This COTH message board is messing up…I can’t figure out how to answer directly…for future letters please use my email - JBhorses17@yahoo.com.
I, too went to the site I sent you and saw that they are selling seeds now!! 25 years ago the trees were a sterile, hybrid. Apparently over several generations they are no longer sterile!!
When we got baby trees…I planted them in well drained, plastic coffee cans so I could tend them daily with water and fertilizer…all in one area. The success rate is higher that was than planting then right out in the ground.
As they grow…I would maintain 8 leaves per plant and remove the lower/bigger leaves as they grew. I put them in the ground when they got 12-14 inches tall. As I said earlier…they LOVE Peter’s 20-20-20 fertilizer (once a week when I watered them)…they also LOVE horse manure!! A good characteristic on a horse farm!! When planted in the ground…they will grow like CRAZY!! (18-24’/year) I pinch off the suckers that grow in the notch of the leaves (future branches) until I can’t reach them any longer (6’ or so) so they grow taller instead of bushier. Those suckers I replant in pots for more trees! These trees grow very fast…but remember to protect them from horses who love to EAT them!!
