If anyone has seeds from interesting apples (or other fruit) they would be willing to share, please let me know.
I’m experimenting with growing seedling fruit trees and am interested in trying out a fairly wide range of fruit types.
While most anything would be appreciated, seeds from parents that have some amount of disease resistance or other especially positive qualities is particular interest.
Location is Northern Virginia, Zone 7a.
How do they taste?
I have a couple unknown seedlings that may fruit next year possibly…but at about 4 years, seedlings may take longer. (But I see spur growth).
Have some tiny seedlings of Fuji and CrimsonCrisp. But, am with you…I intend to try and make some crosses where I know both parents. Who knows,…but it beats sitting around watching the boob tube.
bb
My seedling crosses have a good flavor but they have not all been disease resistant. Wish I could say it’s all skill and partially it is but mostly in my case it’s luck because these are chance seedlings. My apples are intentionally infected with fire blight to breed resistance but sometimes they are highly susceptible to something else
BlueBerry,
If you’re asking me (I’m not sure who you were responding to), then the answer is that I don’t know.
I just started the experiment this year, so all my seedlings are small.
Hopefully I’ll be able to give a report on my first fruit in another three or four years.
We’ll see.
Even if some of them have a modest to moderate amount of disease resistance combined with good taste, that’s a good start.
Would you have any interest in sending me some seeds from your apples?
I’d like to use seeds from a variety of sources so my seedlings have a lot of genetic variability. Cross-pollination between the trees will then really mix things up and I can use a “survival of the fittest” approach to weed out the more disease-susceptible ones.
If growing seedlings for disease resistance, wouldn’t it make sense to include seeds from some of the Kazakh apples?
smsmith,
Yes, you are quite right.
While I have not yet gotten around to it (quite busy at the moment), my plan is to contact a fellow there at the USDA Geneva, NY facility and request seeds from the Kazakh apples. I’ve read online that due to public interest they will provide packets of seeds from their apples to people who request them. My intent is to obtain some soon and let them thermally stratify this winter so they’ll germinate in the spring.
My understanding is that Malus sieversii trees often have pretty good disease resistance. I figure I’ll grow them along with domestic apple seedlings and hopefully seedlings from some of best crabapples. When they get to bearing age, I can just let them all cross-pollinate and plant more seeds from that. Of course that’s years away and I may or may not get to that point, depending on whatever else happens in my life. In my meantime, if I get some good seedlings from this first round I can name them after my wife and kids (they’ll get a kick out of that, I hope) and share scionwood with those who are interested.
This year there was not an apple crop to speak of but will gladly send you some next summer.
Clark,
That would be great. Thank you!
Did your crop get wiped out by a late freeze or by all the rain this year?
Severe drought and late freeze.
Muchtolearn,
I don’t mind sending you some seeds…but you’ll have to wait until next year. I ate my last Fuji and my last Braeburn several weeks ago, and the varmints got most of my others this year. Ask me in a few months if you think of it…or PM me.
BB
BlueBerry,
Thanks very much! I appreciate it.
The apples had another bad year in 2019 hence why my pear orchard is not an apple orchard. The Kansas climate is marginal at best for apples. Its not unusual for them to take a couple of years off. Pears at my house are growing mostly on callery and BET rootstocks to make sure i get some pears. Apples have no equivalent of those rootstocks.
Look for a pm from me. I enjoy this topic. bb
Continue to get wonderful feedback from those growing my seedling apples. @39thparallel noted my crabapple was the first to produce apples at his orchard and another he knew of here in Kansas. They cluster like grapes. Anyone else have producing trees from my seedling apples yet? This is a photo of the one he likes the best.
Great topic 
I am planing to plant some apple seeds as well. For now, with one known parent but later I may try and hand pollinate some and hopefully know both parents that way for the cross.
That crabapple looks awesome
Gosh I HATE when that happens. A deer destroyed a fuji apple of mine several years ago, ate it and rubbed it down to the trunk, and it was about as tall as me. I moved what was left from its spot near a creek, thinking it would be out of the travel zone for the deer. It never branched out or recovered and after several years I finally dug it up. It broke my heart.
Mine are not big enough yet, I think 
I have a few that are 3 years old, and a couple I was able to graft onto larger trees, but so far nothing. I have a few months to go before spring, so hope is still in the air.
As mentioned the 39th parallel orchard grafted lots of my small crabapple this year shown in the photos above. Anyone is welcome to do this because any variety i grew from seed of anything is free to anyone. @39thparallel stated these were the first apple in several Kansas orchards to start producing and they produce fruit heavily at all sites we know of in Kansas. Mike is interested in preserving many seedling apples produced from my project and bench grafts them in the spring. @TurkeyCreekTrees is another nearby orchard i have sent lots of pear and apple scion wood to when he was located in Nebraska. He now lives just a few minutes away and we hope he is adapting well to the area. I encourage everyone to not let varities become lost to time.
I top worked several trees with your “Clark’s Crab” I should have lots to distribute soon. It’s definitely a winner for our area.