# GrannySmith Apples......



## KSALguy (Feb 14, 2006)

i have always wanted a nice apple tree and my favorite apple is the GrannySmith, i have not seen any for sale (granted i have not looked extramly hard) but is it POSSIBLE to grow one from seed from a store bought apple? i know that is probably a silly question but still, i know alot of fruit trees are grown as grafts, 

also being in the far south east would that variety do well down here? and how exactly do you go about growing an apple tree from seed?


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## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

Granny smith is a long season apple. You have the length of season but I am not sure if you will have enough cooling hours - they need both. Ask at your extension service. It's a lot faster to grow them as grafts as far as when they will bear fruit. And you might need a second variety for pollination.


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## NickieL (Jun 15, 2007)

No, if you plant a seed from a granny smith, you will not get a granny smith apple. The cool thing about apples is that they have such a crazy amount of DNA in them that you will get something diffrent from every seed. It may come out tasty, it may come out sour, you'll never know until it's grown and producing.


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## geo in mi (Nov 14, 2008)

You can grow an apple tree from seed, but you will not get a Granny Smith apple from a Granny Smith seed. The original GS apple appeared in Austrailia in the 1850's as a sport, a mutation from a cross between two other types of apples. All Granny Smith apples are therefore clones of the original tree, done mainly by grafting from a Granny Smith onto a new rootstock. GS apples also require a pollinator tree to make the apples form, and each commercial grower may use a different variety of tree for this, so by planting a seed, you will get a duke's mixture of genetics--an apple, but not Granny Smith http://www.hort.purdue.edu/ext/treesfromseed.html 

But the Purdue article tells you how to start an apple seed. Who knows, you may get a good new one you can name after yourself...... OR, like so many as planted by Johnny Appleseed, you can toss it into the cider mill to make some pretty tasty apple brew

geo.


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## KSALguy (Feb 14, 2006)

ok that pretty much makes sence, seccond does anyone know who would sell all ready grafted GrannySmith trees? also i am not really sure i understand the other bit about a polinator tree? if you have bees wouldnt the tree its self polinate its self? and i am guessing another Granny Smith wouldnt count>? sorry i just dont know lol


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## NickieL (Jun 15, 2007)

KSAL, some plants are "self-sterile" and apples need other apples to pollinate them.
I guess that is why thier genetic diversty is so great.
Here might be a good place to start looking for your tree: http://www.starkbros.com/


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## farmerstac (Mar 16, 2005)

Willis Orchards in GA sell Granny Smith apples. I haven't personally ordered from them, but people from another forum have recommended them to me. Here is their web site: http://willisorchard.com They have good prices from what I have found.


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## SueMc (Jan 10, 2010)

I know I'm kind of butting in here but I was going to order from Willis last year. I changed my mind after reading some reviews here:
http://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/c/6348/

I know that's not to say that some people have had very good luck with them. Just something to consider.


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## MichaelK! (Oct 22, 2010)

Hi KSALguy
Had to add in my two cents. People here are correct that you can plant a seed out of Granny Smith apple and sprout it into an apple seedling, but that seedling will NOT bear true and it's fruit will not be Granny Smith fruit.

If you want a GS tree you can go to your local Lowes/HomeDepot/ACE and see what bare-root trees they will be putting on sale for the spring. My local area already had the trees up on display. They're grafted seedlings about 5' tall. You just pull the moss bag off the rootball and plant it in the ground.

You'll need a second apple variety as a pollinator. What you can get is called a "combination apple", that is a apple seedling with several different varieties grafted onto each branch of the tree. One branch might be GS, while the next branch might be Fuji. The two diffeent varieties will cross pollinate each other. A second option is to plant two different trees together in the same hole, and just raise it as a single two-trunked apple tree.

Finally, if you sprout some seeds from your apple, plant them immediately after removing them from the fruit. Do NOT let the seeds dry out. Most seeds will sprout immediately, though some will wait till they've gotten some winter chill. Once you have some seedlings you can graft a GS branch onto them yourself. I've tried grafting myself and it is almost falling off a log easy if you are patient and are good at detail oriented work. Here's pic of a seedling that I grafted myself. Good luck!


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## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

KSALguy said:


> ok that pretty much makes sence, seccond does anyone know who would sell all ready grafted GrannySmith trees?


I got one from Lowes a couple years ago - got some decent apples from it last year


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## KSALguy (Feb 14, 2006)

ok so it has to be a CROSS pollination? i guess i am haveing a DINCE moment, plants were never my strong suit, i was looking on that starkbro site and saw a few that looked like apples i wouldnt mind haveing if i have to cross polinate just to get the GS, does it matter how close i plant the two trees? do i need to do a special dance lol? and this may be dumb but if you have the two differint trees does the cross polination work both ways? or is it a one way cross? also how many GS trees could one tree of another kind polinate?


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## katydidagain (Jun 11, 2004)

Cross pollination is almost always recommended for fruiting trees; it was for that miserable Manchurian apricot "bush" I had that was 25' tall and looked like a tree. Guess what? It stood alone yet bore bushels of disgusting fruit for me without another apricot for 40 miles! (Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating but there were none within the city where I lived.) All of the above is why I'm not convinced that 2 varieties are really necessary or even 2 trees. If you've made bees/pollinators welcome, they can (IME) be quite content buzzing around 1. (Okay, someone will prove me wrong now.) Apples come true to the parent stock; they don't act like corn/popcorn and make something different.

I love GS apples so, despite my stupid assumptions, if I had the space, I'd bite the bullet and give it a "friend" just to make certain I had bumper crops; there's nothing wrong with having more than 1 apple tree. Fuji is one I've seen mentioned; it's a tasty one IMO.

Space according to the trees you buy; dwarfs can be closer than standards.


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## Paquebot (May 10, 2002)

Katy, Chinese or Manchurian apricots are self-fruitful. They don't need another tree for a pollinator.

Martin


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## NickieL (Jun 15, 2007)

Apricots and peaches don't need another type to pollinate them. It all depends on the type of fruit.


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## katydidagain (Jun 11, 2004)

Yes, I know they don't need another variety but it is generally recommended. Apples can also produce solo; my mother had only 1 surviving McIntosh tree that made fruit but not much and very small. If one were truly space limited, I'd suggest trying a 4 or 5 in 1. My only experience with such was a fruit cocktail tree planted the season before 17 year locusts arrived. I wanted to net it and DS's young maple tree but, at the time we were told there was no need to protect saplings from these harmless pests, so the EX fought me. They ate all the grafts and the maple's leader. (Fortunately I was friends with an arborist who spent several years reshaping it gratis; it was never pretty.). I did have some great peaches until the water company put in temporary lines that leaked and flooded my tree.


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## Paquebot (May 10, 2002)

If the 17-year locusts were the 17-year cicada, then something else ate your tree. Cicadas have no mouths and do not eat.

Martin


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## geo in mi (Nov 14, 2008)

Here ya go...

http://www.acnursery.com/apple_pollinizer.pdf

geo


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## katydidagain (Jun 11, 2004)

Paquebot said:


> If the 17-year locusts were the 17-year cicada, then something else ate your tree. Cicadas have no mouths and do not eat.


Tell that to all the people in the DC area who listened to the U of MD "experts", didn't cover their young trees and lost them. The next time around netting was _strongly_ encouraged by the same "wise guys".


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## geo in mi (Nov 14, 2008)

katydidagain said:


> Tell that to all the people in the DC area who listened to the U of MD "experts", didn't cover their young trees and lost them. The next time around netting was _strongly_ encouraged by the same "wise guys".


They didn't eat your tree, but, most likely, the females cut slits in the branches and laid their eggs there. If you had a real infestation, a small tree would fall victim to such abuse because of the sheer numbers of females laying eggs in the branches.



"How Cicadas Harm Trees and Shrubs: 

It's the female that harms trees. Choosing deciduous trees, she cuts two slits in small pencil sized (or smaller) branches and twigs, and lays about 24 eggs. She then goes on to another twig and repeats the process. A female cicada can deposit up to 600 eggs. 

Where infestations are heavy, the egg laying process is repeated on a tremendous number of twigs. This causes the twigs(or ends of the tree) to die, and often break off. With a heavy infestation, it often destroys young trees and bushes. While the damage may look bad on large trees, a mature tree can usually survive the damage. 




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Affected Trees, Bushes and Shrubs: 

Cicada love any woody stalk 1/2 inch or less in diameter. Pines are not so much because of the sap. Any trees from soft gum trees to medium beech, apple, etc to harder woods such as maples, oaks, hickory. The real key is branches that are 1/2" in diameter or less, with long open sections that they can "stitch" to lay eggs (that is why pines are not targets). 


Need Protection:
Apple Trees 
Arborvitae 
Ash 
Beech 
Black Eyed Susan 
Crab Apple 
Cherry 
Dogwood 
Fruit Trees in general 
Grape vines 
Hawthorn 
Hickory 
Holly 
Japanese Maple 
Lilacs 
Magnolia 
Maple 
Oak 
Peach Tree 
Pear Tree 
Raspberry vines 
Rhododendron 
Roses 
Rose of Sharon 
Spirea 
Viburnum 
Willow

Don't need protection:
Most Flowers 
Herbs 
Vegetables

From: http://www.gardenersnet.com/atoz/cicada.htm

Which does recommend netting....

(Or you could gather them up and eat them....  )

geo


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## katydidagain (Jun 11, 2004)

Thanks, George, I know they did _something_ to my trees and that explanation makes perfect sense. Where I lived is a Tree City filled with lots of old specimens; we had serious infestations. You had to dodge them flying when you stepped outside and you crunched when you walked on the sidewalks. The sound was almost deafening and pretty much 24/7. I had 2 very good mousing/bug eating indoor/outdoor cats I'd hoped would help out but even they opted for being inside as much as possible during the deluge.


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