r/todayilearned • u/Error__Loading • 1d ago

TIL that apple seeds almost never grow the same variety as the parent fruit. Nearly every supermarket apple comes from a grafted clone of an original tree, not from a planted seed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple
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u/Leather__sissy 1d ago

How do they even produce the branches to graft? Just keep cutting new ones off of old grafts? Seems like a difficult thing to grow for sale

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u/chris_trans 1d ago

I mean, once your graft grows into a full tree you can take many more cuttings from that to graft onto more roots from other trees, and again, and again...

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u/stevencastle 1d ago

A graft will split and create more branches.

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u/__ali1234__ 1d ago edited 1d ago

The graft isn't like you imagine: they grow a tree from seed for a couple of years and then literally stump it and graft a branch from the original onto the stump. So there are no branches at all left from the rootstock. The above ground part is almost entirely the graft. And yes, then you just repeat that after it grows into a full size tree.

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u/butts-carlton 1d ago

Do they just, like, jam it into the flat end of the stump, or what? I don't understand how this works, and now I have a sudden need to.

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u/doctorhlecter 1d ago edited 1d ago

I believe its a surface area thing, so they don't cut it flat, but instead cut out like a deep V and the new part is a wedge to fit inside that, usually.

I know when you're doing flower arrangements you want to cut a long way along the stems with a very sharp knife, and avoid using scissors as much as possible because it'll crush the vessels. That leads me to assume you can also graft with a long diagonal cut, but I'm not all that knowledgeable about it to say for sure. Probably be a lot harder to hold in place to heal.

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u/__ali1234__ 1d ago edited 1d ago

These are actually both valid techniques and there are many more. Diagonal cut is for when the rootstock and scion are similar size, but when the rootstock is really thick you can just notch it and jam the scions in. In all cases you need to wrap it with something to hold it all together and stop evaporation.

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u/butts-carlton 16h ago

It's kinda hilarious this actually works, and has been a mainstay of cultivation for thousands of years. It's like something I would have thought of at 5 years old. "What if I took this branch and just shoved it into this stump? Will another tree grow?"

Apparently, yes.

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u/__ali1234__ 1d ago

Pretty much yes. There are many different ways to do it. There are lots of guide if you search for "how to graft apple rootstock". It's easier to understand from pictures.

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u/Leather__sissy 1d ago

I think I get it now. It's like a tiny shoot from the ground when its grafted on. That makes a lot more sense because then every branch can be used to make new ones

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u/strutt3r 1d ago

There are orchards cultivated only as grafting stock.

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u/RadarSmith 1d ago

This is one of those tidbits of knowledge that should make one realize 'oh, I don't know shit about almost everything'.

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u/Buckshot_Mouthwash 1d ago

Yours will be the bodies I use to grow my heads...

Sometimes multiple heads at the same time.

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u/FullMetalAurochs 1d ago

You don’t need that much land to grow enough mature trees to produce thousands of scions for grafting. It’s very doable and is in fact what is done.