A seed from an apple planted in the ground and properly watered can germinate at home. But it has its own specifics, since the apple tree has its own characteristics in terms of genetics and vegetation. There are few guarantees that an apple tree seedling will inherit the characteristics of a varietal specimen. You will find out how the fruit will taste and color, only during the period of its fruiting, and it is expected not earlier than in 5 - 10 years... To cultivate a varietal apple tree, the seedling is grafted onto an adult trunk. This procedure will help increase your success in obtaining a quality copy by 80%.

But how to grow an apple tree at home? Let's talk about this in the article.

Growing an apple tree from a seed

If the apple tree has not been vaccinated, then in its way the process will resemble "Russian roulette", since the planted seed can develop:

• Varietal tree with fruitful fruiting;
• A decorative specimen with low-edible fruits;
• A game that brings small apples.

Careful selection of the seed will lay the foundation for the entire operation in the future. High germination is obtained from seeds selected in late August - early September.

Take only ripe apples large size having a sweet taste and strong aroma.

A little secret from gardeners: the most ripe fruits are usually located on the outer branches, where they receive enough light and warmth. Seeds suitable for sowing are large in size, regular teardrop shape and rich dark brown color. If you plan to get sprouted shoots in the spring, the seeds are cold-hardened in advance (stratification).

Choosing and preparing seed

To prepare seed for planting, follow the presented algorithm of actions:

1. The collected seeds are washed in water and slightly dried;
2. Soak them in warm water with a growth stimulator in a Petri dish. Leave them to rise for 2 - 3 days, changing the solution from time to time;
3. After swelling, the seeds are placed in wet sawdust mixed with moss or fine-grained sand. The container with the material is removed to the basement or refrigerator for two to three months. To prevent the grains from becoming moldy, a crushed tablet of activated carbon is added to the mixture.

For growing an apple tree from a stone at home, the varieties of apples listed below are suitable.

Summer varieties:

• White filling. An adult tree reaches up to 5 meters in height, apples ripen in early July. The fruits of this variety are strong, hard, green color;
• Melba. The fruits of this variety are fragrant small apples with snow-white pulp. The tree begins to bear fruit as early as 4 years old;
• Candy apple. Sweet variety, the fruits ripen by mid-August;
• Mantet. A variety resistant to diseases and attacks of insects, however, it does not tolerate frost well. Possesses sweet and sour fruits, pleasant to the taste, which ripen by the end of August.

Autumn and winter varieties:

• Mac. It grows into a sprawling tree with powerful branches, fruits are medium, dark, pleasantly spicy. The tree has low frost resistance, therefore it is not recommended for breeding in northern latitudes;
• Glory to the Winners. Hybrid variety, a cross between White filling and Macintosh. The harvest of this apple tree ripens by the beginning of autumn, the last fruits appear by the beginning of winter;
• Antonovka. The famous winter variety. Antonovka fruits are yellow, sweet and sour with a pleasant pulp texture. However, you can taste the apple from this tree only 7 years after planting the seedlings;
• Golden Delicious. Another yellow variety, ripens by September. A frost-resistant tree, however, it is guaranteed to die in a drought.

If you wish, you can try to grow an apple tree from a fruit stone of any other variety, in addition to those listed. The main thing is to give preference to healthy seed not tainted by disease or insects.

The emergence of sprouts

When the peel of the seeds bursts and sprouts appear from the crack, select the most viable ones and plant them in a container for seedlings. Plastic or paper cups, small pots will do, but a rectangular container is best. The embedment depth should not exceed two centimeters. In one container, the grains are planted at a distance of about 10 - 12 centimeters from each other. Stratified apple seeds can be sown directly into the open ground, but for the winter, fresh seedlings are transferred to a greenhouse, after which they take root in a permanent place.

When a seedling has a second pair of leaves, you will be able to determine the type of your planting. If a wild game has grown, you will recognize it by its small leaves with a bright green color and the presence of thin thorns on the stem. A cultivated tree has a larger leaf, it may be pubescent, but there are no thorns on the trunk.

Apple tree seedlings are quite fragile, they need to be shaded from the bright sun and the trunk must be tied up to protect it from bending and breaking.

A home-growing tree is transplanted annually in the first four years of development into a pot with a large volume so that the root system receives all the necessary nutrients. Watering is carried out in moderation, but abundantly, 1 - 2 times a week... We do not recommend pouring water from a great height, as this will wash out the top layer of the substrate. After watering, the pot should not be exposed to the sun, so that evaporation from the soil does not occur too quickly. Avoid getting drops on the leaves, otherwise the plant will burn.

Growing a stalk from an apple tree branch

A broken branch of an apple tree is not a waste, but an additional planting material. A seedling obtained from a branch will retain all the properties of the mother tree. But not all plants can be used for such a procedure, and the root system will not be too strong, which will require more careful care of the tree in the future. The optimal material is a branch growing on the sunny side, from a tree that is 2 to 3 years old. All fruit buds are removed from it. Then follow the instructions below:

• Remove the bark ring from the section of the apple tree branch where the cutting will be;
• With a sharp knife, make a small incision and separate the branch, grabbing the heel;
• The heel is split into several parts;
• Dip the resulting apple stalk into the water and add a couple of drops of the growth stimulant. Instead of water, you can use a potato tuber. In this case, the branch is stuck into the pulp of the tuber and buried in soil.

The landing is covered with a protective film or cellophane bag. You need to water it every 4 - 5 days... If the process goes well, the branch will be covered with swollen buds. The strongest and strongest cuttings are transferred to a nutrient substrate for growing.

We plant the cutting in open ground

It is possible to grow an apple tree from a seedling at home, without transplanting it into open ground, if you plan to use the tree as an indoor tub culture. In the fifth year of life, the seedling is transferred to a pot or tub, which will be its final growth capacity. Cramped roots will slow down development, and the apple tree will not stretch to height and size garden tree... And yet, an indoor seedling by the age of 12 - 15 can grow up to 1.5 - 2 meters. To simulate natural conditions for the winter, the tub is removed to a dark, cool place, as the tree sheds its leaves.

The apple tree is a fairly large tree, so when choosing where to plant it on the site, take into account the potential diameter of the annual growth of the root system. The best example is planting along the perimeter of the site away from trees with a large crown. The transfer of domestic seedlings is carried out in mid-spring to the end of May and in the first decade of autumn. If you are replanting an apple tree in the fall, time it so that it has time to get used to external environment and acclimatized before the onset of cold weather.

The pros and cons of autumn planting are presented below:

• If the apple tree seedling was grown according to all the rules, then by the onset of winter frosts it will get strong enough to spend the winter painlessly;
• Not scary autumn plantings and spring frosts... The immunity of autumn apple seedlings is much stronger than that of spring ones;
• The disadvantages of spring sowing is that the fragile root system of the future tree may suffer in winter. Therefore, before the onset of frost, cover the ground with peat and mown grass, and also cover the seedlings with spruce branches so that the plant does not die.

An apple tree seedling grown on the stock is dug up in October and cut at a level of up to 20 cm from the base. The foliage is completely removed. This is necessary so that the growth of the tree slows down and fibrous roots form. The treated stock is removed for wintering in a dark basement.

Care and watering

In the first 12 months, seedlings are fed only with infusion of humus. Organic fertilizers during this period are not shown to them, as they provoke burns. The exception is fresh water-diluted mullein or bird droppings. In order for the tree to mature better, the wood can be fertilized based on potassium and phosphorus, 15 and 30 grams, respectively, for each square meter of planting. During the procedure, the near-trunk soil circle is thoroughly loosened.

Young seedlings are watered once a week or 10 days... The substrate must receive good moisture, drying out and the formation of a hard crust on its surface is unacceptable.

Apples are one of the few fruits that can be grown in almost any region of our country.

A variety of "liquid" apples grow well in the southern part of Russia, and the early maturing and frost-resistant varieties bred by breeders will delight with the harvest in Siberia.

Trees are not whimsical to care for, and their fruits are stored until spring.

The apple orchard begins to bear its first fruits already at next year after planting, if the seedlings are properly planted.

Choosing planting material for growing apple trees

You can plant this culture not only in the garden, but also at home, on the windowsill (bonsai). It is possible to get a fruiting tree not only from a seedling, but also from an apple seed from a supermarket. If in the first case the result is predicted at the expense of the seller's guarantees, then in the second case you can get an apple tree with the same characteristics as the purchased fruit, or "wild" - a tree that has lost valuable genes for breeding.

Seeds hatch in the ground for a fairly long time - up to six months, the selection of individual shoots for seedlings is difficult, therefore many people prefer to plant apple trees with seedlings.

In most cases, they choose for planting one-year-old or two-year-old seedlings. They are sold by fruit nurseries, garden hypermarkets, individual breeders and simple summer residents. The latter, apart from personal assurances, do not issue any guarantees for their goods, so it is better to exclude them from the list of potential sellers in advance.

A good seedling should have:

1) one strong trunk and possibly 2-3 thin branches;

2) at least 7-8 soft elastic buds;

3) flexible healthy roots with a clod of earth.

If the seedling has a more developed crown (an adult tree) and (or) dried roots, signs of the disease, then the chances that the apple tree will take root well are significantly reduced.

You should not choose a tree that has cuts, scratches, cracks, growths and thorns, leaves or flowers blooming... The vaccination site must also be clean and dry.

Even before buying, you should determine the place on the site under the apple tree, since you will need to choose the type of rootstock that best suits climatic conditions your area, the chosen method of growing and the conditions of placement in the garden.

If there is enough space, the groundwater level is low enough, then you can choose high seed stock trees.

If the wide crown does not fit in the allotted area and will shade other crops, the groundwater level is high, you should choose p dwarf or dwarf rootstock.

types of rootstocks

When choosing a variety, you should give preference to those that meet the climatic conditions of your region. But even in northern latitudes with a fairly long summer, it is possible to breed southern apple trees if you use the shale growing method.

shale growing method

What to choose for growing an apple tree: planting a seedling or grafting a cutting?

You can then vaccinate when a wild or apple tree is already growing on the site, which did not meet the expectations of the gardener. Such trees are not cut down, but turned into a stock - the lower part of a tree, to which the future crown of a tree of the desired variety (scion) is "implanted".

For rootstock, it is better to use young trees or graft an adult tree in several approaches. You need to do this in early spring or at the end of summer. To avoid the death of the scion (cutting of a new variety), the grafting operation should be done carefully, observing all agrotechnical requirements, and in the future, delicately care for the tree.

You can plant seedlings in spring and autumn. In the second case, this should be done only if the winter is mild and the apple tree does not freeze. Let's take a closer look at reproduction by seedlings - one of the most common ways of planting an apple tree for cultivation.

Planting an apple tree seedling

To transfer the seedling to the ground to a permanent place, you should prepare landing pit- it should be the smaller, the more fertile the soil on the site. Apple trees love loamy black soils, therefore, in sandy or sandy loam soils, the planting pit can be up to one meter deep. Depending on the structure and fertility of the soil, the following components should be introduced into the soil mixture for the pit: humus, compost, sand, peat, loam, wood ash.

seedling planting scheme

Laying the prepared soil mixture on the bottom of the pit, it should be tamped so that, with possible subsidence of the earth, the apple tree does not go down. On the formed mound from the fertile soil layer, a layer of ordinary earth should be poured about 10 cm and only on it, carefully straightening the roots, set the seedling.

After that, the apple tree is watered abundantly and its lower part begins to fall asleep, heading from the periphery to the center - first pressing the earth at the roots and only then at the trunk. The top layer is loosened and mulched with peat.

If on the site groundwater lie close to the surface of the earth, then to prevent root decay, apple trees should be planted on artificially created hills. Such embankments in winter should not be subject to weathering, but, on the contrary, should retain and accumulate snow, which protects the tree from freezing.

What fertilizers to use for growing apple trees?

With an autumn landing you should not feed the tree with nitrogen fertilizers, as this will provoke a jump in unwanted growth before wintering.

Spring sapling can be fed with chemical fertilizers (superphosphate - 40 gr., potassium sulfate - 50 gr., ammonium nitrate - 15 gr.) or just add wood ash 200-300 gr. It is advisable to introduce complex fertilizing only in the spring of next year.

Nitrogen fertilizers should be applied carefully so as not to provoke the growth of the ground part to the detriment of the development of the root system, as well as an increase in the green mass to the detriment of fruiting. The main part of nitrogen fertilizers: ammonium nitrate, ammophoska, azofoska, mullein infusion, etc. - are applied to the soil under the apple trees in April, after whitewashing the trunks lime or chalk.

Next year after successful adaptation of the trees in a new place, feeding is carried out three times: in April-May and in summer when the crown is forming. Top dressing with nitrogen and mineral fertilizers do not mix and spend at different times.

Apple trees are very responsive to potash fertilizers, especially during the fruiting period; wood ash containing potassium, phosphorus, magnesium and manganese can not only be introduced into the soil, but also periodically pollinate the tree with it to limit the activity of pests.

Watering and additional care of apple trees during cultivation

The first watering of the apple tree should be done immediately after flowering if there was enough moisture in the soil before. In an early and dry spring, the watering season begins earlier.

The second watering is carried out after three weeks, the third - when the fruits of early varieties start to pour, and later - form fruits.

The final watering is carried out in the beginning of September in order to develop the root system and improve the yield of late varieties of apple trees. Later watering will do more harm than good, since the apple tree must have time to prepare for winter and dry the wood to resist the coming frost.

The older the tree, the more abundant watering should be. If 4-5 buckets of water are enough for one-two-year-old trees, then for adults it needs twice as much per square meter. Water for irrigation needs clean, not cold, it must soak the ground at the roots to a depth of 80 cm.To prevent water from sliding along the surface and not accumulating in one place, holes are made under the crown along the perimeter, which are covered with removed earth and filled with water in several receptions. If the apple trees grow on a slope, furrows are made to a depth of 25 cm for irrigation along the slope so as not to damage the root system, and water is directed into them.

The irrigation technique is accompanied by loosening and mulching with peat and rotted sawdust in order to retain moisture in the soil. In the event of a rainy and cold summer, watering is reduced.

During the summer and autumn, as the fruits ripen, wooden supports are placed under the branches. The upper part of such a structure should be soft so as not to injure the delicate bark.

In the fall, moss and lichen are removed from the trunk, cleared of plant debris from the ground, and the main branches bend down if apple trees are grown using the stanza method. Before the first snow, traps or poison for small rodents are laid out under the trees. If protective measures are required against the attack of hares, then in October-November it follows fence the trunk with a rigid metal mesh 1 m high., wrapping it over the tree and securing it along the side seam with wire. At the bottom, the fence is filled up and pressed down with earth. The net will be held by four wooden pegs driven into the ground along the perimeter at a distance of 0.5 m from the trunk.

rodent protection

In the spring, they carry out mandatory molding, carefully removing the excess branches with the pruning shears according to the following scheme:

Pruning helps not only to shape the crown, reduce the height of the apple tree to facilitate maintenance and harvesting, but also increases the yield of the tree by removing unproductive branches. Damaged, dried branches, processes directed inside the crown are completely removed. Weak and diseased fruiting branches are also involved in pruning.

Healthy branches of young trees are pruned by no more than one third, and only if this is necessary for crown formation. In old apple trees, rejuvenating pruning is carried out, expressed in shortening the main branches from one third to half. In addition, removing excess thickness will reduce the risk of fungal and bacterial diseases.

Methods for combating diseases and pests of apple trees

If the agricultural technology of growing apple trees is not followed, fruit trees can be exposed to various diseases associated with soil contamination, high humidity in the crown, decreased immunity, etc.

One of the most common diseases is scab which appears on leaves and fruits as dry brown spots. For prevention, cut off excess branches, for treatment - spraying with urea solution(500 grams per 10 liters of water) at the beginning and at the end of the season; copper chloride at the rate of 40 gr. 10 liters. water before flowering and after fruit set; Bordeaux liquid (300 grams of lime and copper sulfate per 10 liters of water).

Powdery mildew, as well as the previous one - fungal disease... It mainly affects young shoots and inflorescences, appears whitish, and later, brownish bloom with many black dots. The infected green mass curls up and falls off. The fungus is treated with a solution of 70% colloidal sulfur at the rate of 80 grams. 10 liters. in three stages: during the appearance of the first foliage and later every two weeks.

Fruit rot affects only apples, which completely rot under the influence of the disease. Treatment is carried out by collecting and disposing of infected fruits.

Cytosporosis leads to the formation of deep ulcers on the bark of a tree, the death of branches and, subsequently, the entire tree. It is treated in several stages: 1) spraying during the swelling of the kidneys with a solution of the drug "Hom" at the rate of 40 grams. 10 liters.; 2) treatment with a solution of copper sulfate before flowering at the rate of 50 gr. 10 liters.; 3) re-treatment with "Hom" after flowering; 4) the introduction of potassium-phosphorus fertilizers before freezing; 5) whitewashing the trunks with quicklime or chalk.

Another illness to consider is bacterial burn. This disease does not respond to treatment, and to prevent its spread in the garden, all branches or trees should be destroyed entirely, fruit trees should be treated from insects - carriers of diseases.

Flying and crawling pests that attack trees and spoil crops: apple blossom beetle, apple moth, apple sawfly, apple scale insect captured with adhesive tapes and are destroyed by spraying before and after flowering with the preparations "Chlorofos" and "Karbofos". In the fight against caterpillars of the codling moth, processing the tree after flowering with a solution of arsenic acid calcium (30 g), lime (40 g) in 10 liters helps. water. All infected fruits should be buried as deep as possible in the ground.

Despite the possibility of diseases and harmful vital activity of insects, collecting a high-quality harvest of apples is not difficult if you have patience and carry out all the necessary agrotechnical procedures on time.

" Apples

To grow a tree, gardeners resort to the help of special farms and purchase seedlings for planting. But there is another way, which is much more complicated and will take more time.

You can grow an apple tree from a seed.

This process takes a long time. and can be quite risky. Because the resulting fruits can be very different in taste from the original plant.

When growing an apple tree from a seed, the result of planting will be known only after the first fruiting, which occurs in the 5th year of life.

As the final material, you can get:

1. A full-fledged tree that bears tasty, varietal fruits.
2. A wild apple tree with small fruits suitable for processing.
3. There is also a chance of getting ornamental plant, the fruits of which will be beautiful, but not tasty.

If you follow all the conditions for growing an apple tree from a seed, there is a high probability of getting a varietal tree... The best option is to use a one-year-old seedling in the form of a rootstock for an already mature tree.

To protect yourself from not receiving material suitable for planting, it is better to germinate a few seeds extracted from different varieties apples.

How to choose a seed for growing an apple tree?

It is worth remembering that growing an apple tree from seeds is a laborious and lengthy process, and so that it ends with success, you need to choose the right seeds.

They should be firm and ripe. This planting material is different dark color and uniform color.

Also, the seeds should not have any mechanical damage, so you need to remove them from the apple as carefully as possible.

For proper preparation, the following steps are performed:

1. Washing- to get rid of the inhibitory layer that interferes with germination, the selected seeds are placed in a container with warm water and stir with a small spoon for 3-5 minutes, it is better to repeat this procedure several times. Then the water is drained using a sieve or gauze.

It is best to use a wooden spoon or stick because this material is less likely to damage the seeds.

2. Soak- then the seeds are poured with water and placed in a warm place for 3-4 days. On day 3, experienced gardeners recommend adding a growth stimulant to the container. The water must be changed every day to avoid stagnation.
3. Stratification- with the help of this procedure, the seeds are hardened and prepared for their natural habitat conditions.

There are several ways to carry out stratification.:

1. The planting material is mixed with peat and sand in a ratio of 1 to 3, then the resulting mixture is moistened until water begins to seep to the surface.
2. According to gardeners, the best substrate is moss mixed with sawdust.
3. A combination of sand, sawdust and activated carbon is also used.

The seeds should be in the selected substrate for 6 days. at room temperature... At this time, they will swell. Then they are transferred to the refrigerator for 2-3 months.

How to grow an apple tree from a stone. Seed stratification:

Planting conditions for the bone

After the first shoots appear, the strongest and healthiest of them are selected... Any time of the year is suitable for transplanting seeds at home.

Once the material is ready, do the following:

1. For sowing seeds, a special container is prepared, which is most often a box or container. There must be holes at the bottom to drain excess moisture.
2. Then a drainage layer is made of expanded clay, pebbles and other similar materials.
3. Black soil is used as a fertile soil; such soil has all the substances necessary for a young tree.
4. During planting, the following scheme is used: the width between the rows is 15-20 centimeters, and between the seeds is 2-3.
5. The seating depth should not exceed 2 centimeters.
6. Then the soil is watered abundantly.
7. When watering the plants, they act carefully so as not to erode the soil and not expose the seed that has not yet matured.
8. As soon as the second pair of leaves appears on the grown trees, you need to sort them out, removing weak plants and wild apple trees. They differ from varietal ones in that they have smaller and brightly colored leaves, thorns appear on the trunks. Thus, the distance between the trees increases to 7-8 centimeters.

At home, apple trees are kept for at least 4 years., in this case, they will be able to get stronger and in the future will be ready for transplantation into open ground.

If the apartment does not allow keeping a small tree for such a long period of time, it can be transplanted to a garden plot, but at the same time they protect the plant from cold temperatures, pests, wind and other troubles.

Every year it is necessary to increase the volume of the container in which the apple tree grows. This will help the tree develop the correct root system.

How to grow an apple tree from a stone. Transplanting germinated seeds into the ground:

Watering- for a young apple tree, timely watering is the main source of livelihood, without it, the still not strong root system will not be able to receive a sufficient amount of moisture and the tree may die.

It is best to carry out this procedure once a week, avoiding the formation of a dry crust.

Top dressing- it is worth considering that in the first years of life, active organic additives, which include manure or bird droppings, can harm the plant.

They can cause burns and can cause various bacterial diseases. Therefore, it is better to replace these fertilizers with infusion of humus.

To stop the growth of leaves and improve the maturation of the wood, at the end of August, the apple tree is fed with potassium-phosphorus supplements.

For each square meter of crops, the following amount of fertilizer is poured:

• 15-20 grams of potassium chloride;
• 30-40 grams of superphosphate.

So that nutrients penetrate to the root system during feeding the soil must be carefully loosened and watered abundantly.

Transplant to open ground

As soon as the seedling reaches 4 years of age, it can be planted in open ground. This procedure is best done in late April - early May, or in September.

In order for the tree to take root in a new place, it is necessary to choose the right site for planting.

Good lighting contributes to the correct development and high-quality ripening of the fruit.

Same you need to pay attention to the level of occurrence of groundwater, they must be at least 1 meter deep. The technology of the process is no different from the planting of seedlings purchased in the nursery.

How to grow an apple tree from a branch?

If the method of growing a fruit tree from seed seems too complicated, you can resort to cuttings propagation... To get a seedling from a branch, preparatory work begins at the end of autumn.

This process is also quite laborious, but it will take less time and it will be most likely to get the desired variety.

How to prepare cuttings for propagation

Many gardeners try to get a seedling by cutting off unprepared branches and placing them in water. But in this case, it is unlikely that it will be possible to wait for the roots to appear.

To make the process a success, in late autumn - early winter, cuttings are prepared for reproduction using the following actions:

1. To begin with, a strong, young and ripe branch is selected, its age should be 1-2 years.
2. Its middle should be gently broken without damaging the bark. For this, the selected area is bent until a crunch appears.
3. Then the injured place is rewound with tape or tape.
4. The last step will be to attach a support, which can be a regular stick. She will not allow the bent branch to straighten.

How to properly plant the prepared planting material?

After the formation of fractures, the tree will independently try to heal them, for this it will go to the injured places a large number of nutrients.

With the help of such manipulations in April, the apple tree will be ready to start the breeding process:

1. The first step is to remove the winding, after which the branch is cut in the damaged places.
2. For germinating cuttings, it is best to use a cropped dark bottle filled with melt or rainwater.
3. For the best efficiency of the process, several tablets of activated carbon are dissolved in water.
4. If you fill the container to the level of 10 centimeters, you can put 10 cuttings in it.
5. After 3 weeks, roots will appear under the buds that are in the water.
6. It is better to place the bottle with sprouting branches on the windowsill.

As soon as the roots reach a size of 7 centimeters, they can be safely transplanted into open ground.

If a young tree is provided with regular watering and protection from bright sunlight, then it can quickly adapt to new conditions.

Sprouting an apple tree from a seed is a very difficult process., which can only be carried out by an experienced gardener, but cuttings propagation is also suitable for novice gardeners.

In any case, the resulting tree will be one of the most beloved on the site.

In household plots and orchards in Russia, the apple tree is the most common fruit tree. Thanks to the art of breeders both in the northern regions and in steppe zone today you can get decent yields by planting a garden based on zoned varieties.

Planting seedlings, which are offered in abundance by nurseries, has become the main breeding method for cultivated apple trees. And many do not even think about the possibility of growing an apple tree from a seed. But it was this method that gave impetus to the emergence of a modern variety of varieties and types of cultivated apple trees, bred through folk and targeted selection. At the same time, seedlings obtained from seeds are not only a working material for breeders, but also excellent seed stocks, characterized by a long lifespan, winter hardiness and endurance.

In order to grow an apple tree from a seed at home, you will have to choose a suitable planting material and be patient, because the first ovary on a tree can appear only after 5-10 years.

How to prepare seeds to grow an apple tree

Since the seedling obtained from the seed will not bear the features of the "parent" variety, for germination it is better to take well-ripened brown seeds from the Antonovka ordinary apple, Cinnamon striped, Grushovka Moskovskaya, Pepin saffron, Chinese or wild forest apple. In this case, the developed plant will not produce fruits of excellent taste, but will only be vigorous and strong.

Before planting, the seeds extracted from the apple:

• rinse in warm water to remove the inhibitor of sprouting;
• soak for three days, regularly washing the bones and changing the water;
• on the third day, a growth stimulant is added to the water, for example, sodium humate or Epin.

During the time spent in a humid environment, the seeds swell. To simulate the onset of winter, harden the seeds and get developing sprouts in the right time, the planting material is sprinkled with sawdust, sphagnum moss or sand mixed with crushed activated carbon, well moistened, covered with a perforated film and stratified, sent for 90-100 days in the cold.

At home, apple seeds can be kept at a temperature of about +4 oC in the refrigerator, regularly checking the level of humidity, well-being and the degree of germination of the seedlings.

Ways of sowing an apple tree from a seed at home

Some gardeners when holding preliminary preparation and stratification adhere to the old method, when seeds from a ripe apple, just removed from a branch, were washed and planted in the soil. During the autumn and winter months, the seed acclimatizes, swells and hardens, and in the spring gives good shoots. The main thing is that from the moment of planting the seeds in the soil and the onset of stable cold weather, there should be at least 21 days, and soaking, before growing an apple tree from a stone, will only increase the number of shoots.

In nurseries, to obtain rootstocks, the seeds are soaked, stratified according to the first method, and then sown in the ground in the spring. Therefore, to the question: "When is it better to plant an apple tree in spring or autumn?", In both cases, you can give a positive answer. Soil for sowing in the ground or in containers for home cultivation enrich with mineral additives. For every 10 kg of a mixture of garden soil, chernozem and peat add:

• 30 grams of superphosphate;
• 200 grams of woody, well-sifted ash;
• 20 grams of potassium sulfate.

Apple seeds are planted in the ground to a depth of 15 mm, while the distance between plants should be at least 20 mm, and between individual rows - 15–20 cm.

After planting, the area or containers are watered abundantly, being careful not to wash the soil over the seeds that are close to the surface.

When four true leaves are opened on the seedlings, the plants are sorted, removing the notorious wilds, and thinned out, increasing the distance to 6-8 cm. If the gardener is thinking about how to grow an apple tree of a cultivar, it is important to remove those that show signs wild look. You can distinguish a wild from a cultivated plant by smaller, brightly colored leaves and the presence of thin straight thorns on the stem. Varietal apple trees have no thorns, and the leaves are larger, often pubescent, with a curved leaf blade.

How to feed an apple tree in summer and features of caring for a seedling

In the spring and in summer time apple seedlings are actively developing, so the gardener needs to take care of the fertilization of the seedlings.

What are apple trees fed with in summer? If during landing active organic fertilizers, for example, manure or bird droppings that can burn tender sprouts and become a source of bacterial infection of seedlings are not used, then organic feeding is needed in the summer. But in the first year of growth, it is better to abandon the introduction of manure again, replacing it with infusion of humus or other humic additives that are safer for young plants.

As in the case of adult apple trees, in August, the seedlings receive phosphorus-potassium fertilizing, aimed at better ripening of the shoots and the cessation of the development of green mass. Per square meter you will need: 15-20 grams of potassium chloride and twice large quantity superphosphate. Top dressing is applied while loosening the soil. Fertilizers are sprinkled with soil and the plantation is watered abundantly. Watering the seedlings is just as important as feeding. Until the apple tree, which has grown from the seed, has not formed a powerful root system, the seedlings are watered after 7-10 days, making sure that a dense earthen crust does not form.

If the grown seedling will be used as a rootstock, in October the plant is dug up, all the remaining foliage is removed and the central taproot is cut at a distance of 20 cm from the root collar. This measure will allow the formation of branched fibrous roots and somewhat cut the growth of the seedling itself. Until spring, when the grafting is carried out, the seed stock with a covered rhizome can be stored in a cool basement.

How to plant and grow an apple tree from a seed?

A young apple tree is planted in a permanent place in spring or autumn, after selecting a well-lit, dry place for large tree with a powerful root system.

Planting a seedling and caring for it in the first year after planting is no different from those activities that are carried out with an ordinary apple tree seedling. Returning to the question of when is it better to plant an apple tree in spring or autumn, it should be noted:

• if an apple tree from a seed grew at home, the ideal time for transplanting it into the ground will be the period from April to May or the beginning of autumn;
• seedlings, originally grown in the open field, are transplanted to a permanent place from spring to late October.

At the same time, one should not forget that growing in indoor conditions seedlings, as they grow, require transplanting into more spacious containers, and watering in this case is carried out somewhat more often. When apple trees, especially the first year of life, fall into open ground, they are very tender and are often affected by pests and diseases. Young seedlings are a welcome prey for animals. Therefore, the future fruit tree or rootstock in the early years necessarily provide reliable protection from both these enemies and frost.

Seed stratification - video

You bought apples in the store and at the market, and you liked their taste so much that you immediately wanted to grow the same variety in your garden. What to do in this case? After all, the variety of apples is not always known for certain. In this article, you will learn how to grow an apple tree from a seed at home.

How to choose a seed for planting?

It is known that an apple tree grown from a stone is more hardy and strong. Also, such a tree has good winter hardiness and a long lifespan. True, the result can be found only after the first harvest. Can be grown delicious and new variety, or you can - an apple-tree game, which has bitter-sour apples.

Experienced gardeners claim that a well-fertile tree can be grown if it is strictly followed. certain rules... But the harvest will still have to wait a long time - about 5-15 years.

The first thing to start growing with is the choice of seeds. Full seeds can be obtained from apples that grow on the periphery of the crown. It is in this place that flowers are best fertilized.

It is worth noting that the selected variety must be adapted to the region of your residence.

The seeds themselves must be:

1. Intact (remove the pits from the apples as gently as possible).
2. Dense and ripe.
3. Have a uniform brown color.

3 steps to seed preparation

Growing an apple tree from a bone is a long and laborious process, so be patient. For successful cultivation it is necessary to properly prepare the seeds for planting.

It consists of three sequential steps:

Washing

Place the selected seeds in a container of warm water and stir with a small spoon for 3-5 minutes. Repeat several times. This procedure necessary to get rid of the inhibitory layer that prevents germination. The water must be drained with gauze or a sieve.

Better to use a wooden spoon or stick. This material will not damage the seeds.

Soak

After washing, the seeds must be placed in a glass of water. The glass must be placed in a warm place for 3-4 days, while the water must be changed daily, otherwise the bones can become moldy. On day 3, a growth stimulant (sodium humate, Epin) should be added to the water.

Stratification

This procedure is designed to harden seeds in order to prepare them for their natural habitat. At this stage, the onset of the winter period is simulated.

There are several ways to carry out stratification:

1. Artificial. Mix apple seeds with peat and sand in a ratio of 1: 3, then moisten the resulting mixture until water begins to seep to the surface. You can use moss instead of substrate + wood sawdust or sand + sawdust + activated carbon. The seeds should not be in contact with each other so that the mold does not pass from one to the other. In the selected substrate, the seeds should be kept for 6 days at room temperature. During this time, they should swell. After that, the substrate with apple seeds should be placed on the lower shelf of the refrigerator for 2-3 months. Optimum temperature should be + 4 ° C.
2. Natural. At the end of August or in autumn, it is necessary to remove the seeds from the apples, rinse them and plant them dry in open ground. After 2-3 months, cold weather begins, and natural stratification occurs. During the winter, the seeds swell, and in the spring they sprout.

Apple tree seed sowing technology at home

To plant apple seeds at home, any time of the year will do. For cultivation, it is necessary to select only the healthy and strongest sprouts.

We will describe the instructions on how to plant the bones step by step:

1. Prepare a container or box. At the bottom do small holes so that excess moisture can go away.
2. At the bottom, lay a drainage layer of pebbles, expanded clay or broken brick.
3. Use only black soil as a soil. This soil has all the substances that a young tree needs.
4. When planting, use the following scheme: the distance between the seeds should be 2-3 cm, the width between the rows should be 15-20 cm, and the depth of the seed should be 2 cm.
5. Water the soil liberally. At the same time, make sure that the soil is not washed out and the seed is not exposed.

When the second pair of leaves appears on the grown trees, they must be sorted. Wild apple trees and weak plants must be removed. They differ from varietal ones in small and brightly colored leaves, as well as thorns on the trunk. So the distance between seedlings increases to 7-8 cm.

Apple seedlings care

Young trees need proper care for full development. At home, seedlings must be kept for at least 4 years. During this time, they will get stronger and will be ready for transplanting into open ground. If at home it is impossible to keep the plant for so long, then trees can be planted in a garden plot, provided that they are reliably protected from wind, cold and pests.

The volume of the container where the apple tree grows needs to be increased every year. Thus, the root system will develop correctly.

Also, it is important to take care of correct feeding seedlings. It is strictly forbidden to use active organic matter (bird droppings, fresh manure). They can cause burns or cause bacterial infections.

In the first year, trees can be fertilized with infusion of humus. Every year at the end of August, potassium-phosphorus fertilizers are shown to apple trees (15-20 g and 30-40 g, respectively).

At the same time, the soil must be thoroughly loosened and watered.

Another important care item is watering. Until the root system is formed, it should be watered every 7-10 days. There should be no dry earth crust around the base of the trunk.

Most people are used to buying ready-made apple tree seedlings. But it is much more interesting to grow a tree from seeds. This is a very interesting process, although it takes a lot of time and patience. The main thing is to adhere to the above instructions. Then your garden will be decorated with apple trees that you have grown with your own with my own hands... This is a real source of pride.

Apple tree that grew from a seed stronger and more resilient. It is generally more winter hardy than the parent tree.

The bone apple tree has a long lifespan. True, it is not known what result the planting of a seed will lead to.

After all, you can grow an absolutely new and tasty variety, or you can grow an apple tree, which has bitter-sour and completely inedible apples. Therefore, such an annual apple tree is very often used as a stock, grafting a variety on it.

Is it possible to grow an apple tree from a seed at home?

According to experienced gardeners, if clearly follow the rules, how to grow an apple tree from a stone at home, then everything will be successful and get a tree that will bear fruit well. But the harvest will have to wait 5-15 years.

Seed selection

Important! Choose a variety that is suited to your region, as the tree should grow well where you live. It is better if the selected variety is frost-resistant. The seeds should be firm, intact and uniform brown in color.

The selection of the seed begins with the selection of the fruit.

In order to select seeds, you must first select the best fruits. If the apples are underdeveloped, then the seeds are also in them. Full-fledged seeds are formed in apples growing on the periphery of the crown, since this place has the best conditions for fertilization of flowers and the best illumination.

Seed preparation

Washing

Seeds for washing and further cultivation must be recently removed from the fruit, they must not be stored for several years.

The seeds need to be removed from the fruit, and immediately rinsed in warm running water to wash off the inhibitor (it inhibits growth).

For this the bones are placed in a container with warm water, stir with a small wooden stick for 3 minutes, then move the bones onto cheesecloth and drain the water.

Soak

• Place the seeds in a glass of water.
• Place the glass in a not very warm place in the room and wait 3 days, rinse the seeds and change the water daily, otherwise the water will stagnate and the seeds from apples may become moldy, and, therefore, they cannot be planted.
• On day 3, a growth stimulant is poured into the water, for example, Epin, sodium humate, on day 4 you will see that the seeds have swollen.

Stratification

Important! In order to improve the chances of seed germination, stratification is used (this is to ensure best conditions that mimic natural conditions in autumn and winter to accelerate the germination of the apple seed).

You can start stratification in different ways:

• it is required to mix 1 part of seeds with 3 parts of peat and sand. We must not forget that the number of seeds is put with a margin, since not all germinate as a result.
• Then everything is mixed and moistened with a ruler. The seeds should not come into contact with each other, otherwise mold will not pass from one rotten seed to others;
• instead of peat soil and sand, mix wood sawdust and peat soil and soak the seeds in this substrate;
• you can make a composition of sand and sawdust by adding crushed activated carbon there, which will prevent mold from forming;
• Water is added to the substrate until moisture appears on the surface. Then they wait 6 days for the seeds to swell;
• then the resulting composition with apple seeds is placed on lower shelf of the refrigerator and leave for 2 months.

Advice: Every 3 days, check if there is mold, if the substrate in which the seeds are placed has dried out, if they have hatched.

There are another method of stratification, it was used by the monks of the Valaam Monastery.

In August or autumn, they picked apples, took seeds from them, then washed them and planted them dry in the soil.

The seeds of the apple tree are sealed to a depth of 2 cm, observing an indent of 10 cm. Usually, after 2-3 months frosts begin, and natural stratification... During the winter, the bones swell and harden, and in the spring they sprout.

Sowing technology, how to plant an apple tree from a bone at home

They take a pot or a box, they must have holes in the bottom, drainage from broken bricks, pebbles, rubble is placed on the bottom. Poured into a box soil taken from where you plan to plant the tree in the future.

For every 10 kg of earth, they are poured:

• 30 g superphosphate;
• 200 g of ash;
• 20 g of potassium sulfate.

The strongest shoots are selected for planting.

The technology of growing an apple tree from a seed at home

Landings are placed on the southern windowsill, it is required that they are well lit... They need to be constantly moisturized.

When the first shoots appear, they are transplanted into large pots.

If the sprouts are planted directly in the garden, then leave an indent of 20 cm from each other, and make a distance of 15-20 cm between the rows.

If the shoots are powerful, then they can be transplanted to a permanent place.

Growing apple sprouts.

If the sprouts are frail, then first transplant them into pots, and then plant them in a permanent place in the country.

An apple tree grown from a seed must be transplanted three times in 4 years:

• 1st time - from a bowl where the seed sprouted into a pot or box. This is necessary for the growth of the tap central root;
• 2nd time - then the apple tree grows in a pot for a year, and then it is transplanted into a larger pot. When transplanting, it is required to cut off the central root (or bend the root at a right angle);
• 3rd time - planted in a permanent place.

Transplants are made so that the apple tree begins to bear fruit earlier, otherwise apples will be poured into it only after 15 years. And further competent care is very important.

After each transplant, the sprouts are thoroughly watered.

Watering is required after each transplant.

When 4 true leaves grow on the sprouts, then you can sort the future apple trees by removing those that grow wild.

You can distinguish a wild-looking apple tree from a varietal tree by the fact that the wild has smaller and brighter leaves, thin and straight thorns on the trunk and short shoots.

Cultivated apple trees do not have thorns, their foliage is larger, it is dark green or grayish in color, with pubescence below, the edge of the leaves is wavy or curved, their stem is thicker and the buds are symmetrically located.

How to grow an apple tree from seeds at home: further care

Trees grown at home are transplanted to a permanent place, from mid-April to late May and in September and October.

If the apple trees originally grew in the open field, then they can be transplanted to a permanent place throughout the summer season.

Try to choose a location that is brightly lit by the rays of the sun, so that there are no other trees nearby.

Before planting in the ground, humus, ash and mineral fertilizers are sealed.

ATTENTION! If not used during landing

fertilizers

Then organic matter is added in the summer. But in the first year it is best to feed not with manure, but with infusion of humus, rotted compost. Since fresh manure or chicken droppings can lead to burns on the trees.

In addition, this organics are often the cause of bacterial infections.

In August, the seedlings stop feeding with nitrogen and are fed with phosphorus and potassium, so that the shoots ripen for winter, and the development of leaves stops.

15-20 g of potassium chloride and 30-40 g of superphosphate are poured onto 1 m² of the trunk circle, then the soil is loosened and watered abundantly.

Water the tree in the first year of cultivation every week, and then shallowly loosen it.

If you want to make a stock out of a seedling in the future, then in October, dig it up, tear off all the leaves, and, stepping back 20 cm from the root collar, cut off the central taproot, then the seedling will not grow so intensively, and branched fibrous roots will grow.

For the whole winter, a seedling with a covered rhizome can be placed in a cool basement.

BUT in the spring you need to get vaccinated.
It is best to plant the stock after 1-2 years of growing. After grafting, you need to constantly water the apple tree so that the soil does not dry out.

Useful videos

See how to grow an apple tree from a seed at home in the video:

Watch a video on how to perform seed stratification:

Growing a columnar apple tree from a seed

For planting, it is required to use fruits grown on a columnar apple, but those varieties that adapted to your area.

The best varieties of columnar apple include: President, Medok, Ostankino, Vasyugan, Moscow necklace.

You can also grow an apple tree from a seed at home, as regular apple tree, first selected, soaked for 3 days, then stratified.

To obtain a columnar apple tree having excellent performance An apple tree grown from a seed can be used as a scion by grafting it onto a dwarf clonal (vegetative) stock.

Conclusion

Pitted apple trees have excellent frost resistance and resistant to diseases and pest attacks... In addition, you have the opportunity to get a new variety.

To grow a big tree an apple tree made from tiny seeds is quite real. To do this, it is enough to create an ideal microclimate for germination at home, different from natural conditions. You can learn more about this from the article and the corresponding video.

Where to begin

First you need to decide on the purpose of growing an apple tree from seed.

There may be several options:

• getting a good stock;
• cultivation of varietal crops;
• growing an apple tree as a houseplant.

For the future rootstock, seeds of local durable and vigorous varieties are suitable. The seedlings obtained from them are distinguished by good growth and excellent adhesion with the scions. In addition, the hardiness of the grafted apple tree depends entirely on the original mother plant.

Attention! The seeds of varietal apple trees for growing the rootstock must be taken from the fruits of local trees, or imported from more northern regions.

In the middle lane for the stock, the following varieties are suitable:

• Antonovka;
• Tablet;
• Anise;
• Grushovka Moscow.

The rootstock is most often grown from seeds.

For the southern regions, the following are more acceptable:

• Renet Simirenko;
• Sary-sipana;
• White rosemary;
• Gulpembe.

Perfect for rootstocks and seedlings of apple trees growing in nature. For example:

• for middle latitudes - a forest apple tree;
• for the south - a forest Caucasian apple tree;
• for the northern regions - the Siberian berry apple tree and the muddy (Chinese).

It is almost impossible to grow a varietal tree from a seed that corresponds to the apple taken for this. At the end, most likely, you get either a wild or a tree with much smaller and not so tasty fruits.

When grown as a houseplant, it is best to use dwarf seeds. An apple tree in a pot does not grow higher than 2 m - this is due to the small area for root nutrition. It is very difficult to achieve flowering and fruiting from a tree in such conditions.

Seed preparation

Seeds should be collected only from large, well-ripened and tasty apples, because for growing wood will do only high quality planting material.

Advice. To collect the seed grains, it is better to take fruits that have ripened at the edge of the crown. The apple itself was well lit by the sun here and the seeds managed to accumulate a lot of nutrients.

The selected specimens must be large, regular in shape and dark brown in color. They are washed well in running water and dried.

Choose large and whole seeds for planting

Then the seeds are placed in a wet mixture of sand and sawdust and sent to a cold place (cellar or refrigerator) for 20-30 days. Thus, stratification and simultaneous hardening occurs, that is, an artificial winter is created for the future plant. After the time has elapsed, the seeds are removed from the refrigerator and laid out between two cloth napkins soaked in a growth stimulant solution. Having placed all this in a plastic container or on a saucer, they return to a cold place and wait for the emergence of seedlings, constantly moistening the napkins and monitoring the temperature regime (the range should be 4-10 ° C). After germination, the seeds are immediately transferred to heat and planted in containers.

Advice. It is best to start germinating apple seeds in winter. In this case, young plants will already be ready by spring, which can be taken out in pots on Fresh air or temporarily land in the ground.

Planting and growing seedlings

For planting the hatched seeds, small containers are used, into which drainage is first poured, and then loose soil rich in organic matter.

The landing itself is carried out as follows:

1. 2-3 holes are made in the ground, no more than 1 cm deep.
2. A seed is added to each hole.
3. Sprinkle with earth. Lightly tamp.
4. Watered with rain or settled water.
5. Place the pots of plants on a light windowsill.

As they grow up, weak shoots are removed, leaving the strongest ones.

Attention! Wild boar sprouted from varietal seed is immediately noticeable. It develops light leaves and thorns appear.

In autumn, plants are transplanted into larger containers and arranged for wintering in a greenhouse. They can be planted in a permanent place next spring, after the onset of stable warming. At the same time, as experienced gardeners recommend, the tap root of the apple tree should be bent 90 °.

Apple sprouts

Landing in the ground

Apple tree seedlings need to be planted in a permanent place late spring when the threat of frost has passed. Even with slight drops in temperature to zero, they can die.

Before planting an apple tree in the garden, given that the tree will grow here for more than a dozen years, you need to choose a good place subject to the following conditions:

• sunlight should be at least 6-7 hours a day;
• the site should not be swampy, and the groundwater should be far from the surface;
• the soil should not be acidic;
• the roots and crown of the future apple tree should have enough space for growth and development, so the distance between the seedlings should be kept at least 5 m.

The place intended for landing needs to be dug well. Fertilizers are applied to the soil in the fall. It is not recommended to add them to the soil during planting, as irreparable damage to the roots can be caused.

Before transplanting an apple tree, carefully prepare the soil

After the seedling is immersed in the planting hole, its roots are evenly leveled and covered with earth, leaving the hole for irrigation, which is immediately well filled with water. In the future, the soil is moistened regularly, every week and a half. After the seedling reaches 30 cm in height, they begin to water less often.

In order to successfully grow an apple tree from a seed, you will need to be patient. But it's worth the effort. Indeed, in a few years, regardless of whether a small tree becomes a stock or grows on its own roots, you can pamper yourself and loved ones with delicious fruits.

Growing an apple tree from seeds: video

Garden apple seedlings are sold nowadays almost on every corner. It seems, what problems, choose, buy and plant. However, unfortunately, you cannot trust the sellers, especially on the side of the roads, and the likelihood that in a few years we will taste the wrong apples, which we wanted, is very high. It is safer to grow an apple tree on your own "from scratch", especially since it is not particularly difficult.

How to grow apple seedlings yourself

Unfortunately, growing an apple tree of the desired variety in a very easy way, as is done in the case of shrubs (currants, raspberries, strawberries), will not work. It is rare that this event will go without vaccination. But to vaccinate fruit trees you can learn in just 10 minutes! And cuttings of the variety you like can always be taken from a neighbor in the country - amateur gardeners never refuse such requests. But what to do next with this branch, where to graft it? But for this, you just need a seedling, not necessarily varietal, but with certain characteristics. Let's look at where to get it or how to grow it yourself.

There are several ways to grow an apple tree sapling yourself.

The best rootstocks (trees on which they are grafted good varieties apple trees) serve about a dozen old varieties:

• in the central and central black earth regions of Russia:
  • Antonovka ordinary;
  • Anisovka;
  • Grushovka Moscow;
  • Cinnamon striped;
• in the North Caucasus:
  • Borovinka;
  • Astrakhan red;
  • Revel's pear tree;
  • Pepin is Lithuanian.

In addition, forestry is an excellent option. wild apple tree- vigorous stock. It is used in Ukraine, Belarus, the central black earth regions of Russia, the Middle Volga region. The compatibility with cultivars is very good and the ecological sustainability is sufficient in most areas.

The apple tree of the Kitayka variety is also successfully used in this capacity. It is used in the middle zone, the Volga region, the Urals. In terms of winter hardiness, it surpasses the wild forest apple and seedlings of cultivated varieties. However, it is not compatible with all trees.

Photo gallery: the best varieties of apple trees for rootstock

The apple variety Kitayka got its name due to the similarity with the leaves of the Chinese plum.
Apple variety Anisovka withstands frost well, small fruits are stored for a long time
Apple-tree varieties Antonovka belongs to the most popular varieties, gives large yields

Planting an apple tree with seeds

In the central and northern regions, apple seeds are most often sown in spring. The seed material of most rootstocks is prepared from well-developed ripe fruits with their technical processing in a cold way. The seeds are dried in the shade, sprinkled on a thin cloth or gauze. In cold weather, they are placed in a dryer at a temperature of 25–35 ° C. Long-term storage is possible only at low humidity.

Seed viability is determined by accelerated germination. They are placed on filter paper in a Petri dish and kept for 15–18 days at room temperature. In living seeds, the cotyledons swell, open and turn green, and the growth of the primary root can begin. Dead specimens rot.

Seeds are prepared for germination in a swollen state with free access of air and temperatures from 0 to 10 ° C. The seed is fully prepared for germination, in which the primary root has parted the seed covers, but has not moved beyond their boundaries. If during autumn sowing there are no conditions for high-quality preparation of seed material, they are stratified and sown in spring.

The sequence of actions when growing an apple seedling with seeds is as follows:

1. The seeds are mixed in a 1: 3 ratio with sand or sawdust, moistened and placed in the refrigerator. Control over the preparation of seed material for germination is carried out by test germination, which begins one month before sowing.
2. For better development of future roots, the prepared seeds are brought into a warm room in advance, samples are taken daily, the tips of the roots that have begun to grow are cut off with a sharp knife or razor blade.
3. Then they are taken out on ice and kept at 0 ° C until sowing.
4. In summer cottages, seeds are sown in furrows, the planting depth is from 3 to 5 cm. Sprinkle with soil, watered well, lightly tamped and mulched with dry humus or just dry soil.
5. When the seedlings reach 4–5 cm in height, the seedlings are thinned out, leaving the plants at a distance of 6–8 cm from one another.

The soil is loosened several times per season, and during irrigation, after each watering. The depth of loosening is 6–8 cm. Seedlings are fed mainly on poor podzolic soils 2-3 times during the summer with full mineral or only nitrogen fertilization.

You can grow seedlings from seeds and at home in pots, almost like seedlings of vegetable crops.

It is necessary to dig up and replant the rootstocks to a permanent place in the fall. Before digging, the leaves, if they have not yet flown, are cut off. The trees are planted in the planting holes in the usual way.

Young apple seedlings are thinned out when their growth reaches 4–5 cm

Video: do-it-yourself apple tree from seeds

Growing apple seedlings from root cuttings

Growing rootstocks from root cuttings - backup method, sometimes used in the middle and northern zones. Cuttings are prepared from root scraps. Their optimal length is 8–12 cm, thickness is 5–10 mm. The roots are harvested in the fall, stored in the sand and kept in a cellar. You can cut cuttings from the roots in winter, and they are planted at the same time as the seeds are sown.

The technology of work includes several stages:

1. Two weeks before planting, the cuttings are placed in a box with the upper ends (those that were closer to the trunk) in one direction, sprinkled with sawdust and moistened.
2. The box is placed in a warm room obliquely so that the upper ends of the cuttings are directed upwards.
3. Buds are formed on the cuttings, then shoots of shoots begin to grow. The samples are ready for planting in the ground when the rudimentary shoots have reached 1 cm.
4. Cuttings are planted vertically in grooves, at a distance of 5–6 cm from one another. The upper ends of the rootstocks should be flush. The seeding depth is approximately 1.5–2 cm from the top end to the soil surface.
5. Then the bed is gently watered.
6. Some cuttings give not one, but several shoots. When sorting, the best is left, and the rest are cut with a pruner.

Since in the first two to three weeks many cuttings do not yet have new roots, at this time it is necessary to especially carefully monitor the soil moisture. The rest of the care (loosening, weeding), and then digging and replanting is normal. Root stocks from root cuttings are of a higher quality than from seeds, since they have more branched roots.

Video: getting apple seedlings from root cuttings

How to get an apple tree sapling from a branch

Industrial propagation of clonal seedlings, that is, those retaining the characteristics of parental varieties, is carried out mainly by the method of vertical layering in a special mother plant. At your summer cottage, this approach can be used only for the sake of experiment. But the desired variety will be immediately obtained, without vaccination. Although, if you already have it, then why do you need a second tree of the same kind? Well, perhaps only to rejuvenate your apple tree, whose life is already coming to an end. In addition, not all varieties of apple trees take root well, so the success of such an event is not at all guaranteed.

The so-called method of air layering was invented by I.V. Michurin. However, its reliability when used by non-specialists is not very high; it is probably not worth recommending it to ordinary summer residents. Much simpler is the method with digging in branches.

For the reproduction of an apple tree with dripped layers, a very young tree is required, planted in the fall not quite vertically, or a little older, but with strongly drooping branches. Some of its branches should reach the ground. In the spring, one of the branches is tightly pulled to the ground in several places. This can be done, for example, with thick wire staples. New shoots soon grow from the buds on the branch. They are hilled several times per season, often watered. The best way to water is by sprinkling.

In the spring, an apple tree branch is fixed in the ground with brackets.

Roots on layering under favorable soil moisture conditions are formed within 1–2 months after hilling. For better rooting of the cuttings, it is very important to maintain sufficient soil moisture in the place where the branches "land" during the summer.

Important! Layers are separated in late autumn, but it is better to wait until spring. Cut off with a sharp pruner.

Growing an apple tree from green cuttings

We know that most shrubs reproduce easily with green cuttings. Unfortunately, with an apple tree it turns out much worse, and an ordinary summer resident most often fails. The fact is that it is difficult to create a suitable atmosphere in the greenhouse to ensure the rooting of green cuttings.

In large agricultural enterprises, this method is sometimes used. Green cuttings are rooted in special nurseries under a film shelter, in which water is finely sprayed from the water supply through special sprayers under pressure, and thus the plants are constantly moistened and not overheated.

Nurseries are arranged on a flat, well-drained area, not clogged with perennial, hard-to-eradicate weeds. The soil in the nursery consists of two layers: the lower one is drainage, the upper one is a mixture of peat crumb with sand (2: 1).

The preparation of cuttings includes the following steps:

1. Shoots on the mother liquor are cut off at the beginning of lignification. In the middle lane, cuttings of apple tree rootstocks can be cooked from the second half of May to the end of June.
2. Cut shoots in plastic bags are brought to the nursery and there they are cut into cuttings that have two eyes with leaves. The herbaceous top of the shoot is discarded.
3. Cuttings are kept in water immediately after cutting, and then planted in a nursery.

Apple cuttings are kept in water until they are planted in the ground

They are placed vertically and the lower ends are buried into the ground no more than 1–2 cm. Artificial fog is created by pressure in the water supply system or by a special pump. Humidification should not be excessive. At temperatures above 35 ° C, the film is slightly lifted from the leeward side (for cooling).

Apple cuttings take root in 15–40 days. As a rule, an indicator of rooting is the growth of new shoots from the axillary buds of the cuttings (usually from the top). After that, the nursery is gradually opened to harden the cuttings. Plants grow up to 20-30 cm in height and develop a branched root system. In the fall, they are dug up and stored in a pit until spring. In areas with mild winters, cuttings can be planted in the ground in the fall.

Video: some ways to grow seedlings

Care of young seedlings in the early years

The main task of agricultural technology in the first year is to ensure good survival rate and readiness of planted seedlings for grafting by loosening the soil, controlling weeds, pests and diseases. Loosening of the soil begins at the earliest possible date. You can vaccinate in the summer by budding or next spring (with a whole cuttings).

In the northern regions, budding is recommended to start in mid-June and end in early August. In the middle zone, it is possible to oculate from June 20 to mid-August. On cuttings for budding from varietal apple trees, well-developed shoots (not shorter than 30 cm), with developed eyes, growing in the zone good lighting wood. Complete lignification of the tops of the cuttings is not necessary, however, it is important that the shoots have a normal bark color and developed buds.

Budding is carried out as follows:

1. Leaves are immediately removed from cut cuttings, leaving the base of the petioles up to 1.5 cm long.
2. At rootstocks intended for budding, the lower parts of the stems are cleaned from the ground and washed.
3. For budding on cuttings, developed eyes are chosen.
4. They are cut off with a piece of bark - a shield 2–2.5 cm long. The shield has a thin layer of wood, but it can be without it.
5. The shield is inserted into a T-shaped incision in the rootstock bark made in the lower part of its stem.

In most regions, rootstocks are eyed at the level of the root collar or higher by 5–8 cm, in the non-chernozem zone of the middle band - up to 20 cm.

For budding from varietal apple trees, well-developed shoots are taken (not shorter than 30 cm)

Widely used as a strapping material plastic wrap, you can tape the reverse side. It is applied in coils, usually closing the peephole. The strapping is done from top to bottom, covering the entire incision in the bark, and the end of the film is tied at the bottom. The quality of fusion of eyes with rootstocks is determined after 8-15 days. The established eye is recognized by its fresh appearance, the greenish color of the bark of the scutellum, and the slight fall of the petiole. If the healing quality is good, the dressing is usually removed; if the fusion is still insufficient, the bandage is reapplied. In most cases, the grafted rootstocks are cut by eye, that is, on the grafted kidney. The cut is oblique, at an angle of 30 ° to the soil surface, ends above the grafted bud by 2-3 mm, the cut is covered with garden pitch.

Spring grafting by cutting is used on well-developed rootstocks, which do not have a grafted eye, or it has died. Cuttings are cooked in winter or early spring before bud break. Annuals from spring grafting with a cuttings are normal only when early dates its implementation - before or at the beginning of sap flow. The main methods of spring grafting: in the side cut and behind the bark with a thorn. They are well documented in the gardening literature.

Careful care is carried out during the summer, and by the fall of the grafts one-year seedlings grow on average up to 40-50 cm in height. Annual apple trees branch weakly, but most varieties, especially with strong growth, give lateral (summer) shoots. Summer shoots located too low, in the area of ​​the seedling trunk, are removed. Usually they are broken out of the leaf axils at the very beginning of growth. Shoots located in the area of ​​the future crown are left to grow freely.

During the summer, 5–8 soil loosening is carried out. On poor podzolic soils, annuals are fed with ammonium nitrate in the first half of summer. They are engaged in the formation of the crown of the future apple tree in the second year.

Video: how to do apple budding

Protection of apple seedlings from diseases and pests

The trunks of newly planted trees should be mulched and watered, pest and disease control should be carried out, etc. Protection of young seedlings differs little from measures to ensure the safety of fruit-bearing trees. True, it is much easier to protect them from being eaten by mice or hares in winter.

In late autumn, almost all gardeners tie the trunks with old nylon tights to protect them from rodents. The effect is wonderful!

Apple tree strapping saves the tree from rodents

As for the rest, it is unlikely that in the first year of your pet's life the troubles that plague adult trees will overcome. And you certainly do not need to think about protection from the moth! Fruits on it are not expected for a couple of years. But young trees are very seriously annoyed different kinds aphids. Among the diseases, scab attacks most often if it is already in your garden.

Briefly, general protection method apple orchard consists, first of all, in the fact that the trees are fed, watered, properly cut, the tree-trunk circles are loosened and not overgrown with weeds. Then, with a small degree of infection, the apple tree will cope on its own. If it doesn't work, you can help her first. folk remedies, spraying with infusions of plants with insecticidal and fungicidal properties (tobacco, onion husks, garlic, celandine, etc.). Ordinary wood ash helps a lot. And only as a last resort, especially in a young garden, should chemical control agents be used.

Onion husk solution - a proven remedy for protecting apple trees from pests

So, before budding, spraying a young apple tree with Nitrafen acts as a "heavy artillery". At the beginning of bud break - copper sulfate (or better - Bordeaux liquid) or Karbofos. During the summer, in the event of an aphid or apple moth invasion, it is better to help the seedlings with biological products - Lepidocid, Bitoxibacillin and similar, relatively harmless "medicines". But it is better, while the apple tree is very small, to do with ash and soap solutions and onions and garlic.

Lepidocide - a gentle agent for the fight against caterpillars

Preparing apple seedlings for winter

Along with the usual work in the garden, there are those whose purpose is to protect the seedlings from winter damage. Whitewashing of boles and skeletal branches is used to combat sunburn. Whitewashed plant parts reflect Sun rays, and the heating of the wood decreases. For whitewashing, a solution of freshly slaked lime is usually used - 2-3 kg per bucket of water. For better retention of the whitewash on the wood, 2% of any glue and 2% of sodium chloride are added to it. However, this composition is still not strong enough, is washed off by rains and requires repetition of whitewashing. Good results are obtained by whitewashing apple trees with water-dispersion paint.

Apple whitewashing is carried out to protect against sunburn.

Earthing up and mulching near-trunk circles young seedlings protects their root system from freezing. Hilling should be carried out shortly before the onset of frost, and in the spring, after the soil dries up, the plants must be unhooked.

When planting a garden, mulching the trunks with rotted manure or compost is a must. In addition to improving the water and nutritional regimes, it provides good protection against possible freezing of the root system. Mulching preferably in the first few years of the tree's life.

Mulching apple tree trunks protects the roots from freezing

Covering seedlings with snow is the most reliable measure that protects the apple tree from frost even in the most severe winters. It is used mainly in Siberia and the Urals when growing insufficiently winter-hardy varieties creeping apple trees.

Still, this is a fascinating activity - summer cottage gardening. When you can go from an eaten apple to a huge tree covered with fruits of different varieties. And after all, everyone can grow this tree. There would be arms and legs and health. And an apple tree grown by one's own labor is already dear!