How To Germinate Apple Seeds

Around the world, apples are one of the most popular fruits, not because of the sweetness of apples, but for their health benefits. The growing of apples and selling of apples is a big business everywhere including Nigeria and Africa at large.

When the question of how to germinate apple seeds came to me, I didn’t want to waste time in providing a readable answer.

I will be taking it step by step in other to ensure those reading will have a clear understanding of what it takes to germinate apples and learn how to germinate apple seeds in Nigeria.

Demand for apples

If you talk about popularity, Apple is one of the oldest and most loved fruit in the world. It is in high demand, and the apple fruit was one of the first mention fruits in the Christian doctrine for thousands of years. To date, it is an evergreen business if you are looking to invest in the production of apple fruits.

But the downside of the apple business is that it is in short supply, but the demand is high which is forcing the prices to rise. Only a few countries grow this fruit, and almost all the countries of the world are in demand of it. Countries like the USA, Chile, China, New Zealand, Argentina, and South Africa produce the apple fruit to international standard and trade, cultivating and trading it in Nigeria will be an economic booster if more people join the trade.

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Regional Temperatures for apples

The main ingredient for growing the apple tree is the temperature, the climate of the region must support it before you can have yourself an apple fruit tree. Certain types of apples can grow in certain parts of the tropical areas, which makes some parts of Nigeria a better place to grow apples.

In Nigeria, the Jos Plateau, Mambilla Plateau, and Obudu cattle ranch are top places for commercial apple production. The Apple Anna is the perfect variety for Jos Plateau due to the temperature climate of the region and the Bell apple grows in other parts of the country but it is in high demand.

How to grow an apple with the seeds

The seasonal period to plant your seeds is between September and April.
It is my advice to first grow the seedlings in a different small pot in your house before transferring them into a larger area into the ground.

Follow the below method if you are either starting with a pot or direct to the farmland.

Plant your seedlings at a spacing of 5m by 5m and you can plant up to 145 or more seedlings per acre.
Press each seed into a moist ground, not too deep, just barely covered with the soil because it needs light to germinate.

You should space the seed about 1 inch from each other.

After planting, you should water the ground and not let the ground dry out throughout the germination period.

It takes up to 3 weeks before it starts to germinate.

It requires humility and water (preferably rainwater) to grow.

It is preferable to grow the bell apples in sandy soil or sandy clay soil, or moderately acidic soil, in well-drained soil.

Excess water should be quickly drained, this is to avoid waterlogging.

Use manure on the soil, and avoid chemical fertilizers.

I advise that, as a starter, you should try this planting with about 5 seeds so you can familiarise yourself with the process before going big.

At 10 weeks, the plants are ready for sale if that’s what you want to do, or you can grow them into apple trees.

It takes up to 3 years before the tree begins to produce its first fruit.

With a combination of all the fruit trees, one is set to harvest 500 to 1000 fruits from each harvest.

You can be lucky to get up to two harvests a year.

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Diseases and prevention

The most common pest are thrips, aphids, crown blight, and collar rot diseases. Use the pest-resistant rootstock to rid the plant of it.