A Happy Seedling
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Apple seedling photos!

Rejoice, my friends, at the sight of this adorable seedling.
This is the kind of thing my username is for!


~A Happy Seedling
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Second photo.
Second photo.
First photo.
First photo.

tomc
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You can grow this indoors till your spring over-takes it. They he goes out doors forever.

Peter1142
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I have some apple seeds from a dying tree I wanted to try and start. Should I start them outdoors or indoors? What is the procedure for starting an apple tree from seed?

Theclowndog
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@peter1142 you must realize that any tree you grow from those seeds will probably not resemble the parent tree. If you are okay with this then do the following:
Clean the seeds off and place them folded in a damp paper towel.
Place the damp paper towel into a sealed ziplock bag. Right down the date on the bag.
Place the ziplock in a safe location in the rear, bottom of your fridge. Forget about it for the next 6-8 weeks.
After that time has passed start to check on them once a week to look for sprouts. Change any moldy paper towel with a clean one and make sure it stays moist in bag.
After you start seeing sprouts plant them in small pots with a seed starting potting mix.
Keep those seedlings in a sunny window until spring. Care for them as you would any other seedlings.

Theclowndog
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Or if the tree makes it through the spring you could air layer a couple branches and start some cloned trees from the parent. Then you know they willbe the same variety.

Peter1142
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I will try to do an air layer if it makes it through the winter.

It is an extremely old tree and unlikely to be a hybrid, why would the seeds not resemble the parent tree?

Theclowndog
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Because every apple seed is the product of 2 parent trees. The tree bearing the fruit being the mother plant. But somewhere there is a father plant providing pollen to fertilize that tree. So the tree that will result from that seed will be a combination of those 2 parent trees.
Think about it this way: If a man and woman naturally have a child, it will never be a clone of it's parents. It might look like mom or dad, or even a grandparent or distant relative they never knew.

Theclowndog
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In this case you may not even know what the other apple parent tree is. Or perhaps you do. For instance if you have another apple tree on nearby and no other apple or crabapple trees for 1/2 mile or more. Then more likely than not you can assume your baby trees would be a combination of those 2.

Peter1142
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Yes, I understand, but isn't it likely the parent tree is itself? The tree flowers beautifully and profusely and there were no other flowering apple trees nearby.

I see, I just googled and it says they are self incompatible... interesting. Is this the case with all apple trees? Very different from my vegetable garden. :)

Theclowndog
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Yes, all apple trees in self incompatible in nature. There must be another tree in your area you are unaware of.

Sadly there are self pollinating apple tree for sale today because they have been genetically modified as such.

JONA
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Hi Peter.
There are just a few apples that are classed as self-fertile. Millers seedling being just one. Breeders are working to produce hybrids that carry the genes that are needed to give the fruit this capability but there is still not many varieties that you can rely on to be fully self-self fertile.
By nature apples are not, and this is the very reason that apples have such a huge spread in varieties, some 12-1400 varieties world wide.
Apples are hermaphrodites and carry both sexes within the flower but on the whole this is not self- compatable. There is a capability to self polinate in all apples, but it is so unreliable as to be regarded as a no no for guaranteeing a crop. Cross pollination does occur naturally of both Malus Pomela ( the sweet Apple ) and Malus Sylvestrus ( the crab or wild Apple).
Just to confuse it further there are some varieties that are Triploids.
These have an uneven numbers of Chromosomes in their genes and therefore cannot cross pollinate on their own ....but need a pollinator themselves. So, if you have one of these you need three trees in you garden, as the Triploids needs a pollinator but it can't polinate in return .
Red Delicious, Bramley Seedling for example. In fact a lot of tip bearers seem to have this problem.
Fascinating stuff though.

Peter1142
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Can apples be parthenocarpic or does it mean they were definitely fertilized?

I have some seeds in the refrigerator, but I will definitely try doing an air layer, but if not I will be satisfied with a similar tree -- I am more interested in the flowers and the tree than the apples. Just sad to cut down a beautiful old tree but there is barely anything left of it and the trunk is rotted all the way through.

JONA
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There are apples that are parthenocarpic...Wellington Bloomless and Spencer Seedless for starters. This phenomina was noticed as early as 1685. These fruits have a mutation from one gene which allows the fruit to develope without pollination. It's been noticed that a protein... Pistillata ...is manufactured in the second and third whorls of flower development and converts organs that would otherwise be carpels and styles into petals and anthers.
However the varieties that have this are not at present of any value as commercial varieties.
There is research into this though as it would be a great development in fruit growing if you could produce modern varieties that carried no core and could be eaten like a parthenocarpic Conference.

A Happy Seedling
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Doing great! Will post pics of both of the trees (shamefully in one small plastic cup, since I'm out of pots and almost out of soil) and of my two new sprouts, which are just starting to come out.
I also started some basil. It's doing okay, still young.
I have four more apple seeds with big roots. I have no pots and no soil. Oopsie!
They are in my homemade reusable seed starter. This starter is practically immune to mold but it uses paper towels, so I cannot buy them more time with the soil in there. :(
I need help with the new ones--suggestions?

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applestar
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If I'm out of potting mix and don't have the basic ingredients -- peat moss or coir, perlite, and/or vermiculite -- I would mix sand with equal amounts of garden soil ( really good stuff from the vegetable garden raised beds ) and rotted leaf/wood humus/topsoil. I get this by pushing aside the wood pile or piled up leaves under the oak tree and shallowly scraping up the fluffy stuff above the hard soil. If earthworms are cavorting in there, it's even better. Mix this with larger chunks of something -- shredded mulch, gravel size UltraSorb DE, corn cob bedding, etc.

Are you also asking what to use for pots? I like using deep containers for tree seedlings -- 1 qt deli soup and yoghurt containers, 1/2 gal milk cartons with top cut off, oatmeal box, etc. Make drainage holes in bottom and along bottom edge on the side, then I make 4-6 slits halfway up the side with a box cutter

Peter1142
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My apple seeds have been in the refrigerator for 8 weeks and haven't germinated. Should I try taking them out and putting them in a pot?

tomc
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Yes Peter its time to let them live in the spring (at least it is in my zone 6-A).

Theclowndog
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@peter1142 this night seem obvious but make sure to use a seed starting potting mix and not just garden soil...



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