How to grow an apple tree from a seed at home

When laying his own orchard, the summer resident is faced with high prices for seedlings of fruit trees. You can reduce costs if you apply seed propagation of trees. Is it possible to grow a fully fruiting apple tree from an apple seed?

Pros and cons of such an activity

Growing fruit trees from seeds is a painstaking work, so it is necessary to weigh the pros and cons of this activity. The indisputable advantages of such a landing:

• low or zero cost of seeds (they can be collected from any apples you like);
• apple sprouts, sprouted from seeds, are well adapted to the climate and soil of the area where they are grown;
• the gardener fully controls the progress of the cultivation;
• seed sowing provides a lot of planting material, the surplus of which can be sold.

A gardener's dream is a bountiful harvest

There are also disadvantages that make some summer residents abandon this venture:

• long waiting period from sowing to harvesting;
• an apple tree from a stone may not repeat the parental form according to varietal characteristics.

If the gardener has plenty of free time and a large plot in the country, seed reproduction of apple trees will save money and grow a good orchard.

Will the culture bear fruit

Trees obtained from seeds will surely enter fruiting. But the harvest time depends on the genetics of a particular seedling, and can be from 7 to 15 years from sowing. It is impossible to predict the beginning of fruiting in advance because the seed contains the signs of not only the maternal, but the paternal form of plants.

The apple tree tolerates vaccination well

What seeds are suitable and how to choose them

Only fully ripe fruits, without signs of disease and not damaged by pests, are suitable for collecting seed. Better to take apples from trees growing in orchards from neighbors. Then the plants will be better adapted to the local climate.

When choosing varieties of apple trees, one should give preference to those that most fully convey their qualities to the offspring precisely through seeds. These are well-known, old varieties:

• Antonovka ordinary;
• Muscat;
• Honey;
• Chinese woman;
• Pineapple white.

Modern hybrids will produce offspring with a large number of varietal traits.

Is it possible from a seed of a purchased apple

Large, beautiful and sweet store apples make you want to plant such a tree at home. It's worth trying for the sake of experiment, but the result may be unsuccessful - if the variety you like is intended for the south, it will not survive in the middle lane. You can collect apple seeds of local varieties from store fruits.

Optimal planting times

Most experienced gardeners sow apple seeds before winter for natural stratification (cold treatment). This allows you to increase germination by 40% and get strong shoots. Depending on the climate of the region, sowing begins in October - November.

How to grow an apple tree from a seed at home if winter sowing is not available? An ordinary refrigerator comes to the rescue. Seeds wrapped in a damp cloth are kept for at least a month at a temperature of +5 degrees. In March, sowing is carried out at home, in pots or seedling boxes.

Preparing optimal soil and planting seeds

Apple trees love to grow in loose, fertile, neutral or slightly acidified soil. Seedling substrate is prepared from ingredients such as:

• forest crumbly earth, taken from under an oak or linden;
• humus (rotted cow manure or 3-year-old compost);
• coarse sand or perlite;
• non-acidic peat or sphagnum moss.

All components are taken in equal parts; fertilizers do not need to be added at the sowing stage.

The sowing bed is placed on a flat area, in an open, sunny place. The place should not be in the spring at the place of accumulation of melt water. The soil is dug up, removing the roots of the weeds and adding the necessary components.

Apple seeds are sown in grooves

Step-by-step sowing of an apple tree before winter:

1. On the leveled surface of the soil, grooves are made with a depth of 2-2.5 cm. Their bottom is sprinkled with dry sand mixed with wood ash. This will protect crops from rot.
2. Seeds are laid out at a distance of 3 cm from each other.
3. Sprinkle the grooves with sand or soil.

If the winter is with little snow, the bed must be insulated with fallen leaves, sawdust or straw. The shelter is removed in the spring.

Instructions for sowing an apple tree in spring at home:

1. Before stratification, the seeds must be kept in water with the addition of Epin for a day. This will increase germination.
2. In the refrigerator, the seed is kept in damp sand or sawdust, a damp cloth for a month and a half.
3. In March, the seeds are immersed in prepared soil to a depth of 2 cm. The height of the pot should be 8-10 cm, the presence of drainage holes is mandatory.

Seedling containers are kept in a bright and warm room until sprouts appear. From time to time, the soil is moistened with a sprayer.

Apple seed growing technology

Apple sprout appears within a month after sowing. It is strong, has 2 cotyledons and soon reveals real pointed leaves.

For the full development of seedlings, the environment should be as follows:

• bright diffused light for 14-16 hours;
• air temperature + 20 ... +22 degrees;
• moderate soil moisture;
• lack of drafts.

These conditions can be met by placing boxes with seedlings on the east window, a glazed insulated balcony or in a greenhouse.

Seedlings should have enough light and warmth

Apple seedlings care

Seedling care consists in watering with warm and soft (rain, thawed, settled) water 1-2 times a week. Excess moisture can lead to root rot.

Seedlings sown in common boxes are recommended to dive into separate glasses when they have 6-8 true leaves. The root is not pinched during transplantation. A suitable container volume is at least 1 liter.

When warm weather comes, the seedling pots can be taken out into the garden. To prevent tender seedlings from burning in the sun, they are placed in the shade of the crown of trees. Apple trees growing in the ground are watered and weeded without disturbing the root system until next spring.

Further care from seedlings to the finished seedling

The seedling should remain in the pot up to 3 years of age.During this time, it is transferred twice into a new pot with a larger diameter.

At the age of 2 years, the seedling can be grafted with any suitable variety. The method of grafting "into cleavage" is used more often. This procedure is carried out in early summer (late May - early June).

Top dressing of young shoots is carried out twice a year: nitrogen fertilizers are applied in spring, phosphorus-potassium fertilizers in August. It is convenient for beginners to use ready-made complex mineral compositions: OMU, Fertika.

You can leave seedlings in the garden for the winter, insulating them with agrotechnical cloth, sawdust.

Seedling transplant

It is recommended to plant apple trees in a place chosen for further cultivation in May or in August - September.

Procedure:

1. For seedlings, a hole is dug 40-50 cm deep and with the same width.
2. Crushed stone or expanded clay is poured at the bottom for drainage, then fertile soil is poured up to half of the pit.
3. The seedling is placed in the center, be sure to drive 2 supports on the sides.
4. The roots are covered with soil, without covering the root collar and the grafting site, if any.
5. The tree is watered abundantly.
6. The soil is mulched with hay, wood chips.

The correct arrangement of the seedling

What difficulties can you face

When sowing an apple tree before winter, there may be a low germination rate due to flooding of the site in spring, freezing, and eating seeds by mice. Therefore, it is necessary to sow with a margin.

When growing at home, seedlings are often stretched out due to lack of light and excess heat. For seedlings, it is worth purchasing special phytolamps for illumination.

Knowing how to grow an apple tree from a seed, a gardener can get an orchard on his site without material costs.