Wait until it goes dormant (drops its leaves) then plant it in the ground. You will probaly have to protect it from critters and lawn mowers for a few years. Also be aware that seedling apples are potluck, may be a great apple or maybe not.

Almost every apple we have comes from 1 single tree that happened to make that particular fruit. It's why a "golden delicious" grown in Washington in 1990 tastes like a "golden delicious" grown in Australia in 2000. Cuttings are taken...and cuttings from those cuttings are taken...etc etc over many years.

The original Hass Avacado tree died a few years ago. Not much like the Hass...it was a single-tree mutant. There's plenty of Hass plant material out there, though.

Your apple will most likely be something close, but depending on how the genetic mix-up goes the fruit quality could be iffy. There's really only 1 way to find out, though.

found this on the "mother tree" of the Hass avacado...

Here is a link that might be useful: The Hass Mother Tree

If you plant it, you are also likely to end up with a full-sized tree. Apple trees can grow up to 35 or 40 feet tall, which is not the easiest height to harvest at. Store-bought apple trees are grafted onto root stock that limits their growth (dwarf, semi-dwarf, etc).

I was fortunate enough to adopt my grandmothers apple butter recipe last year and had so much fun making it. I was thinking about trying to grow my own apple tree (since I spent so much money on them!) and also starting it from seed. Would anyone recommend a certain time of the year to attempt to grow roots from a seed? I am looking at doing Winesap apples, which usually are harvested around late August-Sept.

Thanks!

If you truely want to invest time and space to an apple tree you're better off getting a disease-free tree with true fruit that's grafted onto an appropriate sized rootstock.

At worst you're talking about a $10-$20 expense and will save yourself a year or 2 of growing time.

Even the best of apple trees start to have problems with production and pest after 20-30 years. Sure, there's some long lived ones out there, but on whole they're not the longest living/healthy trees.

One of the best producers on my land is an apple tree planted compliments of a bird, I imagine. The taste is quite respectable. There are easier ways to get apples, but if you have the space, it's a fun way to get it and for years afterward, this shall always be ..............'s tree. Fill in the blank.

I also have a peach tree given me by an enthusiastic customer he started from seed. It's the best peach I ever ate. I am planning on grafting from it to keep that line alive.

The biggest drawback is that you have to wait so many years to find out. LOL. But in ten years you'll be ten years older anyway. So, if you have the space for a full-sized tree, why not?

Do not put this little fellow in a garage. As long as it has leaves, it needs sunlight. I winter over my tree seedlings the first year in a lathe house, but most people don't have those. Plant it outside in fall so it can set it's roots before winter (if cold weather is an issue). Protect it with a temporary sun shelter, weed whips, and animals. Keep the grass away from the trunk for awhile, so it doesn't have to compete with the lawn and watch watering.

Thanks for responding. Again, this was NOT started by me, it was an experiment my 8 year old daughter did. I want to let her plant it and take care of it. If it grows int o a fruit producing tree, that would be great. If not, then oh well, we tried.

I will look for a good spot and sometime this fall, after it's lost it's leaves, plant it.

You can do the heavy work but let your daughter actually plant it, and remind her when it needs watering. She'll love it and always be a gardener.