How to Grow Hedge Apples

Hedge apples are thick, pulpy fruits of the Osage Orange tree. Osage Orange trees can grow up to 50 feet tall. These trees were used as fencing before the invention of barbed wire because of their thick branches and large thorns. Today, they are considered something of a nuisance, because their broken thorns can cause injury to people and livestock have been known to choke on the hedge apples. Hedge apples are wrinkled and green, and contain numerous seeds. The seeds are the only part of the fruit that is edible.

Things You'll Need

• Large pots
• Compost or manure
• Sandy soil
• Osage Orange seeds
• Refrigerator
• Saran Wrap
• All-purpose fertilizer

Instructions

1. Prepare several large pots with a mixture of compost or manure and sandy soil. Since only female Osage Orange trees will provide hedge apples, you must grow several trees to increase the odds that one of your sprouts will be female.

2. Select a large, ripe hedge apple that has fallen from a mature Osage Orange tree. Hedge apples do not fall until they have matured and are ripe. Only ripe hedge apples produce seeds capable of germinating.

3. Slice open the hedge apple and remove the pulp of the fruit containing the seeds. Place the pulp into a small container in your refrigerator for four to six weeks. This stratifies the seeds to ensure that dormant seeds are "awakened" and will sprout.

4. Dig a small hole about 2 inches deep in each of the pots of compost and soil.

5. Remove the container from the refrigerator and separate equal parts of the pulp. Place the pulp into the holes in the pots of compost. You do not have to separate the seeds from the pulp, and each pot will contain multiple seeds. Cover the pulp with a half-inch of soil.

6. Cover the pots with Saran Wrap and place them in indirect sunlight. This seals in moisture and helps the seeds to germinate.

7. Water the seeds once a week and wait for them to sprout. If the weather outside is below 40 degrees, bring your pots of Osage Orange seeds into the house or a greenhouse to germinate. Osage Orange sprouts do not fare well in very cold temperatures.

8. Provide the young seedlings with plenty of sunlight once they begin to sprout. You may place the pots near a window inside or outdoors in a partially shaded area.

9. Transplant the young Osage Orange trees into the ground as soon as the trees reach a height of 1 to 2 feet. Although cold weather can be detrimental to seedlings, once Osage Orange trees begin to grow they have a greater resilience when faced with either extreme heat or the occasional freeze.

10. Provide your growing Osage Orange trees with standard all-purpose fertilizer once each season until they reach maturity in roughly four years. Once the trees are mature, any female trees you have will begin to bud and produce hedge apples.

References

• Osage Orange
• Osage Orange