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This chap's YouTube channel has a good number of videos about growing apples that are less well known: https://www.youtube.com/user/1sustainablehedonist/videos

This chap's YouTube channel has a good number of videos about growing apples that are less well known: https://www.youtube.com/user/1sustainablehedonist/videos https://www.youtube.com/user/1sustainablehedonist/videos If you're based in the the UK, the National Fruit Collection at Brogdale grow quite a few different varieties of apple seedlings (and other fruits) and has a reasonable sized seed stock I think you can order from. https://brogdaleonline.co.uk/ https://brogdaleonline.co.uk/ http://www.nationalfruitcollection.org.uk/index.php http://www.nationalfruitcollection.org.uk/index.php

ratmice 7y ago
For what its worth these are unlikely to be from seed, as apples are very unlikely to produce fruit which matches the variety of the parent.
- teh_klev 7y ago
  You're right, what's for sale are are rootstock trees. But I believe you can get access to seed stock as well.
  - dminor 7y ago
    Apples trees grown from seed actually do not match their parent - they are a genetic mix (just like us). What's more, they will most likely bear fruit that isn't pleasant to eat. All the apple varieties you eat have been cultivated from a single original specimen, via cuttings or (more likely) grafting onto a convenient root stock.
    - teh_klev 7y ago
      So does that mean if you only have the seeds available you've effectively lost that variety? i.e. it's now extinct? I feel this warrants more research for me.
      - dminor 7y ago
        Yes, essentially, if it hasn't otherwise been propagated. Also, the process for creating a new edible variety is fairly time and resource intensive, since it involves planting a lot of seeds and waiting a couple years to see if you get something worthwhile. The story is also similar for rootstock. Apples are naturally a fairly large tree, which isn't convenient for harvesting. The rootstocks that apples are typically grafted onto are genetic variants that don't grow as large.
        teh_klev 7y ago
        Thanks for the education :)

ratmice 7y ago

For what its worth these are unlikely to be from seed, as apples are very unlikely to produce fruit which matches the variety of the parent.

teh_klev 7y ago
You're right, what's for sale are are rootstock trees. But I believe you can get access to seed stock as well.
- dminor 7y ago
  Apples trees grown from seed actually do not match their parent - they are a genetic mix (just like us). What's more, they will most likely bear fruit that isn't pleasant to eat. All the apple varieties you eat have been cultivated from a single original specimen, via cuttings or (more likely) grafting onto a convenient root stock.
  - teh_klev 7y ago
    So does that mean if you only have the seeds available you've effectively lost that variety? i.e. it's now extinct? I feel this warrants more research for me.
    - dminor 7y ago
      Yes, essentially, if it hasn't otherwise been propagated. Also, the process for creating a new edible variety is fairly time and resource intensive, since it involves planting a lot of seeds and waiting a couple years to see if you get something worthwhile. The story is also similar for rootstock. Apples are naturally a fairly large tree, which isn't convenient for harvesting. The rootstocks that apples are typically grafted onto are genetic variants that don't grow as large.
      - teh_klev 7y ago
        Thanks for the education :)