That’s interesting Clark, I have an idea ( I hesitate to refer to it as a plan at this stage of the game) that on my multi graft apple that I will eventually have a wild apple from Kazakhstan that will have been pollinated by one of the known varieties on the tree giving me a wild crossed with , hudsons golden gem, Fuji, honey crisp, or gold rush.
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That sounds like a great plan you have. If you need seeds or anything let me know. I will let you know how the Kazakhstan do that I just grafted this year. Planning to use wolf river, gold rush, chestnut, Arkansas black, wickson, Kingston black, and the seedlings in crosses. There will be some really nice apples that come out of those I think. Starting to breed some red flesh apples in there.
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Seedling apples have been something I’ve grown for fun for a long time now. Figured since I brought up that I had a couple of new seedlings with potential that no one is growing or have seen yet maybe I should post a couple pictures. I’m not going to thin them rather this year I will find out what they are and then determine how and if I will grow them.
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Here is my potted seedling apple tree…fruit looks to have set. I think this might be a Honeycrisp seedling.
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Those are really nice and very unusual fruitlets. Almost like wild crabapples that are ping pong ball sized. Can’t wait to see the mature fruit.
Clark and others who plant in the field, how do you handle your seedlings? How long in nursery row and spacing there and when planted out? I planted some apple and pear seed in a garden plot last fall and they grew well. Now I have to decide what to do with them. Just a few, maybe a dozen each.
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This is the second year on this seedling apple tree. I have not grown many apple seedlings but most have small leaves. This tree has really big leaves. I wonder if they will remain big as it ages.
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@Sue-MiUPz3,
Just saw your post. I leave them planted close to the house in a bed and then after a couple years I plant them out. If you look in the thread above you will see some seedling apples planted out in old tractor tires.
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Derby42,
I wonder how it’s going to turn out! That’s the funnest part about growing seedlings is they are all different.
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yes it is for sure, it grew a lot this year, it’s probably seven feet tall now. Should know in ten years or so, lol
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That’s a good looking apple.
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Might be a correlation between a big leaf to a big apple.
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Bill,
Could be like a puppy with big paws and be a really tall tree. Maybe your right and it will have Basketball sized apples! Wouldn’t it be nice if one apple from your 300 feet tall tree fed the family + guests!
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Prune on a ladder…
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My grandpa used to tell a story about an apple tree on a ranch in New Mexico. He said it made very big apples that were good but it was very tall. No branches were low enough to reach. They would throw sticks at apples hanging high above to knock them loose. Once an apple was knocked loose you had to catch it as it would bust if allowed to hit the ground
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That would be awesome
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2018 was not kind to any of my seedlings so I’m praying that 2019 willl be better to my apples and me.
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Has anyone raised rootstock varietals to maturity, I.e. bud118, ranetka, antonovka? If so, could you post pictures, I’d like to see them with fruit, full size. Will all seedling trees grow to full size, or standard? For someone starting out, how should I start raising seedlings, with good disease resistance? I would likely plant them on my property for wildlife food plots.
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@Holleg44
Gary,
I’m assuming you want a large quantity of trees FRUIT TREE SEEDLINGS | Willamette Nurseries rootstock clonal seedling fruit tree ornamental seedlings. I would not pay much over $1 each. Think about how your going to avoid diseases which typically means dealing with a single great source or two. I can’t help with the fruits of those because I’ve not personally grown them but they say they are ok for wildlife and even pie. Think $100 or so would get you well on your way to a large wild tree orchard. Graft them if you feel like it later. I think Malus antonovka is a great choice of rootstock and I have some myself.