How do you raise an apple tree from sprouts?

Answer 1

I'm not an apple expert but here's what I did... I bought a few large (10oz or better) Granny Smith and Golden Delicious apples from my local Wal-Mart store. I put them in my refrigerator for about 4-6 weeks. I had no idea that they were germinating inside the apple until I cut them open, again, at about 4-6 weeks. When I seen the sprouts forming, I quickly grabbed several 1 quart flower pots, put some worm casting dirt from my indoor worm bed into them and planted the seedlings in a hole about 1-1 ¼ inch deep. I did one seedling per pot. I placed the pots in a window area, trying to get as much natural light as possible, using normal lamps with 45 watt bulbs held about 10 inches above the dirt on days that were cloudy. Keep in mind that this was done in Southern Ohio in early February. It was too cold out to put the plants in the ground. As the weather permitted, I took the pots outside to expose the plants to wind, sun and rain, bringing them in on cold days and nights. When fear of frost was gone, I transplanted the small (2-3 inch) trees outside. I kept the seedlings watered at least every other day while indoors and watered the small trees, after being planted outdoors, every morning and sometime in the evenings as well. It depended on the weather and the dryness of the dirt. As the leaves started to wither or get spots, I pruned and tried very light amounts of fertilizer. By the end of Summer to early Fall, one of the trees grew to about 3 feet tall with more than 50 healthy leaves. I realize that it has a few to several years before I can expect fruit, but I believe I will get some and it was exciting to start it from seed. Note that not all of my apples germinated seed at exactly 4-6 weeks, but many did and I was able to reproduce this effect at a later date. My refrigerator has a maximum cool setting of about 6 then it reads "coolest". My refrigerator is always set at 4 ½-5. Good luck and happy growing!

John P. Adams

Lynchburg, Ohio