Help Save My Apple Tree

[flowerbug]

if you've trimmed the roots it will usually help to remove some of the top too to balance out the demand on the new root system.

however, the overall issue is that when growing apples from seeds it is very very unlikely you will end up with an edible or good tasting apple. more likely you will have tart apples that were often used in the past to make hard cider.

it takes several years before an apple tree seedling will get big enough to flower and hold fruit so that can be a long investment in time and care for an apple that doesn't taste good.

nothing wrong with trying but just an FYI to not get your hopes way up about this.

as sentimental value all things can be held dear. i once hauled a very stunted orange tree around for many miles and about 20 moves and never once got anything on it larger than a pea.

oh, and other approaches to rescuing part of a tree is to either air layer or graft parts if you can't dig up the whole plant. apples are often grafted onto other rootstocks.

 

[Lady Slipper Lover]

if you've trimmed the roots it will usually help to remove some of the top too to balance out the demand on the new root system.

however, the overall issue is that when growing apples from seeds it is very very unlikely you will end up with an edible or good tasting apple. more likely you will have tart apples that were often used in the past to make hard cider.

it takes several years before an apple tree seedling will get big enough to flower and hold fruit so that can be a long investment in time and care for an apple that doesn't taste good.

nothing wrong with trying but just an FYI to not get your hopes way up about this.

as sentimental value all things can be held dear. i once hauled a very stunted orange tree around for many miles and about 20 moves and never once got anything on it larger than a pea.

oh, and other approaches to rescuing part of a tree is to either air layer or graft parts if you can't dig up the whole plant. apples are often grafted onto other rootstocks.

Ok! That's too bad that I might get a tart apple, though. I'm kinda doing it more of the fun of it anyways. I think that it'd be very cool just to say that I grew an apple tree from a seed. About grafting, me and my brother was actually talking about grafting other branches into it when it's older. I don't know how to graft, but I'd like to learn!

 

[SprigOfTheLivingDead]

So.... is this a variety that's true to seed? Some types of apples are and if this is then "yay!" but otherwise you might be doing all this for a very large roll of dice for what you might get as an end product.

What you have going looks good. let it go over summer in that in some partial sun and plant it in the fall is what I would do.

 

[Pulsegleaner]

Another advantage of grafting is that you can not only get the fruit faster, you can get it on a smaller tree. Apple trees vary on how much they grow (since some are dwarfing and some aren't) if you have a non dwarfing tree that puts a lot of energy into trunk development, it can get real big real fast.

Grafted apples also tend to be straighter. Apple trees often get very gnarled especially as they get older. In fact, around here, that's how most old apple trees diel they get so gnarled they become all kinks and weak bends that snap off in storms.

And sour is sort of the middle ground. Apples can go bitter too.