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I have a few apple seeds that I have collected from a few rare types of apples. I have heard that it is very difficult to grow from seed. I am begining to find that out. I have planted a few in compost and after about two/three months they have not done a thing. Does anyone have any suggestions on what I might need to do to get them growing. Or is grafting the only way to grow apple trees?

I've never tried it, but it looks like apple seeds need 'cold stratification' - a period of cold to break down their dormancy - before they will germinate. You could try putting them outside, or in the fridge until spring time.

G'Day Andy,

The other problem of growing from seed is that the variety of apple will not be true to type. Most apples are self sterile, you need a different cultivar to get apples. So the seeds have genes from two cultivars and the resulting tree will be a mix. Maybe you could have your own variety, Granny Hamilton, or Golden Andy? who knows?

The other thing is that seedlings take much longer to bear than the 5 years for grafted trees.

Nev

Cheers for the advice I rather like the sound of golden Andy

I am prepared to wait the 5 years that it takes. I mean at the moment I have no where to plant them, as we are not allowed to plant trees on the allotment and I have no garden, so I was hoping to try and grow a few sapling indoors. It might end up being a too ambitious project but it really will keep with the ethos of the site (and of course myself). I am hoping to plant them out in 6 months or so when I do get a garden, so it seems that if I do refridgerate them untill spring I shall be Ok.