But growing the tree can still be good fun.

The only problem I've had with many of the apple seedlings is that they usually sprout easily in the winter but die in the summer, because so many of them are apples that will only grow up north, probably zone 7 or lower.

Occasionally, I do get a few to survive and grow well, but I never mark which variety of apple I plant. I just kind of collect the seeds in a pile, until there is enough to fill a pot.

Doing this can come back to haunt you, because I've done this with citrus too, and when you mix sweet orange, grapefruit, lemon, and marmalade orange seeds together, you really don't know what's what when they start coming up.

I had the same thing happen to me with a granny smith apple. I planted the seed in a pot and a few months later it is now about 4 feet tall. Yours should be just fine as well.

Sometimes, though, apples go into cold storage for awhile before they are sold in stores. Then, when the apples warm up on the way to the grocery, the seeds react as though winter has passed and they begin to sprout.

As mentioned by someone else on this site, if the seedling does survive to tree-dom, it will be several years before you see your first apple, and there is no way of knowing what it will taste like. You might have a fantastic new variety, or you might have one so tart only a pie made with lots of sugar could find a use for it. But it's fun to grow your own anyway!

If you have your own property, and have space to spare, there is no reason not to take a chance, see what it turns into.

I wouldn't advise trying to keep one potbound year 'round indoors, though. (Although if you have done Bonsai, and know when to give the plant its cold weather, you might just be able to grow a little apple tree for many a year.)

I winter sowed 4 apple seeds given to me by a neighbor and all 4 have sprouted and sent out their first true leaves. They're about 2 inches tall so as soon as I see the second set of true leaves forming, I'll pot them up to grow on.

Last night I found three in my apple and put them to the side. I went to get a small dish of water and by the time I got back to put them in, the root tips poking out were "oxidizing" much like the core will do if you leave it sitting out for a short while.

Come to think of it, reminds me of mung bean sprouts left out on the counter - they also start to turn brown. Is this a general quality of young sprout roots? If I had gotten them in the water as quickly as possible, would it still have happened?

And, finally, does anyone know if there is any hope for these three little guys going forward? I'll report back what happens.

My guess would be that the cold storage apples are put through from the time they are picked until the time they reach our grocery cart has to do with it. It's a common suggested step to give many types of seeds cold dormancy/ conditioning prior to planting, and I think this globalization system definitely has to do with it considering the distance and time the apple traveled and spent in a refrigerated environment. The apple seeds I just mentioned came from a Chilean apple!

At any rate, I think it probably means the apple is old, if anything else...