Can I grow an apple tree by planting apple pips?

Most apples are grown from grafted trees and will not come true from seed. The seeds might germinate, and they could develop into productive trees, but the fruit might not be similar to the fruit you purchased. Fruit breeders plant thousands of apple seeds every year from controlled crosses they make. read more

This version of How to Grow an Apple Tree from a Seed was reviewed by Andrew Carberry on January 13, 2017. read more

Sure, you can grow an apple tree from a pip - but don’t expect to get great apples. As Laura Williams pointed out, whatever you get probably won’t be great. Apples don’t tend to breed true, which is why all the apples you buy at the store, and the apple trees you buy at the nursery are really clones of a single tree. read more

Seedlings can sometimes take many years before bearing fruit. This is very variable, depending on the genes inherited from their parents. 3. Apple trees from pips grow to a random size, depending on the genes they got from their parents. Generally speaking, seedlings are quite vigorous and need a lot of space. 4. read more

What others wrote here is true. However, if you have the time, dedication and land, you could plant thousands of pips and create whole forests of apple trees. That would raise the chances of creating new varieties of apples; this is what Johnny Appleseed did. read more