Building Local Diversity

This is an open pollinated apple seedling of a tree that I call France Dark Red (FDR). FDR is a seedling tree growing in Eastern Iowa that has small to medium sized dark red fruit that hangs well on the tree. 

FDR-2024-1 is a seedling that I planted using a technique where I plant 15 to 20 seeds in a permanent spot and then select the best tree to keep in that location. 

However, when I planted these seeds it was one of our driest winters on record. We had no measurable moisture from December until February, and no snow cover during this time which is very unusual for us. I didn’t get these seedlings mulched like I wanted and they were exposed to very cold and dry conditions all winter. When spring came around none of the seeds showed any signs of sprouting at the time the seedlings in my nursery were sprouting. The nursery is a bit more protected from the elements and was properly mulched. 

A couple of weeks after the nursery seedlings sprouted I finally had one, and only one, seed sprout in this permanent spot. This is the seedling labeled as FDR-2024-1. Because it sprouted in such harsh conditions when none of the other seeds near it did, I’m hoping that means that this will turn out to be a very hardy tree. There is some research that suggests leafing out date is positively associated with flowering date. Potentially, this could mean that FDR-2024-1 will be a late flowering variety. 

As of late December, this seedling has also kept its leaves. This characteristic is called marcescence and is thought be a strategy adapted for dealing with tough conditions. More experienced fruit breeders tell me that this can be common during the juvenile growth period, so we’ll see if that trait persists. 

Since this is my first seedling grown from the beginning in its permanent spot it does have some special meaning to me, and I will post about its progress in the future.