4 ms·

This isn't strictly accurate. In Kent, UK, there's an orchard with around 2,000 apple varieties (it's possible there were closer to 10,000 over the past few ce

by Jedd 8y ago

This isn't strictly accurate. In Kent, UK, there's an orchard with around 2,000 apple varieties (it's possible there were closer to 10,000 over the past few centuries). I'd guess more than a hundred of those wouldn't be palatable for consumption - varieties that have been selected for sauce, baking, cider, jelly (jam), etc. Any seed-grown tree is going to produce fruit that has characteristics of both its parents - so it's not that 'wild apples aren't edible' (clearly that's not true) but rather hybrid apples aren't exactly like either parent. This is neither a bad nor a good thing. I will say that apples grown for their type are replicated via grafts or cuttings.

minikites 8y ago
>Any seed-grown tree is going to produce fruit that has characteristics of both its parents Not apples, they're exactly the opposite: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple#Breeding https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple#Breeding >This is because seedling apples are an example of "extreme heterozygotes", in that rather than inheriting genes from their parents to create a new apple with parental characteristics, they are instead significantly different from their parents, perhaps to compete with the many pests.
- Jedd 8y ago
  Perhaps not exactly the opposite (I'm not even sure how that'd work). Apple breeders do identify favourable traits from existing cultivars, and may then do selective back-crossing: https://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/resources/844-breeding-a-new-apple-cultivar https://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/resources/844-breeding-a-new...
NeedMoreTea 8y ago
As mimikites mentions every apple from seed is a complete unknown bearing no resemblance to parents. Some will be edible, many will be horrible. Find an edible one, keep that tree safe for grafts and cuttings! For instance all granny smith's trace back to a single tree somewhere in Australia. If you let a variety die, it's gone forever as you'll never recreate it. Which is my biggest regret of the way supermarkets want to sell us just a few "standard" varieties. Countless fine apples have been lost forever.
- Jedd 8y ago
  Yes, I understand. I grow about 25 varieties of apples, some of which are extremely unpleasant to eat, but have been selected over centuries to be perfect for jams (crab apples) and cider making. While a random specimen on an island in a lake is indeed most likely a seedling, my point was that assessing the quality of an apple is more nuanced than noting if one fruit at one point in time tastes nice.
  - NeedMoreTea 8y ago
    OK, on that part we're in full agreement. One of my biggest regrets of modern food stores is the complete disappearance of local and more specialist apples - my personal favourites haven't been around for years. Which leaves few options for those without space for a dozen varieties.
    - Jedd 8y ago
      I'd love to have more, but they're tricky in my climate (too hot and dry), and in Australia there's about 200-300 varieties only AFAIK. If you're in / next time you are in the UK, be sure to get out to Brogdale - they have apple and cherry and cider festivals, with an astounding number of varieties (only two of each tree though). It is profoundly sad that it's such a painful process to get varieties through quarantine and into Australia - I tried a Braddick's Nonpareil there one time - my instant favourite apple ever. May be similar to a Sturmer Pippin (which is available in AU).

by Jedd 8y ago

minikites 8y ago

>Any seed-grown tree is going to produce fruit that has characteristics of both its parents Not apples, they're exactly the opposite: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple#Breeding https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple#Breeding >This is because seedling apples are an example of "extreme heterozygotes", in that rather than inheriting genes from their parents to create a new apple with parental characteristics, they are instead significantly different from their parents, perhaps to compete with the many pests.

Jedd 8y ago
Perhaps not exactly the opposite (I'm not even sure how that'd work). Apple breeders do identify favourable traits from existing cultivars, and may then do selective back-crossing: https://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/resources/844-breeding-a-new-apple-cultivar https://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/resources/844-breeding-a-new...

NeedMoreTea 8y ago

As mimikites mentions every apple from seed is a complete unknown bearing no resemblance to parents. Some will be edible, many will be horrible. Find an edible one, keep that tree safe for grafts and cuttings! For instance all granny smith's trace back to a single tree somewhere in Australia. If you let a variety die, it's gone forever as you'll never recreate it. Which is my biggest regret of the way supermarkets want to sell us just a few "standard" varieties. Countless fine apples have been lost forever.

Jedd 8y ago
Yes, I understand. I grow about 25 varieties of apples, some of which are extremely unpleasant to eat, but have been selected over centuries to be perfect for jams (crab apples) and cider making. While a random specimen on an island in a lake is indeed most likely a seedling, my point was that assessing the quality of an apple is more nuanced than noting if one fruit at one point in time tastes nice.
- NeedMoreTea 8y ago
  OK, on that part we're in full agreement. One of my biggest regrets of modern food stores is the complete disappearance of local and more specialist apples - my personal favourites haven't been around for years. Which leaves few options for those without space for a dozen varieties.
  - Jedd 8y ago
    I'd love to have more, but they're tricky in my climate (too hot and dry), and in Australia there's about 200-300 varieties only AFAIK. If you're in / next time you are in the UK, be sure to get out to Brogdale - they have apple and cherry and cider festivals, with an astounding number of varieties (only two of each tree though). It is profoundly sad that it's such a painful process to get varieties through quarantine and into Australia - I tried a Braddick's Nonpareil there one time - my instant favourite apple ever. May be similar to a Sturmer Pippin (which is available in AU).