Are Orchards Planted from Apple Seed’s? Wait, from seed it’s a new variety? What is Grafting?

If every seed inside an apple is a new apple variety, then how do you get another tree of an apple you want, like for example Golden Delicious or Cosmic Crisp(r)?

by Chad Steiner

If you’ve been to The Farm and been on a “life changing” tractor ride, well then maybe this is review. Either way, I thought it would be fun to put this content into a blog. The question comes up a lot about creating new apple varieties and/or if orchards are planted from seed. It’s been fun helping people understand how we create new apple varieties and how new orchards are planted (or what plant material is used). I’d like to follow the format I’ve used on the life changing tractor rides. 1. When you cut open an apple from the side but in half, what’s inside? 2. If you plant an apple seed, what do you get? 3. What kind of apple tree would you get?

Let’s start with – when you cut open an apple from the side and in half (pictured below) what’s inside? All the kiddos love this one and always get it right – seeds. Yep, that’s right apple seeds. This is also a great visual to ask how many petals on an apple flower as the shape inside the apple cut open this way resembles an apple flower. It also looks like a beautiful star. There’s five petals on an apple flower.

Caption: Farmer Chad shows the inside of an apple, its seeds and the star. The star resembles the apple flower with its five petals.

The next question, if you plant the seeds from inside this apple, what do you get? The kids have fun with this one as well – “you get an apple tree” everyone answers confidently. And at this point both adults and kids are following along. What’s fun is since we’ve been doing this for 6 years, we’ve got some veterans on the ride who help answer. If you haven’t been on the life changing tractor ride, you may be starting to wonder where it takes you. It’s typically a ride through the orchard where it’s been natural for questions to come up about apples. I pick everyone an apple and then we talk about them. Or if we’re parked by the sheep, we talk about them as well.

Now here’s where the content of the tractor ride gets a bit heavier. The next question is – “so you planted the seed and grew an apple tree, but what kind of apple tree?”. It’s pretty common for the group to answer referencing the apple I’m holding. So, if I’m holding a Golden Delicious, the answer from the group will be you’d get a Golden Delicious tree. If I’m holding a Cosmic Crisp® they’d answer that it will be a Cosmic Crisp® tree. Here’s how I explain it. Picture the apple I’m holding (as I place both halves back together) is the mom, and mom carries the baby’s or seeds in her tummy. Then where did dad come from? Typically, someone will answer, but at this point the group has gotten quiet. The dad came from the pollen the bee’s brought to the apple flower. But where did that pollen come from? In an open orchard, we have no idea where the pollen came from. We could guess, but we’re not sure. Therefore, every seed inside an apple (momma’s tummy) is a new apple variety. Pretty cool – essentially all the seeds in an apple are like brothers and sisters. They may look similar to each other and look a bit like their parents, but they’ll all look different. But wait – if the seeds in an apple are a new apple variety, then how do you plant an orchard??

Before explaining how orchards are planted, a brief explanation on the “intentional” creation of new apple varieties might be helpful. What apple breeders do is control where the pollen comes from by netting the trees. The breeder will plant and grow the “mother” tree they want, then put a net over the tree before the flowers open so the bee’s can’t pollinate it. The the breeder will pollinate it themselves manually. From there, the seeds from these apples are planted out by the 1,000’s to see if the new varieties from these “crosses” of apples are something worth keeping. Maybe it’s the next great apple variety. All in all, about an 18 year process.

Caption: a branch from an adult apple tree has buds. Each bud is a replica of the adult tree and can be used in grafting.

Caption: a close up look at the apple buds.

Ok, now let’s talk about how orchards are planted. Jump back to the creation of the new variety. Picture it growing into an adult tree. As that tree develops, it grows branches, and on these branches are “buds” (see pictures). Each of these buds contains an “exact” replica of the adult tree. If the adult tree were Golden Delicious, then the buds from the branches of the Golden Delicious would create another Golden Delicious tree. The buds can be placed onto another tree or rootstock where they will push out and grow into a Golden Delicious tree. And this is how new trees are made, which can then be planted in an orchard. In today’s orchards trees are planted by the 1,000’s per acre and they’re copies of each other by using buds from adult trees of that variety. Believe it or not, this is 6,000 year old technology – grafting.

It’s been so much fun answering questions and diving into apples. Apples are so much fun to eat and decide on our favorite variety. Apples are one of few fruits that all have unique variety names and there are 1,000’s of them. After reading this, if you’re thinking about planting seeds at home – have fun, you could find the next great apple variety. But, keep in mind, a new variety planted form seed could get really really big. If you’d like to plant your favorite apple in your back yard – find one of the nurseries near you and inquire into what they have. They’ll get a tree for you to plant. Orchards aren’t planted from seed, but from trees that were grafted. I look forward to farm tours, discussions and life changing tractor rides where we can have more of these conversations. Thank you for the questions over the years – we’re passion about connecting you all to farming!!!