When to plant apple seeds? A detailed guide to planting time and methods
The apple is a fruit we often eat in our daily lives. Its nutritional value is very high, rich in minerals and vitamins, and abundant in calcium, which helps metabolize excess salt in the body, making it an ideal fruit for many people who are trying to lose weight. When grown as a potted plant, the apple is also very attractive, with a very beautiful appearance, and is “the best variety for a miniature orchard”. So how should apple seeds be planted?
1. How should apple seeds be planted
Apple seeds are generally planted from October to December. After washing the apple seeds clean, soak them in water for 5 to 7 days, changing the water once a day to keep the water clean and free of impurities. Choose a holeless container of appropriate size and fill it with potting soil. Place the apple seeds in neat concentric circles from the outer ring inward, with the tip of the sprout facing down, sprinkle on some small stones and water them so that the soil and seeds are completely moistened. After that, spray water once every 7 days; after the ground freezes, water about once every 20-30 days. Seedlings generally emerge in early to mid-April. After the seedlings emerge, strengthen soil, fertilizer and water management and pest and disease control. They can be transplanted in the spring of the following year, and will bear fruit in about 5 years.
Apple trees grown from seed as seedling trees do not necessarily produce good-quality apples when they mature. If they are only for ornamental purposes, that is acceptable, but if they are to be eaten, grafting is still needed. Apples on the market today are very cheap and yields are also very high, so apples you grow yourself are best used only as potted plants; if you want to eat them, it is better to buy excellent varieties from the market.
2. The history of the apple
The apple has a cultivation history of more than two thousand years in China. It is said that the “purple nai” eaten by Yu of Xia was the red apple. In the Guangzhi by Guo Yigong of the Jin Dynasty, it says: “In the West there are commonly many nai; every household collects and slices them and dries them in the sun to make preserves, storing up dozens or hundreds of hu, calling it pinpo grain.” By the Ming Dynasty, there were not only the “summer-ripening” “su nai, zhu nai, and lu nai,” but also “Liangzhou has winter nai, which ripens in winter, and the fruit has a bluish color.”
Most apples grown today are Western apples, introduced to Yantai by John Livingstone Nevius, a member of the American Presbyterian mission. Our country is now the world's largest apple producer and consumer, with apple planting area and output both accounting for more than 40% of the world total, occupying an important position in the world apple industry. Relatively famous varieties include Huaniu, Hongxing, Rongguang, the Delicious strain, and Hongjiangjun.
That is all for apples. Growing apple seeds yourself has relatively high requirements, and they do not necessarily sprout. Related potted plants are generally also available on the flower and tree market, so friends who want to care for them can also buy them on the market.