fruit trees from seed

Discussion in 'Planting, growing, nurturing Plants' started by colours, May 17, 2008.

  1. colours

    colours Junior Member

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    Hi all!! Well, having spent my last dollars buying enough land to grow food for my ever-expanding family, I have discovered I have no money left to buy nice little grafted fruit trees. So I was wondering if anyone had a list of fruit/nut tree varieties that CAN successfully be planted by seed. I planted a couple of almonds several months ago and was jumping with joy when 2 of them germinated on Mother's day. Guess it was a gift from mother nature. I have no idea whether or not these will be successful as nut trees, but they have so far cost me about 5 cents, so I'm willing to give them a try.

    I have read that kensington mangos are self-pollinating and can easily be grown from seed. Any other hints? I am actually quite happy to experiment a little, but I also need food for the family so if anyone has more experience than me I'd love to hear from you.

    Thanks,

    Colours.
     
  2. ppp

    ppp Junior Member

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    Re: fruit trees from seed

    approximately where are you, and what sort of climate do you have?

    If you can, try planting paw-paws from the seds in a shop bought fuit.. what about passionfruit? There'll be heaps more.
     
  3. colours

    colours Junior Member

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    Re: fruit trees from seed

    I'm at Kurrajong NSW. Its the foothills of the blue mountains and (although I have only been here a couple of months) I hear it gets very hot and very cold. I think paw paw might get a little frost bite at the moment, will definately give it a try in spring though. Thanks.
     
  4. Michaelangelica

    Michaelangelica Junior Member

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    Re: fruit trees from seed

    Everyone tells you not to grow Fruit Trees from seed.
    Yet Granny Smith Apples came from seed.
    If you were planting out a 1,000 hectares of fruit you may not want to rely on what seed might bring you.
    If you have a small area you could discover a new gem like "Granny Smith" ?!
     
  5. colours

    colours Junior Member

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    Re: fruit trees from seed

    so true. I'm going to try it and I'll let you know the results. Might even slip a $2 coin in the ground, you just never know... Not too sure how the granny smith came about, considering heirloom apples are (were) so rare in Australia. It must have been a chance hybrid of one of the more common apples that we have. Its very encouraging, can't wait. Although I'll have to.
     
  6. Loris

    Loris Junior Member

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    Re: fruit trees from seed

    You may be OK with paw paws if you plant them right up against a shed wall (north wall) or under overhanging eaves of the house. I grew them in the outback where there were black frosts which killed most everything. In the winter, sometimes the tops of the trees got frosted off where they had grown higher than the eaves. You just put a tin can over the top to stop rot going down the stem and they sprout back from under the can spot. Had beautiful fruit.

    Most mangos I have grown from seed. Bush lemons will grow from seed but will take 7 years to fruit. However, if you can grow things like bush lemon from seed or cuttings, you can then graft other citrus onto that root stock - any grafting book gives good pictures of how to do this. Same with apples. if you can propigate an apple rootstock, you can graft other cuttings onto them. One of my grafted apples dies but the rootstock sprouted from below the graft and grew so I kept that one to experiment with propogating.

    It doesn't cost much to try and its very interesting cheap and rewarding.
     
  7. paradisi

    paradisi Junior Member

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    Re: fruit trees from seed

    what I've grown from seed in various climates:-

    lychee
    longan
    loquat
    grapefruit
    orange
    lemonade (not sure if this will come true to type)
    apple
    plum
    apricot
    nashi
    peach
    nevtarine
    passionfruit
    granadilla
    strawberry
    bananas (the seeded varieties)
    avacado
    cumquat
    pear
    mulberry
    sweetsop
    soursop
    custard apple
    feijoa
    mango
    paw paw
    rough lemon

    anything you can buy in a shop with a seed in it will grow - no guarantee it will be a perfect copy of the fruit you ate, but if you start off with the premise that the fruit you bought tastes good, chances are what grows will taste good too. it will take a while for the seed to produce fruit but they all do.

    And the best thing is if you grow them from seed and they die from lack of water or a bad frost all you've lost is the cost of the original fruit and the time it took to grow

    others you can consider are pineapples - the tops grow easily get to know a neighbour with bananas and beg or borrow a pup or two, or buy a choko and stick one in the ground next to a fence

    head off to a proper greengrocer - preferably someone with a strong italian or greek accent (LOL) there's a couple around marrickville/newtown that have excellent varieties of the rarer fruit - - eg longans, loquat, hardy paw paw etc well worth the trip into town to get some rare fruit
     
  8. Michaelangelica

    Michaelangelica Junior Member

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    Re: fruit trees from seed

    Well done!!
    What an imprwessive list!
    I can't throw out avocado seeds, too pretty and too easy to grow, if nothing else a nice tree.

    As a kid I always cut out the eyes of potatoes and grew them.

    Now I cut the bottoms/roots off a bunch of store-bought shallots and grow a new bunch.
    same with leeks.
    If you upset them too much they go to seed and you have free seed!

    Marrickville backyards are also good places to go for cuttings of things like White Mulberries and figs. I was also given some beautiful Greek oregano much better than the total tasteless crap sold in nurseries.
    If you ask instead of thieve (have done both- well it was late and the white mulberry was growing over the fence) you are lucky to escape without armfulls of stuff and life-long friends.

    It is such a crying shame, and crime, that the NSW government has legislated suburban backyards out of existence now.
    So much for people planning.
     
  9. barely run

    barely run Junior Member

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    Re: fruit trees from seed

    If you want to try apples get some organic ones from a market or a back yard tree. mostly commercial apples are irradiated for storage and the seed isn't viable. Seed growing fruit is a long term investment timewise, but you might be lucky to hit on a new version of something, just like the Granny Smith, also horticulterists call new versions of known plants "sports" and they can be quite valuable. I have been put onto Yalca fruit trees from someone here. have ordered some trees and got excellent info from the owner. The website is still under construction but I can email the catalogue if you want. apples plums etc $20 large variety all heritage trees 2yrs old sent bare root in July.
    Cathy
     
  10. Michaelangelica

    Michaelangelica Junior Member

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    Re: fruit trees from seed

    I live in NSW- Fruit Fly Capital of The World- they even blow chilli and oranges
    I need to move to paradise (Tasmania)

    There is a nursery in Victoria (Badger's Keep ?) That has old varieties of apple (etc)
    Nice, sincere real people.
     
  11. Comfrey

    Comfrey Junior Member

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    Re: fruit trees from seed

    Hi
    Another fruit to try is medlar (nispero): beautiful fruit, hardy, disease-free trees, self-seeds easily. Each fruit usually has four seeds = three to four trees. Fruits before the fruit fly get going. Got to be worth finding one! (I'd send you the seeds but I'm not in Oz).
     
  12. colours

    colours Junior Member

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    Re: fruit trees from seed

    Thanks so much for the info guys. In a weird kind of way I'm glad I'm broke. Necessity being the mother of all invention and all that. Just spent the morning with the kids and hound, planting whatever fruit seeds we could find. All catalogued and ready for scientific experiment. So far I have only had success with red pittaya (dragonfruit), almonds and avocado (all seedlings so far so can't comment on the fruit). But following your advice this morning I planted red delicious apple (non-organic I'm afraid, but I'll repeat the test when I get my hands on some organic ones), dates, pommegranite, muscat grapes, custard apple, fuji fruit. The kids had a ball and so did I. It only cost the seed raising mix, we all got some sunshine and I gues the world's a better place. Can't wait for the results.
     
  13. Michaelangelica

    Michaelangelica Junior Member

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    Re: fruit trees from seed

    Kids never forget the time you spend with them.
    Because you thought this was a valuable activity they will too.
    Because you spent the time with them they therefore know that they too are valuable people.

    Too few kids/people have connections with nature/earth/growing/nurturing things.
    What a rich person you are. Time is the most precious gift of all.

    I always put my seeds in a sterile sandwich of Vermiculite or peat. Although vermiculite is very overpriced now.
    Then again I don't use Seed Raising Mix which should be sterile.
    The problem with some small seeds is the 'damping off' fungus that kills them shortly after emergence. Very disheartening. That is why you need sterile stuff to put the seeds in (You can also archive 'sterility" by heating a mix in the oven)
    This is especially important with organic seeds as commercial seeds are covered in chemicals that stop disease (at least on the young plants!)

    I like to use a fine mist spray on the seeds as often as I think of it.
    You can buy one from stores for $3 +,if silly, otherwise use a "Spray and wipe" or similar kitchen spray container well washed out

    Happy gardening
    BTW Find a recipe for Custard apple ice cream - no machinery necessary- Fantastic!
     
  14. colours

    colours Junior Member

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    Re: fruit trees from seed

    you are so right. Who'd have though I was once a materialistic capitalist who was disgusted at the thought of having children. I got really sick a year ago and it made me appreciate the finer, more important things in life. Why does it take something so drastic to make us see it?

    I'm glad I stumbled accross gardening, its changed my life. So glad it didn't take til I was 80. Its so great to have the support from all walks of life through this forum. And guess what? I'm healthy again. Who'd have thunk it? Can't thank you all enough.
     
  15. thepoolroom

    thepoolroom Junior Member

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    Re: fruit trees from seed

    I would just plant anything and everything. And lots of each thing. Not everything will work, but if you plant enough seeds you'll have some successes. And if you end up with too much of one thing, you can trade it for something else with another gardener.

    Lots of people advise against planting seeds from bought fruit due to cross-pollination etc, but I'd ignore that. If you want an orchard full of a single cultivar, they're probably right. But if you just want some backyard fruit trees and don't have your heart set on cloning a specific tree, then go for it!

    Jackie French says in her books that she just plants stuff, and most of it is healthy and productive. The occasional tree might be prone to disease or fail to set fruit, but for every one like that you'll get dozens of perfectly good ones.

    Also, if you have access to other peoples' fruit trees, try your hand at propagating from cuttings. This will produce a clone of the original tree, so you know exactly what you'll get. Plus it's another interesting and fun activity for the kids.
     
  16. Raymondo

    Raymondo Junior Member

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    Re: fruit trees from seed

    Cuttings. Much faster to fruit than from seed! However, advantage of seed grown if grown in situ, is a great root system with a deep tap root.
    I'm doing both at my place.
     
  17. Michaelangelica

    Michaelangelica Junior Member

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    Re: fruit trees from seed

    I forgot carrot tops
    You don't often get carrots but you do get lots of seed.

    Cuttings is/are a whole new ball game.

    I have been distributing Mulberry Trees to local kids.
    They love them!
     
  18. jamesdumar

    jamesdumar New Member

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    Re: fruit trees from seed

    Hi!
    once you have your nice little seedlings in pots, you can take the pot to a known good tree and practise nurse grafting, also known as approach grafting or suckle grafting. just google it.
    you will be amazed how easy this is, and what a high success rate it provides.

    ANYONE will have good success with this method.
     
  19. gbell

    gbell Junior Member

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    Re: fruit trees from seed

    Have a read of what Michael Pollan says about apples in Botany of Desire. Apples are not true to seed and you'll apparently get a tremendous variety from the seeds in a single fruit. Different colours, different sizes, shapes, tastes. Apparently every Red Delicious apple tree you buy is a graft from the original found Red Delicious.

    So plant out 1000 and you might find one that's edible or interesting. The rest are just good for cider.
     
  20. paradisi

    paradisi Junior Member

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    Re: fruit trees from seed

    and what better use is there for an apple??
     

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