How are your seedling fruit trees?

General Discussions
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I’m loving my fruit trees that I’ve started from seed. So far, all of them have proven to be extremely tough survivors that are well-adapted to my climate. I direct sowed all of them – I’ve had zero success transplanting seeds I’ve started indoors, perhaps because my climate outside is so harsh that baby plants can’t handle it unless they germinated into it. I have four species right now worth talking about.

Apples:
My goodness, these are easy to direct sow and start from seed outdoors. I started to realize how easy it was when I noticed that I kept getting apple seedlings all over my garden from apple cores I had buried in the ground with the other kitchen scraps. :laughing: We’re talking apple cores that were buried over a foot deep, too . . .

I would say the survival rate is about 5%. If I plant 100 seeds, I’ll probably get 5 trees. That’s a perfectly acceptable survival rate, to my mind, since apple seeds are easy to come by. I’ve even treated apple seeds I’ve bought from Steven Edholm that way, and I have six apple seedlings from him in my garden right now. (Because I know I only get about a 5% germination rate, I don’t tend to go for his special crosses, which are expensive and took a lot of labor on his part — I tend to go for the open-pollinated seeds from great mother trees that he offers.)

I also have six Opal apple seedlings and two Red Delicious apple seedlings from particularly delicious fruits that I decided I absolutely must plant the seeds from. Those are about four feet tall and doing magnificently. Even though a gigantic, six-foot-tall kale decided to volunteer in the bed with them last fall, and I left it because it’s delicious, so it’s probably been hogging a lot of the water. :rofl:

Loquats:
I got 63 loquat seeds from a trade with somebody on this forum two years ago. I planted them. A bunch grew! I have a total of 15 loquat seedlings that are now against my house, and they’ve been healthy and happy that whole time. They’ve been growing slowly, so they’re only about a foot tall right now. But hey, they’re healthy and happy and have great big leaves on them, so they can take as long as they need.

Loquats are usually juuuuuuuust barely not hardy to my zone — they want zone 8a, and I’m in zone 7b — so I put them against the north side of my house to give them some protection. (I know, south side would be better, but I can’t plant them there — that’s my driveway. :sob:) So far, I haven’t lost a single loquat seedling that I started from seed to our winter temperatures. I don’t know if this was because they were direct seeded and have never been transplanted, or because they’re in a microclimate that offers a little protection; my guess would be probably both.

I purchased several loquat seedlings from Fruitwood Nursery last fall, and most of them died during the winter. They weren’t in a protected area, so that may have had something to do with it. But I suspect it’s also because they had been transplanted, which made them more vulnerable. It certainly wasn’t the nursery’s fault; Fruitwood Nursery is a great place to buy from, and the plants were in great shape when I got them. I think it’s just . . . better, if possible, to start from direct sown seeds.

Apricots:
I had two direct-sown apricot seedlings last fall. Both were two years old and only a foot tall, but MAN, were they tough and drought tolerant, because I basically hadn’t watered them at all. (Hence why they were so short . . .) One was in an area I had decided to convert to a ChipDrop dumping ground, so I carefully moved it during the winter. Sadly, I don’t think it survived being transplanted. :sob: The other is still alive and still thriving.

That one was sitting right near the roots of a sixty-foot-tall double-trunked Siberian elm with massive Siberian elm roots that were over eight inches wide on either side of it. Let me explain why this matters. Siberian elm roots are very good at taking all the moisture around them and leaving nothing for anything else near them, which is why it’s super hard to get anything to grow near a Siberian elm root. (Which is why those things need to be removed.) This apricot tree was in the worst spot possible, and I didn’t water it in any way whatsoever for two years, and it’s still fine.

Sure, it’s short. But it’s fine. My neighbor finally got that massive tree removed (YAY!!!) a few weeks ago, and now the apricot is in full sun with no roots around it. I tried to be careful not to disturb the seedling itself, but all the soil around it definitely got dug up and ripped through and altered. It still looks fine. I haven’t disturbed any of its roots, even though I was digging all around it to remove those massive Siberian elm roots. I suspect that means the seedling’s roots go straight down and deep, which is a superb strategy in my very hot, dry climate. In any case, I’m never going to transplant it, and I suspect it’ll start to grow more quickly now that it has access to some sunlight and will be getting a whole lot more water.

Peaches:
My next-door neighbor gave me about 200 pits from her peach trees two years ago. She said the fruits are delicious and freestone, and the trees are obviously highly drought tolerant because she never bothered to water them. They were probably about 20 years old, and they hadn’t been pruned, and they had a spreading growth habit and were only about ten feet tall each.

I planted those peach pits all over my garden. I got probably about 30 sprouts. Some of them, I’ll be honest, I dug out because I had changed my mind about the way I wanted to lay out my garden, and they were now in the way of something else I wanted to put there. I tried to transplant those, but they didn’t survive being transplanted. (Are you noticing a theme?)

I currently have about 15 of those peach seedlings left, all of them in convenient locations where I’m happy to have them. I intend to leave them there permanently. They are four feet tall. I’ve only watered them sort of approximately about every two weeks. Two of them flowered this spring!!! (Tragically, we got a super late snow that killed almost all of the flowers and fruits on almost all of the apple, pear, and Prunus trees in my city. :sob:) Hopefully next year, I’ll get to finally taste some of those fruits from those seedling peaches. All I can say right now is that the trees are terrific — everything I want a fruit tree to be for me.

Those are how all mine are doing so far.

How are your seed-grown fruit trees doing?

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I’m only 2.5 yrs into this journey. And I have started 100s of seeds in the fridge, then to dirt, or in a pot of dirt. Well, soil.

I have 2 apple trees that are about 2 yrs old out in the yard. Established with no watering beyond rain. I have about 20 little baby apple trees in pots. I will plant them out in Sept or Oct, I think.

I have 2 peaches from seed that are in pots, about 1 yr old. I’ll plant them out come fall.

I have a lemon tree that is almost 3 yrs old in a giant pot,but it will stay in the pot, I think. I have 2 more lemons that are only 0.5 yrs old. If they survive, I might, in fall 2027, try putting them out in a sheltered spot to see if they will survive the winter.

In the non-fruit tree area, I have a burr oak and 2 tx mountain laurels that I grew from seed. I’ll find them homes this fall also, as they are currently in pots.

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Peaches appear to be the hands-down survivor here. Four survived and bloomed this spring, then got hit by a late 18 degree freeze. I have 10 more that are first or second year survivors. To keep them from blowing over in our “gentle” winds, I am encouraging a bush form for all my fruit trees.

2nd best is apricots. Five survivors there, including one planted this spring.

No almonds, plums or cherries have survived their first winter. I have 6 new plums and plum crosses in the ground as well as several more in the house that will be planted late summer. I picked a different spot for them.

All my seedling grapes have died.

I grow without water or fertilizer in heavy clay soil under deep woodchip mulch.

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When I planted my apple, pear and plum trees several years ago, I went to a big international grocery in the city to what we call the used food department and bought platters of mixed-up fruit on big discount. Most of it was actually still good to eat, just a little beat up looking, but I wanted the seeds. It’s worked out pretty well.

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That’s great! How many apple, pear, and plum trees did you wind up with?

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Emily,

This is my 2026 apple seed process (which I trialed last year, with limited numbers).

427 seeds:

127 Steve Edholm seeds (picked combos where at least one of the parents has some disease-resistance)

100 Dr Amy’s Early Harvest

100 Plentiful Apples

100 Kelly Renee Apples

When I received the seeds, I put the seeds with a little bit of moist potting soil in the fridge and kept an eye on when they started rooting. Once they started rooting, I put them indoor in a plastic box with moist soil (this is one I planted a week ago, about 50 per box):

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I put these next to a North facing window, no direct sunlight is needed, these little trees will do just fine, I just water them as needed (the yellow sticky pads are for gnats, don’t want them to eat the roots).

This is one box a month old (as you can see, the germination rate is about 70%, as I put these out before going away for 2 weeks, I expect the newer boxes to have a higher germination rate):

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I let these trees grow inside all summer/fall/winter. In the winter, I will cut off the stem, take the leaves off the stem and put the stem tagged in a ziploc bag in the fridge (scion wood). Last year, I had only about 10, so I did 2 grafts per stem (90% graft success), but this year, I am planning to only do 2 grafts per stem for my favorite ones, the other ones will be 1 graft per stem (in the understanding I will lose 10%).

The stem-less plant will be planted en masse in my garden, to see which one survives no watering in my harsh conditions. Of those surviving, I will take cuttings the next year and put it straight in the soil, to see if it roots easily from cuttings.

This way I can pursue 2 different objectives: find tasty new apples and find new apple rootstocks that grow well in my area.

Maarten

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Oh, that’s an interesting process! So one of the things you’re specifically hoping to find is seedlings that you can propagate from cuttings in order to make great rootstocks for your climate? That sounds like a smart way to look for them!

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I have the problem of too many fruit trees seedlings from dropped fruit, especially the plums, cherry, and quince. I’m letting one, which I hope is a cherry not a plum, stay, as it’s where I want a new tree.

No luck with greengage or apricot seeds, nothing has germinated when direct sown.

My old peach is dying due to old age and a very hard late freeze in early spring 2025 which it hasn’t recovered from, so I was very glad to discover two peach seedlings from seeds which must have sat in the ground since 2024 or earlier, waiting for a good wet spring.

The hazelnuts I sowed using seed from my UK seed grown hazels have also enjoyed the wet spring and are growing beautifully, already outgrown their protectors! I will rig up some shade cloth and give them a few deep waterings when summer heats up, just until they’re established, as in previous years sun and drought have killed the seedling hazels in the hottest area I specifically want to get a row growing. Some babying is obviously needed until their tap roots go deep enough.

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Last year I planted 2 dozen seeds from a couple of especially tasty cosmic crisp apples. 12 came up 2 died right away and by fall I had eight survivors. I heeled them in the ground for winter but tiny rodents ate the bark off them.:worried: I was sure it was a total loss but 5 of them are growing from the ground up. After doing some research which I should have done first maybe I realized cosmics won’t grow in my zone even close. Deeper research showed me thee are some really hardy parentage like duchess of Oldenburg and fameuse which I have and does grow here so worth the try.

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Well, I don’t really even know how many I have. I planted them all over the place and mostly neglect them entirely. In the yard proper I have half a dozen or so of each. Plumbs did well and now make at least a few most years. Pears did really great and either make a lot or none depending on if the blooms get frosted or not. Apples not so good, apples just don’t do all that well here, too much disease and the like to leave apples to their own devices. I do have one tree that does not show any signs of the rusty disease. It’s a large, beautiful tree but it has barely ever bloomed at all and hasn’t made any apples. Cherries are nice but the birds get most of them.

Peaches are all over the place, but they didn’t come from the “used food” department. I bought several varieties and planted them with the wild ones I collected around the area. I don’t know what did or didn’t cross with what, but baby peaches trees show up all over the place. I think maybe squirrels bury the seeds. Peaches are like the pears, if the spring frosts are friendly, I get lots, if not I get none.

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Be mindful that Seed from store bought apple have often been pollinated by crab apples, since they tend to flower much more and pollinate well. The resulting apples are for that reason often domesticated apple x not-culinary crab apple.

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I’ve heard that, but I’ve also heard that that’s a myth, because orchardists don’t like to waste space on trees that don’t produce fruit they can sell. I’ve been told that the usual choice of pollinator tree is Golden Delicious – it’s a prodigious pollinator, which is why there are tons of cultivars that are its offspring. (And Golden Delicious apples are delicious!)

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Interesting, I didn’t know Golden Delicious was used in that way. I assume it’s different from orchard to orchard and wonder how widespread this practice of using crab apples as pollinators. It is definitely not a myth though. In France, the practice goes back to at least 1976 in INRA and there are studies on different types of crabs with longer bloom period specifically used as pollinators.

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Oh, cool! Data is good. :blush: I wonder if perhaps I’ve heard both things because it used to be a common practice, and now it isn’t common anymore?

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Crab apples aren’t lost space. They’re made into a number of secondary products, such as pectin.

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That’s an interesting point. I’m guessing that they’re worth far less money to a farmer than a fruit there’s a market to sell, though, right?

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Yes, but different apples have advantages and disadvantages. A farmer with a primary crop of varieties that don’t bloom at the same time might consider the trade worth it for an extended bloom time. Crab apples are generally smaller trees so might not require their own dedicated rows. It just depends on the farmers requirements. Some do use crab apples. Some use other apples, or simply make sure the bloom times overlap.

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Last years apples are doing amazing, putting on good growth with a spectrum of rust tolerance from none to very little. One apple in particular started this winter is the same size as the trees started last year, with little disease. Majority of the apples started this winter however are between 7 and 15 inches. And a mix of leaf shapes and growth habits between typical apple and prairie crab. One has less than a half inch between leaf nodes, another almost 2.

1 plum started from a grocery store plumb is growing into a bush. Several American plums grew 9-12 inches and stopped. Probably stressed. Several western sand cherries are definitely stressing from excess moisture but that’s on me for using the wrong potting mix.

Pears are all slow but healthy, only 4 to 6 inches of growth.

Walnut is unbothered

Not a tree but my grape are doing great, cuttings and seed alike

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That’s fair enough! I hadn’t considered extended bloom time as a factor. That would be a very beneficial thing.

I’ve planted a lot of fruit tree seeds I haven’t seen sprouts from yet: pawpaws, American persimmons, jujubes, and even some bushes like spicebush and che. I’m really hoping I’ll see sprouts from some of them soon. If not, I suppose I can hope for next year!

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Some seeds can lay around a couple years before they sprout.

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