🍎 Apple Breeding, Planting Apple Seeds 🌱 How I Do It Now
How I Chill and plant apple seeds now. Learning to germinate apple seeds consistently is an ongoing process. Things are going well this year using previously dried seeds.
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Your videos helped inspire me to start grafting apples a few years ago. My apple grafting inspired my eleven year old granddaughter to save seeds and start her own apple seedlings (home schooled kid -- the world is her classroom). Her successful seedlings inspired me to try germinating some apple seeds. Now, full circle, I'm back here to see how you plant your seeds!
That's very gratifying to hear :)
I had to sell my property, I grafted about 50 trees on to wild rootstock that came up naturally. I hope to have land again and time some day for projects like this. I'm still so grateful for learning from you. Must have watched your grafting series half a dozen times. Blue collar guy hoping for a bright future in my investments hopefully I can help sponsor your work one day.
Good luck man. We all need it right now.
I didn't care much for apples before I was reccomended this channel by Essential Craftsman. Now I'm a nerd.
Love it!
I’m crunchin on that fresh fresh Jonagold Fruitberry Cough x OG Honeycrisp Widow watchin this rn
I used to use paper towels as well but as you pointed out, they mold. Now it's a sandwich bag of potting mix in the refrigerator.
Yup. People get away with it, but I stay away from paper.
Been using paper towels 30 years, if the seeds are cleaned good and spread out haven't had mold prproblems. Works good on paw paw and persimmons.
OK this explains some issues I've had with sprouting stuff, I'll just throw stuff back into the fridge if I get poor germinatiom again. I'm not doing specific crosses so I don't need such precise tagging :)
Fantastic info. Hopefully i can catch some of these flavor crossings in the future. Just got some seed from your store today. Wouldnt it be cool if we could breed towards some seed stability in the next few decades.
I mentioned this before, but the seeds I bought last year instead of planting them right away like the previous year I stratified them longer once I got them and then planted them in May I think. Sure enough they didn't germinate. I left them in the pots outside and now they're pretty much all germinating this year. 🥳
Nice. I have had old ones germinate, but not at a high rate. Forgot to mention that in the video.
I absolutely love the idea about seeds for education. It would be so awesome to get a school to invest in a class orchard where seeds that kids grew in elementary could be something they try before they graduate. So cool!
Yeah, right! And you'd end up with fruits that are totally unique to the school. And they get to name them. such a cool idea. for some schools it would probably lead to actual breeding too and not just planting seeds someone else grew. A lot of great lessons there.
Seriously. That’s a great idea. Get em while they’re young!
Really appreciate the seeds!
I think you've got a lot of people craving apples with all that crunching. Looks delicious!
I definitely believe in your high flavoured apple project. Stacking the deck is good.
Thanks for all you do.
This is the first year one of your varieties (Sugarwood) has developed flowers. Planning to breed it with Hewes Crab (highly flavored cider apple), Redfield (red Fleshed cider apple), Topaz, Grimes Golden and Freedom. The latter three have good scab and other disease resistance, so we'll see what happens. Thanks for making some exciting crosses for your seed sale this year as well. Looking forward to grow those out, and everything that made it to fall from the previous seed sale survived the winter. Exciting times!
Great! I've been waiting to start hearing back from people fruiting my varieties. I'm interested to see if you get the high brix levels too. It does have traces of red flesh sometimes, so crossing it to redfield or other RF apples is likely to cause that trait to express.
@SkillCult I'll definitely keep you posted on the brix. I think the cooler, wetter climate here will work against it, but my excessively drained sandy soil will work in favor. Typical to the variety, it produced many flowers so may get enough fruit for a very small batch of cider.
@@mdl17576 that thing seems insanely prolific. It did go alternate already though. Look forward to a report at some point.
How big do you let them grow in the trays before planting them out?
@@scipio109 3 to 6 inches. these are pretty close, so better on the low end of that. before about 2 inches, they are still pretty tender and more susceptible to stem rot and insect attack.
Perfect timing , i recently got some apples seed from sheffields. Currently building my seedling rootstock inventory for grafting.
Love this! Thanks for the info. Can't wait for the pollen sale!
I processed a bunch of pollen tonight! Any day now...
My apple seeds (SK Canada) are in the fridge or another 2 weeks, and thanks to this video, I know what to do next! We are having a very late spring, so I am hopeful that pollen from your wonderful collection can make it up here!!!
Thanks!
Thanks. Super interesting.
I've actually changed things up again. Now I am drying the seeds first, resoaking, then sprouting similar to this in the fridge in baggies with a damp substrate.
Thumbs up, these apple crosses sound so good
they sure do. Better every year.
Using the new KZhead timestamp® function I'm at 22:49. I have nerded to this point and will enjoy finishing this nerd video. Thanks Steven.
I've done great with just putting seeds in moist peat in open ziploc bags on the lower shelf of the fridge. I don't dry seeds, but I do start them all indoors. And some start really Early, but don't be afraid of letting them grow into 3-4" shoots before planting, it, shockingly, seems better than planting bareley sprouted seeds!
I've usually kept them fresh. Drying then resoaking has actually worked out extremely well this year. I think it may have some effect on encouraging sprouting even. Since I plant in flats, it can get hard to deal with really long roots on them. I prefer to get them early on, but I've planted some pretty long ones.
Amazing, I would Iove some seeds.
I always have seeds for sale in the winter time. all gone this year.
🎉🎉 Awesome
I was wondering why the Becca's crab seemed to have disappeared from your program. Last year I attempted to start 10 or 15 seeds from you and only one made it. I'm going to let the whole tree grow out on its own roots after I take a scion or two. Super excited I love crabs!
the tree usually only flowers every other year. I think it either needs super high chill, or maybe a lot of them are not really viable, because it is a species hybrid. I'm not sure, but they either don't sprout very often, or they sprout and then die. Those in the video were from last year, so they were also already weak. It's not that surprising that those died, but it's been a continuing problem getting many of them to grow. I only have a handful of them growing from all the crosses I've made. Hopefully I can make some more this year. pollinations take fine.
seeds from Store bought apples will sprout right away I'm assuming because the apple has been kept cool for quite some time.
I think so I've seen some varieties sprout in the apple even, notably, granny and pink lady.
Pleased to see you using the Whitwick Pippin!
I'm a fan. It has an oddly thin presentation, as far as richness goes, but a ton of complex high aromatic notes. It can hang pretty late here too at times, though not super late.
I had my first crop this year. Was suprised by the flavour as I did not know what to expect. Mandarin orange flavour was dominant. Picked first week February is SW UK.
For what my two cents is worth in the bank, once half of the seeds are sprouting, you can plant them in potting soil mix and most of them sprout, granted if they're high value seeds you might want to wait for them, but also if they're high value seeds, I honestly don't know why you'd dry them in the first place. But I'm new to this. I have better success letting them sprout until they're straight shoots with yellow stems and open dicotoyledon, then poke holes with a butter knife and plant them warm with moderate light until green. This was am accidental discovery but I didn't want to waste my Asian pear seeds! 95% survival so far.
I think if the conditions are good, they can just be planted. I've had trouble, I think because it gets so hot here early and they enter a second dormanchy. I dried the seeds this year, because I've had too many issues with mold. even when I clean the seeds with peroxide and dry, they sometimes still mold if left fresh. Especially storing them, then shipping them in the mail, then people keep them longer after that. A lot can go wrong. In the past, i have never dried the seeds. This is the first year, but I'll be doing most of the time now I'm sure. my germ rates rates are good this year though, so for all I know, it might actually help.
Thank you for your wonderful content. Watching your videos led me to grafting a couple years ago. Quick question, as you discuss saving and looking for a new property, have you ever done an orchard organization video? I will be starting my amateur orchard and breeding in a year or two. Efficiency will be paramount as I wont have a ton of land for the orchard and I want to keep track of/manage seedlings to the fullest. Thank you!!
that is an interesting idea for a video/ I have thought about doing a what would I do different starting over with what I know video, so maybe both, or it might make a good stand alone video.
Thanks for the response and looking forward to any info on that topic, whether here or on patreon. Cheers!
95% germination rate for your seeds this year! 7 weeks on the fridge door then into potting soil under a humidity dome outside
Which is far better than last years undried seeds, with about the same treatment. This year I put them in most potting soil in bags in the fridge. Last year was your bags and sawdust.
I was wondering if maybe drying them would actually help. No idea why that would be, but maybe it did. It's way safer for handing, storing and shipping.
Yeah it's a big improvement for sure. How long do you keep yours in flats before grafting or potting up? Do you go straight into a nursery bed or use larger pots?
@@wtfrankian You can put the in the ground when they have a few good leaves. Just shade as necessary to get them re-established.
Love your channel. I'd love to trade some cacti for some scions or seeds!
Maybe if you have trichocereus. I need to chill on collecting random cacti. Not enough space.
I love your videos. Have you ever considered working with European plums? The Green Gage plums and Mirabelles are amazing in the West coast climate. There are a number of Gages and Mirabelles available, but not much in the way of commercial growers. All of the literature I have read states that European plums tend to resemble the parents more than most tree fruits. They tend to bear younger than apples as well. The Green Gages I have tasted from my young tree have been amazing. I find it strange that such a premium European fruit is virtually unknown in the U.S.
I like them, but was never really inspired to grow a lot or try to breed any. It seems like a fruitful pursuit though.
There is a nice selection of Apriums available by a company called Family Tree they supply to Sprouts and several online fruit shippers. The first I tried called 'Summer Punch' was literally a fruit punch flavored plum ... there were several very good ones and I assume that some are Pluerry due to the seed shapes and also appearance. One I liked literally look like big cherries with blood red interior. Also I had one that is extra juicy and flavored like a Mango but without the off-putting flavor I get from some Mangoes and even sweeter than a good mango... I ate 5 or 6 of them one day and felt sick. You have to figure out which are better firm and which are better after they ripen to soft they vary alot with ripening but really great when ppl find out I'm not sure the others will sell
So where do you want the new homestead located? I'm making a suggestion that you consider joining me in zone 5! Adventure awaits!
Hopefully near by here. I have quite a few climate dependent projects I'm already deep into. Plus I've been in this environment my whole life.
Ever try crossing Pink Lady and Grenadine?
I think I bypassed that one and went to rubaiyat and pink lady. Rubaiyat has really turned out to be a better parent than grenadine. Grenadine is less refined and brings a lot more undesirable traits to the table that will have to be bred out over more generations. Unless you want cider apples, then Grenadine is probably great.
I have 3 muscat de venus x ashmeade's kernel growing from the seeds I got.; about 2" tall now. Any best survivability tiips for new apple seedling growers? They are in 5" pots in partial shade. looking forward to the other seeds I got this year. Super fun to see them take off. I'd like to taste these apples one day! I found your videos years ago looking for perennial (bunching/potato) onions I'm pretty sure. Bring them back to the store! : ) Also, All 8 scions seem to have taken. I just moved to a new property in Jan so I had to graft them to a younger pear tree on the property. This is the second time I had success grafting apple to pear. We'll see how it goes longer term though...
When young, don't overwater! They get stem rot (damping off) very easily. Let the soil surface dry off between waterings. As long as the plants aren't wilting, they should be okay. When the stem hardens off a little and they have some leaves, they can handle more dampness and that problem is uncommon. Watch out for mice too. if they can get to them, set traps as a prophilactic measure.
@@SkillCult Great! Thank you.
Thank you v much for your great videos.. j have a question.: if you are in a warm African country do you still need to chill your apple seeds? Thanks in advance.
Yes, I would think more so if anything. They need to get the message that it is time to grow.
do you know about any of your seedlings if they are diploid or triploid? that makes a difference about which one you can use as the pollen parent doesn't it? (oh and when you can't get printing plates anymore there is still the good 'ol eraser to reuse them :D )
I know people have told me some of the apples I have are triploids, but I use them anyway and have made crosses in both directions. The only one I've had trouble with is Suntan. It will make seeds, but they never seem to live to be planted out. It is a special case though, in that it was created in a lab by mixing parts of cells from two different apples. I've used King David and Ashmeads both to make crosses in both directions. my policy is to ignore any of that information and just try it. the investment is low and obviously the information is not accurate, either that they are not triploids, or it doesn't matter that much.
King David is not a triploid.@@SkillCult
Plant genetics folks say triploid apples are a pedigree dead end. So it may be a waste of time trying to use one as a parent, Ashmead's Kernel for example, if the pollen won't do its intended job.
I don't believe anything, so I'll just keep using triploids unless it seems to be an actual problem. I may go out of my way this spring to pollinate a lot with triploids to see what happens and even triploids on triploids. I have karmijn de sonneville, ashmeads and roxbury at least.. I have crossed from ashmeads on gold rush from last year that made healthy looking seeds, though not a ton. Roxbury on gold rush produced tons of apples and seed. I'll find out presently if they come up look healthy. I think I have other ashmead's crosses growing already, but could be ashmead's as seed parent.
I'm curious if you've ever grown out any rootstock and tried the fruit. I'm especially interested in M111. I'm so far south I have trouble keeping apples alive. M111 seems to be tough.
The rootstock my big frankentree is on was making some sour, hard, green apples when I moved here, but I don't know what it is. I've also had bud 9, which is not very good. No others though. There are lots of southern apples you could try to grow. Have you seen the book Old Southern Apples by Lee Calhoun?
@@SkillCult I haven't seen a copy of that book. I have Dorsett Golden, Anna, Shell of Alabama, Reverend Morgan, a couple of Anna X Gala crosses and several Fuji and Granny Smith seedlings. I'm simply working towards something useable that will survive north Florida without intensive care.
I've read that M-111 is a cross of Northern Spy and M2(Doucin). I'll just have to see if it will flower here.
@@nonyadamnbusiness9887 Check out tropic sweet apple, and look at Kuffel Creek apples--that guy helps grow apple trees in Uganda.
@@nonyadamnbusiness9887I am ISO Reverend Morgan if you want to swap scions or for other stuff
I just want to grow some pink ladies from seed. (I realize that they may have crossed with something else nearby and that they won’t be true to the original.) I have no fruit trees yet. Not trying to cross different varieties yet. I tried sprouting seeds in the fridge a year or 2 ago, and did have some sprout. When I planted them they died. I heard you say that they can go through a second dormancy, but it wasn’t a very clear explanation how to avoid that or what to do if it happens. Could you explain further. Also, what are you using for your tags?
Apples either aren't self pollinating, or when they do they rarely if ever result in a viable tree, so your seeds will be pollinated with something else. Only very rare exceptions in apples grow true to seed, so count on getting quite a bit of variety. secondary dormancy happens when the seeds get too warm before they actually sprout. I forget the numbers, but I think it is over 75 f. Very often, they will sprout in the refrigerator. Pink Lady often sprouts in the fruit even and if they are out of cold storage, they should already be chilled. Good luck!
the tags are old aluminum printing plates. they might be obsolete now, because of digital printing. I need to try to find some more.
Whats the process of buying seeds from you?
Follow my blog, patreon or instagram to find out when seeds are available in the winter. I have a webstore, so you just order them there. Usually I list them in January or February.
Can I ask an amateur question? How is it that all your varieties don't cross pollinate, you have so many different varieties/types (?) growing right next to each other? I've never sprouted apple seeds before but am busy collecting from shop apples (just going into winter here). Course I'm a while away from that situation but I'm curious (unless it's a trade secret..).
the current system I use, I bag the apples with a mesh so insects can't get in. they are not wind pollinated, so that lets me put the pollen I want on. otherwise, bees pollinate them randomly.
@@SkillCult oh really.. I didn't expect that but good work! Thanks for the info.
Pink Lady is begging to create a Lady In Red with some other lucky X.
Nice one. It's coming. The crosses are probably already made, but I'm leaning into PL more now, especially with the RF parents.
this is a mystery to me why don't wild apple trees sprout in the wild dispersed by deer and other animals you would think they would be growing everywhere.
They do, and they are common in some areas where the conditions are very favorable. But I don't know of any place where they are very, very common and fully naturalized. Though there might be places. Give them time though and they might adapt more.
What?! I call BS! Your order fulfillment skills are tight Bruh! 😂
I have gotten better. I just have absent minded professor syndrome, so I forget stuff sometimes.
That chihuahua male definitely needs a very high bucket to stand on for that great dane dance. Almost a circus act - until he falls off - or she kicks the bucket out from underneath him !