Courtney Munson

Thank you both.

Darren Robertson wrote:Final caveat is I will grow certain seedlings for rootstock on budget priced apple trees. We plan on Bittenfelder for a medium size tree with really good, juicy and tasty frit.

Tell me more about Bittenfelder and/or other varieties like it.  I have been trying to understand why Antonovka was being used so commonly as rootstock.  Is it because it apparently comes true from seed?  (How does that even work?  Does it not matter what it's planted around?)  Is that the same for Bittenfelder?  

Hi, new to this thread.  I've read (ok skimmed) the whole thing.  Great info!!

We're in the PNW and have a large property we've been on for almost 5 years.  Our orchard is young, about 4 years old but we got our first fruit last year: pristine, wynoochie early, liberty, and spartan.  All tasted really good.  

I'm very intrigued at the idea of growing seedling apples (and in the meantime learning to graft and propagating rootstock to expand my orchard).  Goodness knows I have a the space and I should do it!  I've read through this thread and been scouring the internet for information but I've got questions I haven't found answers to.

First of all, everyone is talking about how growing from seed could lead to finding a wonderful new variety that does well in your local conditions.  Awesome, great, yes.  So, then.... what next?  It seems obvious you could take scionwood and then graft onto rootstock.  But then that's just propagating the same system we want to get away from, right?   Wouldn't it be better if you could just propagate the entire tree (fruiting top and roots)?  This seems obvious to me yet I'm not seeing anyone discussing the mechanics of how this is done.  How do you just propagate the tree itself?  I read some about air layering.  Is that what people are doing (or planning to do if they got a great new tree?)  If the tree was young enough would you just dig it up and create a stool bed with it?  Something less drastic I would hope?

Another question: from what I've read it seems like it's been "debunked" that apple trees just grow randomly from seed like Michael Pollan told me in his book all those years ago.  Is that true?  What I think I'm understanding from my recent reading is that if you get seeds from apples in your orchard where you have tasty varieties, and no crabapples, etc nearby, you're going to likely get crosses from those varieties, correct?  And/or you could hand pollinate somehow and know exactly what you were crossing?  

Thanks for helping set me straight!   And if anyone is in the PNW and wants to send me promising seed, I'd love to grow some out.  

Thanks,
Courtney
Oakville, WA