Basically, it is not very complicated to propagate an apple tree in your own garden. However, you have to be patient until the first harvest from the new tree after about seven to ten years.

The right propagation methods for an apple tree

Basically, the apple tree is one of the trees that can be propagated by laypeople, even with little specialist knowledge. However, it should be said that the following propagation methods for cuttings in apple trees work poorly or not at all and are therefore not practiced commercially:

  • the mossing
  • the formation of sinkers
  • rooting of cuttings

With a little patience, however, apple seedlings can be grown relatively easily from a core and planted in a pot. The cores from apples bought in the grocery store are also suitable for this, but you should prefer cores from local apple cultivation with proven varieties due to the climatic and geographical suitability.

Grow a seedling from the core yourself

You have to use a little trick to grow an apple tree from a seed if you want the seed to germinate in the year of harvesting the fruit. Since the kernels of the apple tree in nature have built-in germ protection for certain reasons, the kernels with a simulated winter must first be stratified. To do this, place the cleaned apple seeds between two layers of damp kitchen towels and place them in a bowl in the refrigerator for at least two weeks. The cores are then placed in a loose soil substrate, where they will sprout within a few weeks if watered regularly.

The variety can only be precisely controlled by breeding

Outside of special plant breeding institutes, it is almost impossible to control which pollen gets into the apple blossom and thus also into the genetic material of the apple trees when reproducing apple trees. Certainty about the variety and the fruit yield of an apple tree can only exist if it is grafted with scions on a suitable growth base. For this purpose, the scions are grafted on at a certain trunk height so that, for example, a half-stem or high-stem results.

tips and tricks

Seedlings from apple seeds can usually also be used as a rootstock for a grafted stem form, but slow-growing rootstocks such as the widespread M9 provide better properties.

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Trees