That's pretty much what I would do speedster1. I don't get in a hurry about planting them because they will develop a good amount of roots in the refrigerator. Sometimes plant them straight in a pot with the seed still damp and sprout them using soil mixed with ash. Both methods work but if you use a grow light place It just over the apples so they don't get spindly trying to reach for the light and keep a fan on them part of the day to simulate wind which makes them stocky and hardens them off. The top leaves should rest almost on the fluorescent bulb and as they grow raise the bulb slightly.In Kansas it's very windy so they won't survive if you don't do use a fan. If you have a Seedling you like on its own root you can cut off some new growth and dip the cutting in clonex rooting gel stick it in a pot of sand and place a jar over it to control humidity and clone your cuttings in that way. If you want seedlings or clones to grow faster place them on a heat mat. You get the idea. Cloning is faster with some plants. What no one tells you is that seedlings roots are always better than layered cuttings of rootstock because they have a tap root vs side roots only. Tap roots head straight down but side roots are more shallow. There are more ways to do this stuff than what I mentioned but that's a few tricks.

Well then, that must have been my problem because I did double the recipe!! I didn't realize you couldn't! I know you're not supposed to fool around with amounts in recipes so you keep the acid ratio correct, but where this was just strawberries and sugar and nothing else in the recipe I figured it was ok! I guess not! And I measured out 4 quarts of whole strawberries. The recipe was 2 quarts of strawberries and 6 cups of sugar. It didn't say to cut them or mash them before measuring - in fact (I'm remembering off the top of my head here as I don't have the book with me) it said to crush the strawberries one layer at a time and then to mix with the sugar, so it sounded to me like you measured the whole strawberries, then crushed them and that's what I did. I'm not going to fuss with what I already made - as I said, it won't go to waste as hubby will use it as pancake topping - we've even been known to plop a spoonful of jam in a bowl of oatmeal, so this stuff will work for that as well. But I'm glad I spoke up because for future adventures in jam, I wouldn't have known any of this and would probably have given up on it if I kept failing! And I thought it was weird that the jam recipe that used the pectin used an extra cup of sugar from the one without pectin. I've learned so much from just this thread - thanks so much guys! I want to take my next adventure into the realm of peaches! Peach jam sounds yummy and if I fail again, hubby does like peaches, so he'll have more pancake topping than he knows what to do with lol!! Lisa

Thank you, that's important information. I think terminology is an issue here. I was using "cross pollination" to mean production of a mutant fruit by interpollination by two varieties of a species. But it seems that what that phrase *really* means is production of seeds that will yield mutant fruit. It's all about seeds, and not about first generation fruit. When I do this, I guess what I need to be careful about is rescuing seedlings from my compost pile. ("Oooh, that's a canteloupe!) I believe that corn is an exception here, in that, for example, sweet corn and field corn cross pollinate and the effects are seen in the first generation. Of course, in that case, the fruit is the seed.

Honestly, you might be better just pulling it out and planting a known apple. Who knows what rootstock you have, could range from a super dwarf m26 (unlikley) that will never get taller than 7' up to a seedling rootstock (unlikley) that will be 40'+. And the apples are probably some commercial variety that needs a ton of spraying to stay healthy and provide any fruit. Instead get a rootstock that will do well in your climate, with your disease pressure and that will be a size you will be happy with. Then make sure your apples are a disease resistant variety. Make sure that the 2 will flower at close to the same time (less important if you have flowering crabs in your area) because apples need another variety to cross polinate. It is also nice to have 2 different ripening times so you are not overloaded with apples at one time then get nothing for the rest of the season. Early apples such as Pristine, Redfree, Williams pride. Mid season like Crimson Crisp, Liberty, Macfree, ect. Late season like Enterprise, Goldrush, ect. Although you are in zone 8 so warmer climate guys could probably direct you to better apples for you (i'm in zone 4). Since it is just going to be 2 trees and in your backyard read about ''bagging'' apples. Can work well for spray free fruit. Good luck!