Seedlings Inside An Apple?

Have you ever cut open an apple to find the seeds sprouting in the core? I bought a bag of apples at the store last September and that's exactly what I found.

So I picked the seedlings out of the apple and folded them gently in a damp paper towel. I let them sit on my kitchen counter for 4 days, and then I plunked them in some potting soil I had laying around. I let them sit in the sun on my porch and I watered them regularly so the soil stayed a little wet.

It's been almost one year since I planted the seedlings. One didn't grow, one grew and died, and one grew and kept growing. That one still sits on my porch. I transplanted it to a larger pot when it was about 4 inches tall and now it's grown to almost a foot.

This little guy will most likely never produce apples, and even if it does, the fruit would not be the same variety as the apple from which this seedling came. Seedlings are genetically different from their parents (just like human children are different from their parents). Most commercially produced orchard apple trees are grown by grafting from an existing tree to ensure that the trees are genetically identical and will produce the same fruit.

So the next time you cut open a piece of fruit, check on those seeds. If you find an eager little sprout, you might just be able to grow a tree out of it!