Apple tree growing from roots of parent tree!
My ne garden had a bunch of small apple trees growing 10 to 15 feet away from the main tree. I assumed they started from seeds till I tried to dig several up. They were growing from the roots. Can I grow a tree from them ? Shuld I cut off part of the root wih the 2 foot sprouting tree? I got one of the small 2 foot sprouts with a 4 inch piece of root. Will they grow if placed in water for awhile?
I usually take a portion of the root when transplanting a sucker. I haven't started any apple trees from suckers, though.
The only thing to consider is that, if your apple tree is growing on a grafted rootstock, then the suckers are from the variety of tree that was used as the rootstock. Any fruit produced by trees grown from the suckers won't be the same variety as that produced by the parent tree that you have.
I don't know whether apple trees are always grown on grafted rootstocks or not. I doubt it, though. Jonathan will probably be here later, and since apple trees are his business, he will be able to give you a more definitive answer.
The only thing to consider is that, if your apple tree is growing on a grafted rootstock, then the suckers are from the variety of tree that was used as the rootstock. Any fruit produced by trees grown from the suckers won't be the same variety as that produced by the parent tree that you have.
I don't know whether apple trees are always grown on grafted rootstocks or not. I doubt it, though. Jonathan will probably be here later, and since apple trees are his business, he will be able to give you a more definitive answer.
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DoubleDogFarm
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There are probaby 30 of these small trees coming out of the ground 10 feet from the tree. One was 4 foot high but only a single stem! I dugb a bunch out and put them in water! I have a slice of root from the main tree on a few of them!. Thy were attached to the root about a foot down in the ground! The tree is a nice size with great apples but what type I don't know! I would like to start 5 of the trees if I can!
Hi Bobberman,
As has been said, it will all depend on whether your tree has been grafted or not.
If it is on its own roots and not grafted then the trees you grow from the suckers will be the same as the parent. If it is on a grafted stock then the odds are that all you will get is a crab type fruit tree.
Many gardeners have over the years planted pips from their favourite apples and grown seedling trees.
The problem is though that as you only know one of the parents...( the tree the apple came from )...the fruit you grow will never be the same as the apple the seed came from.
So any apple grown this way ..you can call it what you want...it's your apple.
Fruit tree breeders usually give a clue as to how a tree was bred in the name they give it.
Any apple tree with the words ' Seedling ' or ' Pippin ' in its name is the result of a tree grown were only one parent is known.
As to how long rootstocks have been used.
The Persians used grafting in their orchards and by the time the Romans moved across Europe they must have had at least some rudementary stock grafting knowledge as they brought the cultivated apple with them.
Although the wild...crab...apple had come across a thousand or more years before them.
As has been said, it will all depend on whether your tree has been grafted or not.
If it is on its own roots and not grafted then the trees you grow from the suckers will be the same as the parent. If it is on a grafted stock then the odds are that all you will get is a crab type fruit tree.
Many gardeners have over the years planted pips from their favourite apples and grown seedling trees.
The problem is though that as you only know one of the parents...( the tree the apple came from )...the fruit you grow will never be the same as the apple the seed came from.
So any apple grown this way ..you can call it what you want...it's your apple.
Fruit tree breeders usually give a clue as to how a tree was bred in the name they give it.
Any apple tree with the words ' Seedling ' or ' Pippin ' in its name is the result of a tree grown were only one parent is known.
As to how long rootstocks have been used.
The Persians used grafting in their orchards and by the time the Romans moved across Europe they must have had at least some rudementary stock grafting knowledge as they brought the cultivated apple with them.
Although the wild...crab...apple had come across a thousand or more years before them.
So you ae saying a grated apple tree is ike a hybrid tomato or worse! This tree s probably 30 years old! the other two trees near by have no roots coming up but the one that has is close to the garden which has not been cut like thew grass under the other trees! I wondered why a pear tree id not bear fruit even though it came from the seed. Does a grafted tree have the same problem with the seeds that sprout? Are seeds from a grafted tree good but they are all different depending if the tree grows two different types of fruit? We have a tree that has 4 different appls and is just bearing fruit this year!
I guess it's a bit of a puzzle Bobberman.
So here's how it goes.
If you plant any apple seed from an apple you will get a fruit tree.
But...it will not be the same as the apple you got it from because you only know one of the parents. You have know idea where the bee that pollinated the apple in the first place got the other parents pollen from.
So that apple is a new variety. Call it what you want.
That is what any apple tree growing in a garden would be if it was grown from seed.
Now to get an apple to grow true to its variety you have to take a shoot ( scion ) from a tree and graft that to a rootstock or get it to produce roots itself.
So any known variety is a direct descendant from the original mother tree.
and is genetically identical.
The reason we graft these scions onto a rootstock is so that we can be sure of how strong or weak that tree will grow and also give the tree some resistance to some diseases. An orchard that was planted on its own roots would be all over the place as regards size and would be very hard to manage.
This rootstock is usually a crab apple that has a known rate of growth and is virus free.
So if you get suckers growing in the garden from an apple tree there are two options.
If the tree has been grafted to a stock..then the suckers will be a crab.
If the tree has not been grafted...then the suckers will be true to the tree.
Same rules apply to a pear.
Hope that helps a little.
So here's how it goes.
If you plant any apple seed from an apple you will get a fruit tree.
But...it will not be the same as the apple you got it from because you only know one of the parents. You have know idea where the bee that pollinated the apple in the first place got the other parents pollen from.
So that apple is a new variety. Call it what you want.
That is what any apple tree growing in a garden would be if it was grown from seed.
Now to get an apple to grow true to its variety you have to take a shoot ( scion ) from a tree and graft that to a rootstock or get it to produce roots itself.
So any known variety is a direct descendant from the original mother tree.
and is genetically identical.
The reason we graft these scions onto a rootstock is so that we can be sure of how strong or weak that tree will grow and also give the tree some resistance to some diseases. An orchard that was planted on its own roots would be all over the place as regards size and would be very hard to manage.
This rootstock is usually a crab apple that has a known rate of growth and is virus free.
So if you get suckers growing in the garden from an apple tree there are two options.
If the tree has been grafted to a stock..then the suckers will be a crab.
If the tree has not been grafted...then the suckers will be true to the tree.
Same rules apply to a pear.
Hope that helps a little.
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applestar
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I was going to start a new thread about this, but it really seems related to the topic at hand, so I'll go ahead and tack it on here:
This spring, just before bud break, I pruned my apple tree -- a little later than usual with soil starting to warm, not just thawed. since I cut off a lot of vertical growing "water sprouts" from the upper branches, I had a nice set of sturdy flexible twigs. Just for fun, I used the twigs to make mid- calf high bent twig border fence -- push both ends into the (soft spring- thaw) soil, creating overlapping arches.
Now, a good few of those bent arches are leafing out. I think they rooted!
Haven't decided what to do with them, but I thought it was kind of interesting....
This spring, just before bud break, I pruned my apple tree -- a little later than usual with soil starting to warm, not just thawed. since I cut off a lot of vertical growing "water sprouts" from the upper branches, I had a nice set of sturdy flexible twigs. Just for fun, I used the twigs to make mid- calf high bent twig border fence -- push both ends into the (soft spring- thaw) soil, creating overlapping arches.
Now, a good few of those bent arches are leafing out. I think they rooted!
Haven't decided what to do with them, but I thought it was kind of interesting....
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!potatoes!
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in propagation work, it's pretty common for cuttings to leaf out prematurely, and then die back because the roots didn't come fast enough. relatedly, I used thin branches from some wild sweet cherry I cut down this past winter to help with deer protection on my tree nursery beds (42 grafted apple, asian pear, and peach this year!) this spring, sticking them in the ground fencepost style, and all of them leafed out, too. and then died a couple weeks later. I pulled a few out to check, and there was no sign of callusing at all, let alone root growth.
so it's possible, apple, that your apple bits are confused, and are trying to make the best of a challenging situation...I wish them luck, but I haven't heard of anything save osage orange, elder, and like JONA said, willow, that will root enough to survive from just being stuck in the ground...oh, and maybe fig.
so it's possible, apple, that your apple bits are confused, and are trying to make the best of a challenging situation...I wish them luck, but I haven't heard of anything save osage orange, elder, and like JONA said, willow, that will root enough to survive from just being stuck in the ground...oh, and maybe fig.
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applestar
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Well, when those border fence wands/sticks bloomed 
, I thought that's all it was, but it's been over two months now. This drought we're having isn't helping, but I'll keep them watered and see what happens.
I'll post an update again later on. I have no real expectations so I'll be really happy if they did indeed root, but won't be overly disappointed if they didn't.
, I thought that's all it was, but it's been over two months now. This drought we're having isn't helping, but I'll keep them watered and see what happens. I'll post an update again later on. I have no real expectations so I'll be really happy if they did indeed root, but won't be overly disappointed if they didn't.
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!potatoes!
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!potatoes!
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It's often seems to be the things that you do quickly and without too much fuss are the ones that work and the things that you take care over and spend ages fiddling about with...just give up.
As a rule though we used to just take gooseberry cuttings and stick them in the corner of the field and forget them for a couple of months. A good fifty percent would root up for us.
As a rule though we used to just take gooseberry cuttings and stick them in the corner of the field and forget them for a couple of months. A good fifty percent would root up for us.