fruit tree question

My husband says, fruit tree seeds that sprout and grow into trees won't produce fruit like the grafted treas. Is this true, will seedling fruit trees that come up or sprouted from seed, will they produce fruit?

kathy

Most commercial fruits are grafted on to root stock. The seedlings of such plants are extremely varied and rarely are close to the original. Some of the antique cultivars which are closer to the wild will produce similar seedlings. Examples include Goose Plums, wild pears, persimmons, Black or Red heart cherries.

Soooooo, your saying? that seedlings won't produce fruit? not real sure about that. yet. these seedlings, are posted on the identification forum, subject was I have these all over the place. LOL

kathy

I thought the rootstock only controls the growth habit of the tree/shrub, not the flower or fruit? and that the only reason seedlings don't grow into exact replicas of the parent plant is if the parent is a hybrid (cross of 2 different varieties). So if the parent isn't a hybrid, you will get the same fruit from a seedling (when it's mature), but the mature seedling might be alot taller/shorter/less hardy etc. than the parent plant.

Please correct me if I'm wrong...I am always up for learning new things.

Eileen

Here are some sites that explain the why's of grafting or buying grafted trees:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/encyclopedia/fruit_tree_propagation

http://www.midfex.org/m/whygraft.html

http://www.penpages.psu.edu/penpages_reference/29401/2940174.html

1. Seedlings will produce fruit.
2. Most cultivars are either multicross hybrids or sports (mutations)
3. The fruits from seedlings of these cultivars will be be quite varied. Most will not be anything close to the original.
4. A graft is a clone (exact replica) of the original.
5. There are still a few antiques whose seedlings come relatively true. apples especially are usually cross polinated so seedlings are hard to maintain in true form.

Aha! that makes things much more clear. Thanks Farmerdill!