apple tree seed germination

15 years ago

;)HI!(;I am trying some macintosh seeds and wanted to find out how long germination is before I should throw them out and try something else in my pots, if anyone out there knows appareantly it is all usually done by grafting, but those were good apples and I am hoping that is what I will get if not I will make do. Thanks for the info in advance, I tried to look it up every where I could think of, even my woody tree and plant book but as usual when you want something it is no where to be found. THANKS! goofy13

Comments (2)

jellyman
15 years ago
Goofy:

Apple seeds require a period of cold treatment to enable the embryos to break dormancy. Put the fresh seeds into a ziplock bag with a barely moist piece of towel paper, place them in your refrigerator, then check them on a weekly basis. They should begin to sprout in about 3-6 weeks, but that period is not set in stone. After you see them sprout, that is the time to put them in your pots.

I hope you have a lot of room, a lot of time, and low expectations if you are going to grow out a seedling apple or two. Seedling trees will grow very large, and take a long, long time to bear. When they do, the apples may not resemble McIntosh at all. Chances are pretty good they will be small, sour, and resemble crabapples. That's the reason apple trees are grafted - so they will be copies of their parents.

If you want a McIntosh tree, buy a grafted specimen from a good nursery source. Some pretty good nurseries sell grafted trees on semi-dwarf rootstocks for about $10. Even the more expensive nurseries wouldn't run much over $20, and it would be money well spent.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA
boizeau
15 years ago
McIntosh is a great tasting apple but has serious defects and that is why it doesn't show up much in retail. Very easily bruised soft fruit. suc. to scab, and only fair shelf life. I think it has one of the best flavors, quite unique to McIntosh but if you want to save seeds, I would at least do a controlled cross to McIntosh from another Apple variety that has qualities lacking in McIntosh.
I would try pollen from a good keeper apple with more disease resistance. Perhaps Roxbury Russet or Prima?

Here is a link that might be useful: Good scab-free apple pollenizers
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Wonderful discussion. I'm not as obsessive with this apple tree growing experiment(yet,)as I am with other things that I grow. Like as was mentioned, my son and I are just having fun planting something in winter and seeing what happens. Two Empire seeds germinated in the frig, and we planted them together in a 4" pot of Jiffy mix, and have them on a heating pad. If a couple more seeds germinate we might do the same thing with them also. We don't have a lot of room, and in all likelihood won't be living here 10 years from now. Bottom line.....we're just having fun. Hopefully we'll get something that we can plant outside, and like you say, point at it and say, "remember when...." That would be fun! Now if you want to talk serious, just get me talking about my tomatoes and blueberries.
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Justin, Try it. You might just get a great new apple. I have planted apple, pear, and peach seeds. Peach seeds or pits, I did plant years ago and got real nice peaches from the trees. Pears and apples I planted them 2 yrs ago, and the trees are still too young to bear fruit--I hope someday they will bear some. Of course, I planted the seeds the lazy--or easy--way. Sometime in the winter (I live in zone 5. Used seeds from fruit I had just bought from a supermarket.) I planted the seeds in the ground, covered them with dirt--the small seeds not too deep, the peach pits deeper. In the spring they sprouted. Just make sure you mark the spot where you plant your seeds; this way, you wont pull them out as weeds--something I often do. I'm sure you are doing this for fun, so enjoy and learn. Hey, After 5 summers, I just got my first flowers from oriental lilies that I started from seed...Most of them look just like their parents...2 look different, but I have seen the same type of flowers in catalogs. Good luck, but most important: Happy Gardening!!!
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apple tree seed germination

Comments (2)

jellyman

boizeau

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