Wendakai
Full Member
Posts: 24
Joined: Mon May 01, 2006 10:25 pm

Seeds taken from fruit

We have grown some lovely apple trees from seed.... just taken from apples bought at the grocery store. The first one we planted has been in there about 7 years. There have been no blossoms so far. How long does it take for a new tree to produce fruit? And is there a chance it might not produce because something was done to the fruit to make it sterile?? (I'm thinking of terminator seeds, of course, but I don't know if this applies at all to fruit.)

Sort of the same question with hot house tomatoes. I have 3 really nice plants (geez are they healthy!) that have grown from seeds I just took from store bought tomatoes. Is there any chance these won't bear fruit?

opabinia51
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 4659
Joined: Thu Oct 21, 2004 5:58 pm
Location: Victoria, BC

There is no garantee that the fruit that the tree produces will be like the fruit that you bought at the store. Apple trees are usually reproduced vegetatively via grafting cuttings onto root stalk.

The graftings are taken from hybrid crosses that (this is really complicated but, I'll keep it simple) can revert back to the wild type as a seed or can also be pollinated by another strain of apple to produce an entirely new type of seed, or there is the chance that the tree will remain as the hybrid.

As far as producing flowers, I'm not to sure as in my experience a young sappling will flowers

Another possibility may be that your tree is sterile from the outcrossing.

Generally speaking you can induce a plant to flower by stressing it a little so, try depriving it of some nutrients or some moisture this fall or summer (not so much as to kill the tree, just stress it a bit). It may flower.

Good luck.

Wendakai
Full Member
Posts: 24
Joined: Mon May 01, 2006 10:25 pm

Thanks Opabinia! I hadn't even thought of what kind of apple I mind wind up with. Doesn't really matter I guess, just so there are apples, I'll make apple sauce out of them. ;o)

Once again this larger tree is budding out beautifully.... with leaves. I was wondering what impact pruning the branches would have. I know we're supposed to, and something I read said to prune it's height by about half. But we didn't get to it. Would pruning it back this fall stress it .... and if so, would if be enough to encourage fruit production?

User avatar
Franco
Senior Member
Posts: 299
Joined: Thu May 04, 2006 9:21 pm
Location: New Jersey

I heard that if you plant 10,000 apple trees only about 1 (I'm pretty sure thats right) of the trees will bear fruit and that's why most of them are- I don't know what the word is, cloned?

Please go here and help me out, thanks
https://helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=12549#12549

Wendakai
Full Member
Posts: 24
Joined: Mon May 01, 2006 10:25 pm

Thanks Franco. I don't know much about growing fruit trees myself, but I kept searching for answers and found these sites:

https://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/DG0532.html

this explains "grafting" techniques, so might help you with your problem.

Then there's this one, which includes illustrations:

https://www.oreworld.org/grafting.htm

Here's another that might help:

https://www.freeplants.com/grafting_fruit_trees_and_ornamental_plants.htm

And here's an amateur fruit growing club in the American midwest which might offer you some help:

https://www.midfex.org/

Now, I've not posted URLS on this site before and don't know if they'll come up highlighted. If they aren't clickable, just highlight them yourself, copy them and paste them into your browser. I sure hope these help. Good luck!

User avatar
Franco
Senior Member
Posts: 299
Joined: Thu May 04, 2006 9:21 pm
Location: New Jersey

Great!
Thanks a load

Wendakai
Full Member
Posts: 24
Joined: Mon May 01, 2006 10:25 pm

No problem, Franco! Let me know how it's goin'! :)



Return to “All Other Fruit”