Topic: Apple tree prunings

[Angi]

When I pruned my little apple tree in winter I stuck the prunings in the ground (don't ask me why!). Now I have noticed that they are leafing up, which presumably means that they have rooted. This leads me to my question, which is, will these go on to produce little apple trees? Can I train them into cordons or similar, or will I be wasting my time. I appreciate that apples are normally grown on a different rootstock, so maybe they won't be vigorous enough. The variety is Worcester Permain, by the way. Any advice will be very welcome as I am a bit of a novice when it comes to fruit.

[john_miller]

Apples are grown on different rootstocks to control vigour not to infer it. For this reason the commonly used rootstocks are classified as dwarfing or semi-dwarfing depending upon how much they restrict scion growth.
Will your cuttings go onto produce apple trees? Yes. Little ones? No. If you do want to use them you may want to find out about grafting and buy some rootstock that will give you a plant suitable for your needs. Grafting may sound daunting but it really isn't. Greenhouse tomatoes are commonly grafted over here for disease resistance- perhaps practice on them?

[kenkew]

The buds you see aren't due to rooting. It's the reserve energy that the branch/twig contains from last year. The energy the pruning is using is all going into the leaf and bud, not into producing roots. If your's go on to produce fruit from simply being stuck in the ground and with no further intervention, I'll eat my hat.