temperature. I've had them germinate in a 45 to 55 degree laundry room in a worm bin. I only keep that room that warm to make it bearable when you do laundry in the winter and to keep my European night crawlers active.

If the parent apple was a Triploid, like Mutsu or Jonagold, the seeds are sterile.
If you have seed of Golden Delicious, you can get some decent fruit. It tends to throw a lot of good seedlings.
I don't know the track record of the others, but I'd contact an apple breeder and ask for a list of the 'best varieties to save seeds from'.
You do need to stratify the seeds in slightly damp soil at 34-50 degrees for about 90 days to satisfy the dormant 'chill' requirement.
The seedlings will not be identical to the parent.
Find out which varieties have the best record as parent trees and plant seeds from those.

One last comment- it's time to get that child an avocado seed! -but beans would do well too.

Sprouts for the sprout? Have fun ...

:-)M