How To Grow Apple Trees From Seed
Once you have your seeds lay them out on a piece of kitchen paper or tissue paper and let them thoroughly dry out. You do not want any apple residue to remain on the seeds so just let them dry out for about an hour and then check to see that the seeds are clean and dry. At this stage nothing bad will happen to the seed as they are quite robust and you will be ready for the next stage. All this preparation is necessary as it all helps in the germination. Once the seeds are dry and clear they are then ready for the next stage.
Apple seeds are by nature equipped with a timer that tells it when it is winter and spring, as it adapts its germination process by the temperature. That is the case for seeds of all plants, but apple seeds need the winter cold to start the process. To imitate the winter cold you can use your refrigerator in your kitchen. Some of you might be thinking at this stage would that harm the seed, but rest assure it will not harm the seed in any way and to start get a clean sheet of kitchen paper and wet it. Place about five or six deeds on the paper so that they have room between each one covering one half of the sheet and fold the other half of the sheet over so that the seeds are sandwiched in between. Get a resealable sea through plastic bag or a plastic container and place the paper with seeds inside and seal closed. Write the date on bag or container and place in fridge, checking every few days that the paper stays moist. This is now simulating winter conditions and the seed will start the germination process.
The duration that the seeds need to remain in the fridge can be from one month to three months, possibly for some varieties a little bit longer. When roots do start to grow you will see a small white growth protruding out of one end of the seed. When the roots have reached a certain length like ten to fifteen millimetres they are ready to go into small pots. To start use 3 inch pots and fill them with compost, make a hole in the middle about half an inch deep and place one seed in and cover up the hole.
After about two weeks you should see the new seedling sprouting in the pots and from there they will grow quite quickly. Remember to water them regularly and do not let the compost dry out. As the saplings grow larger you can transplant them into larger pots and then when they reach a height of about two to three feet they are ready to be transplanted into the ground. Apple trees like a nice sunny spot and they do not want to be planted too close to other trees. It takes about eight years for an apple tree to reach its full height. It may reach about fifteen feet when fully grown but they can be pruned so that they don't grow too wildly.
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