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appleman
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My First Plant-The Apple Chronicles

Hello everyone! appleman here. I want to start growing apples from the seed as my first plant. I know it'll be MANY years before they bear any fruit, but that's alright.

How do I get started? I've searched some articles on how to grow apples from the seed and received mixed info. Some recommend wrapping the seeds in a wet paper towel and sticking them in the fridge for a week, while others say you should just bury them in soil.

I will be container growing--no free soil available for me at my residence.

Any suggestions?

Thanks guys! I'm real excited to get this going. There are some juicy red apples sitting in my fridge right now, waiting to be eaten so their seeds can be planted...

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applestar
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Sorry, it's late here and I'm not up to digging up the links, but I've posted several times about my rather casual method for sowing apple seeds and growing them. Try the Search the Forum in the upper link bar.

I currently have three seedling apples that have survived the last winter and barrage of environmental and disease stresses this past season. One of them is still sharing a container with a jalapeno plant (part of hot pepper as companion/guild plant to apples experiment). I think there are a couple more that I'm not really tending at all.... :roll: :wink:

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appleman
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Alright, I've eaten about four or five of those apples and have collected 17 seeds!

[img]https://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i390/tomandsparky18/IMG00063.jpg[/img]

I think they're all dry by now. Where do I go from here? I don't have any pots, soil, or anything yet but need to grow them indoors because I am in Chicago and it's gonna be colddddd. Also, I'm on a tight budget so I will try to buy cost-efficient growing materials.

My biggest question, though, is how many seeds should I plant??? If I were to plant all 17, how much room would I need? If I were to buy a few pots, how many seeds should I plant in each pot? How far apart should I spread the seeds?

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applestar
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Since these are this season's apple seeds, they're going to need a period of cold stratification (rest) before they will germinate. You have two choices -- keeping them in the fridge or letting nature take its course outside.

Some people roll seeds in moist paper towels and in zip bags and put in the fridge. Moist sand, potting soil, etc. are other choices. Some people will plant the seeds in a pot then put them in dedicated fridge (like a small beverage fridge).

I've had success sowing some fruit and tree seeds in Qt~1 gal pots and leaving them out for the winter. They germinate in spring.

My best successes have been with seeds from mid-winter apples -- I.e. apples that had been stored (cold storage) for a period of a few months since harvested in the fall. I just sow them at the base of overwintering indoor container plants. They sprout and I separate them out in spring when I do spring repotting for the container plants. :wink:

I've done the same with apples imported from New Zealand that were harvested during THEIR fall season and had been in cold storage.

Oh. when sowing use 5~6" deep pots with seeds 2~3" apart or it"ll be difficult to separate the seedlings.

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appleman
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Alright. So I have to stick them in the fridge for a couple months before I can plant them?

I'm a total noob here, how deep will I want to plant the seeds? What kind of soil should I get? How often should I water them? Apologies for such basic questions, but it's really pretty hard to find answers even to those.

Also, will it get enough light if I place it right by a window that faces north?

Oh and I'm thinking about buying one of these things--the tray that the lady holds at 2:09


So I guess the plan is this--
-stick the seeds in the fridge for now
-meanwhile, get all the other stuff I need
-Around mid-December, take them out and plant them
-once they reach a certain size, plant the seedlings into quart-gallon size pots??

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applestar
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Most seeds are planted to depth of twice their thickness, although there are exceptions. I plant apple seeds by making a hole with my finger to first joint of my pointing/index finger (but I have small hands -- you might want to use your pinky :wink:). In outdoor conditions, seeds are generally planted a little deeper for adequate soil coverage to prevent accidental exposure and to keep from drying out.

I believe apple seeds do better when kept somewhat drier rather than wetter, but the soil must not be allowed to dry out completely.

North facing window, in my opinion, is completely inadequate. Mine are kept on a bench or table just below a SE facing window, or the windowsill itself. The window treatments (curtains/shades) are opened first thing in the morning and are not closed until dark. Any emerging seedlings are given supplemental light with clamp-on utility light fitted with daylight CFL positioned as close to the seedling as possible.

BTW if you're interested - same planting procedure has worked for me with citrus seeds as well. They should be planted deeper since the seeds are bigger. Citrus seeds don't need cold stratification. I eat, spit out and immediately plant. :wink:

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appleman
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Ahhh. The only windows in my apartment face north! :cry:

What if I open the curtains first thing in the morning, put the plant right by the window, then bring it in directly under a light at our place? I live with roommates so there's usually someone home--I can estimate that it would get about 3-5 hours of artificial light daily. Maybe up to 7 or 9 if my roommates stay up late and I can convince them to bring it into their room if they're up when I'm sleeping. :D


If that's not possible, what other plants should I try my hand at growing? Citrus does interest me, I actually just bought some oranges. I'm also interested in roses, tomatoes, potatoes, and bananas, in that order.

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applestar
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The clamp-on utility light (comes with 8~10" aluminum reflector) is an easy way to light up a small area. With a timer set for 14~16 hours, you can grow anything anywhere if you situate the light as close as possible without crisping the foliage. If you don't have a place for clamp light, a floor lamp with gooseneck lights (sometimes with multiple light fixtures) is another possibility. I happen to use an old ugly table lamp with a harp lampshade fixture fitted with an aluminum pie-pan reflector for one of my indoor plant set ups... :lol:

In late winter/early spring, I start growing vegetable seedlings in my windlowless garage only lit by fluorescent tube light fixtures hung from shelves directly above the seedlings. You could set up something similar on bookshelves, etc.

At one time, I had a little houseplant garden set up in my office cubicle. I talked maintenance into giving me an extra shelf with a fluorescent light fixture, and replaced the regular cool light tubes with full-spectrum light tubes I bought myself 8). Pretty soon, word got around, and people I never met started coming around to ask for help with their plants. I ended up with a "side job" of fostering/nursing near-death plants back to health in my cubie :lol:

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I am also try to grow apple tree but still not succeed yet. I do following procedure:
Put the seeds in damp paper towel and put it in the refrigerator about 12 days then put the seeds in the damp compost in the put it again in the refrigerator for more then a month when I check them there color is turn to black but no germination starts. Is it my procedure OK? if yes what is wrong?
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Imran

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iskhan wrote:I am also try to grow apple tree but still not succeed yet. I do following procedure:
Put the seeds in damp paper towel and put it in the refrigerator about 12 days then put the seeds in the damp compost in the put it again in the refrigerator for more then a month when I check them there color is turn to black but no germination starts. Is it my procedure OK? if yes what is wrong?
waiting for reply.
Imran
Hi Imran
Apple seeds should be dark brown or black at the start ...if they are not then they are not fully mature and they have been taken from an apple that is not fully ripe.
Once your seeds have had their spell in the fridge try putting the damp paper towel on the kitchen window sill ...keep it just damp and the warmth of the kitchen should germinate them in around two weeks.
they can then be sown in a good seed compost into pots until they are big enough to plant out.

iskhan
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Hi
When select the apple seeds there color is maroon after above process it turn to black.

sammus
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Hey appleman.

I have literally been doing this exact same thing this year so can give you a few tips. Applestar has also given me some great advice over these few months.

The easiest way to get seeds to germinate is simply to eat loads of apples, break open the core, and sooner or later you'll find some seeds that have already began to germinate. Alternatively, follow the previous methods and after a while in the fridge one or two may begin to germinate.

Then plant them in anything that you want and they should begin to grow pretty rapidly. Its great fun to watch too!

Mine are now over 3ft tall and I started them off during Easter - however, mine have grown tall but thin so I'm going to prune over the winter to try and get them to fatten out next year.

Here's a link to the forum I had going to you can maybe get some tips from there. I also took pictures every week or so to keep track of their progress which is also on there:
https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=24384

One tip: don't use decomposable peat pots! I put the propagating disks the apple seedlings were in, into larger pots and they really stunted their growth and killed another as their roots couldn't get through. A fourth seedling, which I mainly ignored ended up replacing the one that died and within a few weeks doubled in size and was the biggest by a long way by the time I left for uni.

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Hi Sammus :D
Re-reading that thread, it doesn't seem like I helped all that much, but thanks for the thumbs up. :wink:

I wanted to mention that the older apple plants will need to be kept outside for the winter to experience dormant state, but their roots need to be protected. I get overwintering potted/containerized deciduous tree ideas from the Bonsai Forum. :D

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appleman
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Thanks for the help guys--

How do I tell when a seed is germinated? Lol, please don't tell me that it's germinated when the seed has begun to open, because I found a couple that were that way when eating apples and threw them away because I thought they were broken. So maybe I've been throwing away germinated seeds!!! -wall-

I looked at the 20 or so seeds I stuck in the fridge--the paper towel is turning yellowish-brown. Should I be concerned? I was going to post pics but I have been crazy busy. I will do it this weekend.

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applestar
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Generally, first sign of growth is a tiny white tip of a root growing out of the pointy end.

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As a rider to this question, it's interesting how rare apple seeds germinate in their natural enviroment.
As a commercial grower for over fifity years I have never seen an apple seedling growing in our orchards of its own volition. This dispite the vast numbers of apples that have fallen to the ground over all those years.
I think that most find their way down various animals throats as the few wild apple trees that do grow are in the hedgerows and woods where the birds have roosted after eating the fruit.

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That yellowing tinge of the paper towel is nothing to be concerned about. I had the same thing happen when I tried to germinate some seedlings in the fridge.

Here is a picture of a germinating apple seed:
https://farm1.static.flickr.com/169/408520865_b35ad204c0.jpg?v=0
One thing to bare in mind is that has probable been germinating for about 2/3 days I would guess - once it has this little white root you want to pot it in some soil, so that the top of the apple seed (the end opposite this root) is just below the surface of the soil.

Store bought apples are usually refrigerated anyway - so sometimes you can get lucky and have a few germinating seeds in the apple core. This is by far a quicker way to find germinating seeds.

One thing that will be interesting is going to be how your seeds cope with them beginning to grow in autumn!

A BIG tip (though this may seem like common sense) is in the first few weeks ensure that the soil is damp, but not soggy. I watered with a bottle top worth of water from a coke bottle say. Too much water - your apple seed will die. Too little - it will die. Its great fun though what your doing and I recommend taking photos to track the progress!

And finally, I cant stress enough not to use the peat pots! They potentially killed one of my seedlings, and may have killed another two if I hadn't torn the pots apart one day!

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appleman
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Hey guys--exciting news

One, only ONE, out of the 20 seeds is showing signs of starting to germinate!!! The seed is starting to splice open. Nothing is coming out yet, but I can see the soft white stuff inside!

What kind of a pot and soil should I buy? Where can I buy them????

12/9/10 EDIT: I bought some starting containers!!!! At the botany place, I wanted to buy some other seeds. They didn't have many, since it's winter, but the guy told me beans are pretty easy to grow, so I bought a package of them. Look for my bean thread in the respective category!! :D

Here are some pictures of the apple seed thats showing signs of germination. When will it be ready to plant?

[img]https://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i390/tomandsparky18/DSC00071.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i390/tomandsparky18/DSC00070.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i390/tomandsparky18/DSC00069.jpg[/img][/img]

sammus
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Hey Appleman,

To answer your question - a germinating apple seed will have a little white root coming out the pointy end of the seed. The first picture on this site should shed some light on this:

When it starts to develop a root, you want to put it in some soil / a propagating disk just so that the top of the seed (the round end) sits below the top of the soil. Within a few days you should see it peeking through, and within a few more the seed case will fall off and it will start to grow (refer to first link to see how this will develop).

Sorry for the late reply to your post - how are yours getting along?!

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appleman
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What's up sammus, hope you had a merry Christmas!

Thanks for that info. Last time I checked (about a week ago, I went back to my parents' house for the holidays), the seed wasn't quite at the point where the bud was already poking through like a lot of people here have mentioned, so I haven't planted it yet.

That article was really helpful! I've been very concerned with the watering--I was going to ask everyone basic stuff like how often to water and how much, but it was a relief to see the article guide me in saying one or two teaspoons each day for the first few days.

sammus
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Yeah once I had it planted, I did a couple of drops every day - you don't want the soil to get too dry or too wet so err on the side of caution and if needs be you can always add more water later on.

Your best bet to finding a germinated apple seed could be to eat your way through a few apples, and look at the seeds inside - sooner or later you'll hit gold and find some. Not sure how well they will grow though atm with it being winter?

Good to hear that those links helped!

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appleman
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HOLY ****!!!

I checked my apple seeds in the fridge for the first time in a couple weeks, and found not one, but 7 GERMINATING SEEDS!!!!

One of them had a sprout that was already a couple inches long!! Take a look at this bad boy before I planted it:
[img]https://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i390/tomandsparky18/DSC00081.jpg[/img]

I took the Miracle-Gro seed starting soil that I bought about a month ago and filled up 7 of those black, plastic containers. For each germinating seed, I placed the seed on the soil and covered it up barely. The stuff was so dry and dusty that I'm scared I might have added too much water. On the first two, I added about 2-3 teaspoons of water. It seemed really strange! All it did was make the surface watery and swampy. It didn't look anything like damp soil that I'm used to seeing in nature.

There was one seed where I moistened the whole pot of soil first and then buried the seed. Is this way too much water???

Here are some pics of my little garden :)
[img]https://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i390/tomandsparky18/DSC00083.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i390/tomandsparky18/DSC00084.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i390/tomandsparky18/DSC00085.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i390/tomandsparky18/DSC00087.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i390/tomandsparky18/DSC00088.jpg[/img]

There are two things (besides watering) that I am concerned about:
1. I have only one CFL bulb providing light for all 7 plants. It is located in the upper-right corner of this picture:
[img]https://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i390/tomandsparky18/DSC00086.jpg[/img]
I remember reading once that plants will grow toward their source of light. Knowing that, my plants would start growing diagonally toward that light if I just leave them there. Should I rotate my plants 180 degrees daily so this doesn't happen??? I put post-its on every pot just to keep track of which side is the front.
2. This "garden" happens to be in my closet, above my clothes. If I keep the doors closed, will they get enough air circulation? Here's what it looks like with the doors closed:
[img]https://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i390/tomandsparky18/DSC00089.jpg[/img]

All advice is greatly appreciated!!!!! It was so exciting to see all those seeds germinating after months in the fridge!!! I thought I would only have one, but there are 7!!!! I REALLY don't want them to die!

Oh and one more thing, how long should I light them for? Starting tomorrow, I will have to leave home at like 5:30 in the morning a few days a week, so I would have to turn the light on when I leave. Would 15 hours a day be good? So I would turn on the light at 5:30 and turn it off at around 8:30. Would daily fluctuations in the cycle cause stress to the plants? Like if I turn on the light 5:30-8:30 one day and 7:30-10:30 the next? What if it's like 9:30-12:30? (you know, for lazy weekend mornings and crazy nights...)

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I was taught to rotate my plants 90º clockwise every day. There was a thorough explanation as to why it should be that amount of turn and that direction, but it was so long ago that I've completely forgotten it. All I remember is that it had something to do with the way the plants' cells grow. Not much help, I know. I apologize for that. :(

Good luck with your trees! Nice progress so far! :)

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:clap: Congratulations! That must have been a treat!

I'm a bit concerned that the light might still be not close/intense enough. Do you have the 26W bulb? I think I would put the pots inside aluminum lasagna pans (available from grocery or K-mart/Walmart type stores) That would help catch any water dripping out of the pot. If you raise the place the containers on top of something (wire rack, upside down shallow containers like deli containers, lids, or my latest favorite -- bunch of used plastic tape dispensers), they will be prevented from sitting in drained water and will act as humidity trays.

I also give all my container plants a 1/4 (90º) turn for even light exposure. It helps to straighten the leaning stems as well as strengthen them.

I'm sure someone else can give you the exact science for the light duration, though I tend to think longer duration would help compensate for reduced intensity of the light. I open the curtains/blinds and turn mine on when I first get to them in the morning, and turn them off when I'm getting ready to go to bed. The duration can be variable. I put a timer on my seed starting set up, but that's because they're in the garage with no windows.

It's true I don't have enough timers for all the plant locations, but doing things this way also forces me to look in on the plants and give them a through misting every morning. :wink:

sammus
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Hi Appleman,

Great to hear about your seedlings sprouting!

In terms of watering - when you first water the soil it might take some time for the water to soak through, it might appear to just sit on the top like a puddle, but given time it will soak through. You then want to keep checking on it a couple of times a day the first few days - checking that the soil immediately surrounding your seedling is damp to the touch but not swampy. Then just pop your head in each day and give them a little drink.

Light - I think you may want to check the strength of the bulb is high enough, but that there is enough distance between it and your pots that you don't burn them! You've got a nice amount to have an experiment with though. I guess my tip would be to look back at my topic (think there is a link on the first page of posts here?) and see how quickly they grew - that was in summer in good light so could be a rough guide if yours appear to be getting abit leggy. If this is the case - research lights to grow plants with?

Ventilation - One thing you want to be careful of in the very early stages is a fungus called "damping off":

[img]https://blog.lib.umn.edu/magrabow/plantpath/damping%20off%20mycelia%20(Small).jpg.[/img]

I don't think it would have an effect on your seedlings, but can be triggered by poor ventilation / wet conditions. It basically looks like white fluff on the surface of the soil and can be removed by improving ventilation. Might be worth to leave your wardrobe doors open if your out in the day? Just let a little air circulate?

Finally, I think applestar is on the money about putting them in a container - you don't want any soil or water falling onto your clothes! ha

Looks great though! Keep us updated, and check out my topic for those pictures.

Sam

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appleman
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Hey guys!!!

Thanks so much for all of the quick replies!! I've been incredibly busy the last few days and read all of them, but this is literally the first time that I've gotten a chance to sit down at the computer.

The babies still have not poked through the surface of the soil yet, so I'm a bit worried. Applestar, I fear and believe that you are correct in saying the light is insufficient. I did raise the plants like you suggested, and I have been rotating them 90 degrees every day. I'm not at home right now, but when I get back I'll check the strength of the CFL bulb, as well as put up some more pictures.

I have two other main concerns:
1. Was I supposed to pack the soil in in the pot before planting the seed or something? The stuff seems incredibly loose, and it just occurred to me that their current fluffy texture is not like a natural growing environment.
2. I think I've been over-watering. For the first few days, every time I checked the soil and felt it with my fingers, it was completely dry (and it's still this way now). It's so dry that it actually feels like dust. However, a couple days ago I dug in a tiny bit with my finger and found that beneath the surface, the soil was damp. I had been watering the plants once a day with about three teaspoons each Sunday-Monday or Tuesday. Since then, I have only given one teaspoon a day. The water still beads at the top, seeming to not soak into the soil. Due to my tight personal schedule, I've only been able to see the plants reeeeeeally early in the morning (like 5-6 am) and pretty well into the evening (like after 7:30 pm), so the watering has only taken place once a day. Should I water in the morning (when I turn the light on) or at night (when I turn the light off)?

They've been getting about 15 hours of light a day so far. I sleep 9 hours a day, so I turn on the light right when I wake up and off right before I go to sleep.

Thanks again guys!

sammus
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Soil - I would personally suggest getting propogating disks which are a much more miniature version of this:


They can be bought from garden centers, along with a tray for something like £5-10. They will be a variation of this, but basically the same thing:

These propagating disks are great for soaking up water, staying nice and damp for days at a time generally, and can be planted straight into the soil. These don't strangle your roots as they grow, compared to biodegradable pots which will kill your plants / limit their growth.

Wetness of soil - It may be worth digging one up and checking out what is going on, be gentle when you do this mind. It could take a week or so for it to poke through depending on how far down you planted them, but given a bit of patience they will come through. The soil will become more compact as your water more and more I guess, I don't think this is that much of a concern though.

As far as my biological mind serves me, I don't think light actually matters until they have their first initial leaves. The roots naturally head downwards due to gravity, and the shoot heads against gravity heading towards light, when it finds that light it then loses its shell and develops leaves. That's why they get long and spindly if lighting is poor - their trying to get closer to get more light. There have been interesting experiments carried out in space, seeing what plants do in zero gravity. Pretty sure this is correct but will hold my hands up if I'm wrong!


Sam

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appleman
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Hey guys,

I had no idea life would be so hectic once school started. It's literally been impossible for me to give more care to my plants aside from the bare necessities of turning the light on and off every day, rotating them 90 degrees, and feeding them 1 teaspoon of water every day.

Light--I know this was asked quite a while ago, but I am using 60W equivalent Ecosmart CFL bulbs.

Still no signs of breaking the surface. My fingers are crossed!

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appleman
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Still no signs of the little ones poking through. Is it too late to hope for anything?

I've been watering a teaspoon a day, lighting 15 hours a day, and rotating 90 degrees a day.

Like someone suggested, I finally decided to dig a little and see what was up. When I dug a few inches in one of the pots, there was no seed to be found! :?

I dug much deeper but couldn't find it anywhere. I also noticed that the soil near the top was very dry, but farther down it was moist.

I have two theories to why none of the seeds sprouted:
1. Although I was scared I was overwatering, maybe they all died of thirst because the water went directly to the bottom of the seed starting soil.
2. Maybe the sudden temperature change from being in a refrigerator 24/7 to being buried in soil at room temperature was too traumatic?

Anyway, I opened my refrigerator, and three more seeds had germinated. I planted them this time in much smaller seed starting containers that the guy at the store I went to told me to buy:

[img]https://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i390/tomandsparky18/IMG00008.jpg[/img]

Other than that, I'll be keeping up the same routine...

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Ohh, sorry to hear the first batch seems to have failed. :( ...good thing you have back-up! 8)

It IS important to keep the soil evenly moist. It's hard to say if a teaspoon a day is sufficient. (I don't think I've ever done it that way though, to be honest.) I feel the top of the soil with a dry finger. If I have to dig down a little to feel moisture, it's time to water. When I water, I like to see the water spread and cover the entire surface of the soil, then soak in (A teaspoon wouldn't be enough for this to happen. More like a shot glass~1/4 cup for a 3" pot?) The other method is to put water in the drip tray and let the water soak up, but be sure to remove any excess water after 20~30 min.

Not everyone agrees with this, but I like to use some kind of a humidity dome. I've almost always lived in a dry living space, so it has worked for me. Berries come in pre-ventilated square containers that work really well (I actually use 1 pt and 1qt berry containers, sometimes lined with paper towel, as seed starting trays and use the domed hinged lid for humidity cover, which get cut off after germination).

For round containers, I like using top portion of cut-off soda bottles with the cap removed. Some fast-food/convenience stores sell "slushies" that come with a clear domed lid with a straw hole, they work well too. (If none of those are unavailable, I have to make my own holes on the bottom -- which will be top when flipped over -- of clear plastic containers :lol:).

BTW, circular domes work for square containers too, as long as you don't have seeds planted in the corners. :wink:

Remove the dome at first sign of -- or few days after -- germination.

sammus
Full Member
Posts: 34
Joined: Mon Apr 05, 2010 5:10 pm
Location: England

I think applestar is right in saying that you want the soil to be moist to touch. A propagating tray / system would be worth purchasing and their very cheap! I sent a link to one in my previous post so you know what they look like, but you can make one very cheaply from home.

I think basically, once your seeds have began to germinate, you want to get them planted in nice moist soil. If it gets too dry then the roots dry out and the seed dies. Keep it moist, but not wet!!

You want it planted just under the surface, and it should quickly push its way up.

I found the first apple seed I tried to grow didn't work out, and I'm on my second attempt now and they seem to be doing well! Once they've taken hold and started to develop leaves you just have to make sure they get enough light and water, then you can't really kill them unless they get a fungus :/ But that shouldn't be an issue for you I wouldn't have thought.

One note, if they're still in your wardrobe, try to keep good ventilation.

Sam

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appleman
Full Member
Posts: 16
Joined: Thu Oct 07, 2010 9:11 pm
Location: Chicago

Hey guys!

Despite not having posted, a lot has been going on with my apple plants!! A couple of them are growing like monsters, and another one that I had thought was dead actually sprouted!

I won't be able to post any pictures for at least a few days or so :x but the ones that are growing are now several inches tall! The one farthest from the light is really tall, maybe about 6 inches. Maybe it's taller because it hasn't received as much light as the other ones?

I know this will be tough to answer until I post some pics, but when should I transplant the plants to bigger containers? I feel like it should be sometime very soon, but I'm not sure. Also, I've never done anything like that before so any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Sorry for not posting regular pics!! I know I created this topic mainly to get help, but I'll try to post more pics more regularly now so that in the future this can be a good reference for others!

sammus
Full Member
Posts: 34
Joined: Mon Apr 05, 2010 5:10 pm
Location: England

Hey Appleman,

Yeah try to post a picture - it'd be good to see how they are getting on! And great news to hear that their growing now!

In terms of the one that is the tallest, it sounds like it might be becoming abit leggy as its growing for the light - if I remember rightly their being grown in your cupboard?! It might be worth transferring them to a windowsill if you can so that they get a lot more light throughout the day?! (I did this with mine until they were about 8inches tall perhaps?!

In terms of transplanting them into bigger pots, I just kept an eye on the pots for when the roots began to poke through as I was using those peat pots that break down (a pot that turned out to be a big mistake!). I think generally you want to transfer them into bigger pots as little as possible so they don't get disturbed as much. It also depends how big you want them to grow - if their in a small pot then it will stunt their growth. I tried this with one seedling and when I planted it into a bigger pot it absolutely rocketed up! Became the tallest one of my set before long!

Also depends if you're going to have them outside or not?! If your in England, might be worth waiting a few more weeks before putting them outside for good, especially with them being young plants! I've just put mine back out to the front now and taken the wrap off the pots their in, and their buds are beginning to open up slowly in the sun :D I'll put a picture up in a weeks time when they don't look like a twig so you can see how their developing and see the size of the pots etc.



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