Last year I decided to start a few seedlings just for fun.
Here is the today’s photo compares to a regular bottle of beer
From the left:
Black pomegranate started in February in 4 gal pot
Angel Red started in February
Ariana cutting started in May
Yes, the seeds had a 3 months head start but they were so tiny!
The Angel Red trunk is as thick as a sharpie at the ground level, thicker than the Ariana cutting.
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Cool! Do the seedlings have a good taproot? I'm strongly considering trying to cross a black pom with salavatski at some point (when I get fruit, haha!)
Growing from seeds has both pluses and minuses vs. cuttings.
Plus: Stronger primary trunk and tap root as they are part of the plant vs. a cutting that can only have side branches and side roots.
Minus: Unknown qualities due to sexual reproduction (seeds) vs. cloning (cuttings). Cuttings will give you known qualities: cold-resistance, fruit color/taste/ripening time/etc.
Unknown: Seeds will differ genetically from the parent and the new plant may be better/worse or about the same as the parent. This is how all new varieties are created, but many failed experiments happen along the way as well.
Good luck with your experiments, but understand that they won't be the same as their parent(s).
I'm growing a bunch of Magnolia vine/Schisandra chinensis from the seeds of the only variety (Eastern Prince) that is self-fertile. I'm hoping to improve on that one variety, but it is very possible that many of the new plants won't even be self-fertile.
@coliva yes, I know than the kids are not the same as their parents but still close
I started the seeds because of a curiosity and would like to see them fruiting some day. I think in 2 years they should flower . In the worst case, I will graft them
It would be interesting to compare a variety on its own roots vs the same variety grafted onto a seedling root-stock. See if the better root system makes a significant difference. My guess is it would be variable depending on growing conditions. But who knows.
