Why Don't People Grow Fruit Trees from Seed More Often? Why is Everyone Focused on Grafting Instead?

Is it just because its cool and nifty to be able to do that with plants?  Is it because seeds take a long time to grow into big enough trees to produce fruit so grafting is faster and more efficient?

Because the seeds are inconsistent.  Some seeds will make great trees and some horrible trees.  Since it can take a decade or more to get fruit to know if you got a good one they graft from good trees instead.

I've got a project on the go at the moment, learning to graft my own apples.

Where we are the chalk soil is very shallow, and trees on dwarf rootstocks tend to grow very slowly and not be very strong. I really want big standards to plant in my meadow. They need to be vigorous, and thrive despite competition with grass. None of the local growers have trees on large variety root stocks, and ordering them is excessively expensive. Last year I planted an M25 apple rootstock without grafting. I'll be cutting it back to make a stool for grafting next spring, aiming to get a few dozen root stocks from it.

So why am I grafting - because to meet the specific needs of my soil I need a particular type of tree, that I can't get easily without.

I agree with C, it is primarily because people want to know what to expect. Fruit trees (most anyway, there might be some that are different) do not come true to the parent. Some will be close, most will be fine to eat, but not the same, and some will be not good for anything other than attracting deer and turkeys. And it takes years to find out which is which. During that time, the tree is taking up limited space. So people started doing things so they would know what they were going to get. Grafting on a known variety to the roots of something that grows well in the area.

@Monica Truong has a post about this very topic Apples from Seed naturally

But for me, I too want to know as much as possible what to expect so this doesn't mean that while I have my specific store-bought fruit trees, I won't be trying to develop my own.  Thanks for starting this conversation!

I grow them from seed all the time.  Most of them create delicious fruit,  for the trees that don't,  we graft.

In my climate, fruit trees such as apples are typically grafted onto a hardy rootstock that can survive the cold winters.

Space is a concern for some people. A friend's parents bought an old orchard and built a house. Most of the pear trees are about 40 ft high, so picking the fruit isn't an easy option (she's just turned 80!) A different friend was on a small, urban lot and planted two "dwarf" fruit trees with grafts from several varieties of fruit on each tree. Two humans and one dog can't eat a whole full size tree's worth of apples, nor can they easily compost all the extras, so this was their compromise. I first heard of "multi grafting" 30 years ago when I was visiting California and a lady I met was excited that her tree  grew oranges, lemons and grapefruit on different branches. I thought that was a seriously cool thing for a small urban lot!  

If I had lots of sunny land, I would stick more seeds in the ground. So far efforts in that direction haven't been successful between lack of sun and deer pressure. I have tried to start seeds for shrubs in pots - this has the disadvantage of the roots being disturbed and they don't get to create a strong tap root. However, *I* get more genetic diversity - like R Ranson said, if I don't like the fruit that results, I've still got the option to graft on a known cultivar.

Increasing genetic diversity of our trees is a *really* good reason to start from seed in places it can be done! I would suggest it's an underused tool in our tool-box, but I'd still rather people grow any tree, and particularly any tree that produces food, than get hung up on "if I can't start from seed, that's not good enough to be permaculture."

I think that best approach (like in many cases) is hybrid solution:
-plant as many quality grafted trees with proper rootstock, as you can afford
-in the meantime, plant seeds wherever you can

This way one may enjoy earlier quality fruits and then have resilient rootstock material to graft with the scion from successful (and tasty) trees.
I have planted almonds from seed 5 years ago and still no single bloom, so I'm glad I planted grafted trees that are already producing. Nonetheless, I'm going to plant more almonds and apricots in a landrace manner at the end of the year.

I have a small urban property and a very limited number of each type of fruit tree: 1 plum, 1 peach, 2 pear, 2 apricot.  Each was carefully selected for established desirable qualities.  No way I would take a chance on spending 4-6 years determining if a tree will produce something I want and have to start over with no promise of improvement.  

I certainly understand growing from seed when you have the time and space to accept the variation and/or want to save money.  For some of us, it is worth the money and effort to grow something we know we will like.

I find commercial rootstock to need extra love and starts to decrease productivity as early as 10 years.   The trees we've grown from seed,  we can afford to neglect and abuse.   The survivors a far stronger when they are ready to plant out.  We start the seeds inside,  then have a nursery bed they get neglected in for a couple of years.   Put them at an inch or so apart and it doesn't take much room.

STUN is a great way to get high fruit production during major weather events like drought, late frost, heat domes, cold snaps, etc.  That's one of the biggest advantages of seeds, it's not a bad loss when 90% die from drought.   The 10% are extremely strong root stock.

It might also be part of why our grafting success rate is so high as we let them establish a strong root system for a few years before grafting or budding.

I have been growing fruit trees from seeds and stones for many years and currently have several established apricots, peaches, plums and apples and numerous seedlings.

The peaches, apricots and nectarines all starting producing fruit within 3 years, the plums within 5 but the apples are yet to bear fruit.

Fruit trees grown on their own roots are often better adapted to our local conditions and as others have mentioned, if the fruit is not particularly flavoursome, they can be grafted onto.

It can be useful to graft the same type of fruit onto each tree to spread out the harvest, instead of a glut of fruit over a three week period, the harvest could be extended to over three months - especially for peaches and apricots which taste the best fresh of a tree.

I grow many more fruit trees from seed than I have the space to plant because the seedlings make lovely gifts for people.

I enjoy practising different grafting techniques onto my seed/stone grown fruit trees and it's fun and rewarding.

Another reason to buy grafted trees is if you know a particular flavor and want that flavor. Also the productivity.  I love pie cherries, but I"m not super excited about sweet cherries.  I have accidentally grown many pie cherries from pits I threw out. I have yet to find one that is remotely close to the productivity of MOntmorency.  I have had some  with good flavor.  

Likewise, when I was growing up, apples were Rome Beauty and Red Delicious. BLah-boring!  I couldn't figure out why orchardists were excited about apples. WHen I went to apple tastings, I could taste hundreds of varieties and graft those ones onto my trees.

Also, you can graft for storage,  for early season, and for size. I pick apples in October through December and sometimes eat them for the next 12 months.  I want crabapples that taste good (rare!) at the schools I help garden at because I want lots of kids to be able to taste them, not just 5 kids.  

There are many plants for which you can buy a grafted specimen, but you can't get seeds.   Paw paw and citrus seeds will not sprout if they dry up.

JohN S
PDX OR