# Growing apple trees from seed



## finlander (Jan 11, 2007)

Anyone try this recently? Going to keep
them over the winter indoors. How quick, how large might they get? Going to use a grow tent and LED light in basement. I want to plant them outdoors next year for the critters, deer
mainly. Just have to protect them once in the ground. In the yard at the cabin. Thanks for any tips.


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## A.M. General (May 3, 2001)

Some seeds require being frozen before they will sprout. Apple trees require chill hours so you may want to research a bit.


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## wpmisport (Feb 9, 2010)

I did it once with a store brought apple. It was easy to do but you do not get the same type of apple as you brought and very few apples.


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## finlander (Jan 11, 2007)

I did the 6 week chill in the frig. Every seed from that Gala apple sprouted. I’m just asking about subsequent growth during the cold months.


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## PunyTrout (Mar 23, 2007)

I sprouted several seeds last winter just for fun. I planted a few of the sprouted seeds into a pot and they are coming along. There were a few varieties of apples but mainly they were the SweeTango apples from ALDI.












There are four different trees in that pot. Each tree has a slightly different leaf.


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## finlander (Jan 11, 2007)

So they are like 6-7 months now? I gave a couple to a friend. I bet I still have 10. Taking some up north for a neighbor. Told her to get some pots & soil to up pot them if needed this winter.


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## bucko12pt (Dec 9, 2004)

finlander said:


> So they are like 6-7 months now? I gave a couple to a friend. I bet I still have 10. Taking some up north for a neighbor. Told her to get some pots & soil to up pot them if needed this winter.


You won’t know what apples the tree will produce, or how big the tree will be until it starts to produce. There’s a 99% chance it will produce some other apple, other than the type you took the seed from. All fruit trees today are produced by taking a cutting from a known tree and grafting it onto a root stock.

What you can do is use the trees you’re growing for root stock, find a tree that produces the type of apple you want and grafting it to the root stock. Grafting isn’t that hard to learn to do. The best apples I’ve found for grafting for wildlife are wild apple trees growing in the area of where you want to plant new trees. Those old wild trees have stood the test of time, insects, winters, etc. There‘s a few at our camp that are now growing several varieties from other varieties we’ve grafted on to existing trees.

Try to find trees that deer use regularly and are good producers to use for grafting.


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## Martin Looker (Jul 16, 2015)

If you just want deer apples I don't think they are too fussy.


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## Hear fishy fishy (Feb 9, 2013)

I started doing this in 2014. I have some decent size trees grow in Nelp. Some are 6 to 8 feet tall. Had some blossoms two years ago on one and none that I know of this year. Hoping in 2024 they start producing. I have attempted grafting twice and failed. I did a little more research and want to try again. We have one apple tree on the property the deer really like and they come check it everyday. It’s a wild apple tree and about 30 feet tall.


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## Hear fishy fishy (Feb 9, 2013)

Don’t forget about the leafs which are just as good as the apples. 😁


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