hi there, i'm obviously very new to bonsai but have always loved them.
i always had a fascination with fruiting bonsai even though i understand that the fruit generally doesnt shrink like leaves.
i was curious if many people here have tried many fruiting options and if there where any pointers. below are some apple seeds i sprouted in the fridge and will turn into bonsai later on. i have also got mandarin seeds in the fridge still and have been thinking about trying cherry seeds too.

are there better options, i'm on a maximum budget and all my seeds have been collected from fruit that we eat.
im in adelaide south australia which can have very hot dry summer seasons and cold wet winters. (never snows)

any ideas i would appreciate.

I am not sure that the statement that the fruits don't reduce in size is universially valid.

I have Apple trees with fruits less than 10 mm and olives around 3 mm.

Not totally sure how big they would be if grown unrestricted as the trees always been in pots.

If you find a variety that grow full size Apples, I would recomend cutting them off in early stage. A full size Apple takes a lot of enery from a small tree in a shallow pot.

oh my goodness apples of 10mm and olives of 3mm? thats amazing do you have any images i would love to see that. i have so many questions, how old are they, did you grow from seed, how long before they fruited too

Apples grown from seed do not come true to type. Growing from seed is not a viable option as 20 years will be needed. Crab apples are a good alternative, producing small fruit. Buy a plant of a reasonable size and grow on from there, much easier and decidedly quicker.

Well, crabapple is just a name for non eatable apples. Some big, some small. Most apple trees from seed is crabapple trees. My bonsai one as well.

My trees are both cheap garden center materials and still in early development phases. Pictures attached.

Except for these I also grow kumquat and limequat. But they are really hard to get fruits on in my conditions.

Tropfrog wrote:

Well, crabapple is just a name for non eatable apples. Some big, some small. Most apple trees from seed is crabapple trees. My bonsai one as well.

My trees are both cheap garden center materials and still in early development phases. Pictures attached.

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Except for these I also grow kumquat and limequat. But they are really hard to get fruits on in my conditions.

Maybe I'm wrong but last two pictures looks like olive to me

FrankC wrote:

Maybe I'm wrong but last two pictures looks like olive to me

Not wrong at all Frank. Indeed an olive tree.

Not that I think those reading the whole thread would think it is apples. But never wrong to clarify things.

Crab apple is a species of apple, the fruit do not grow big, that is why they are used for bonsai, the fruit is eatable makes a nice jelly/jam.

Yes, crabapple is a species of apple. All eatable apples drives from crabapple several decades ago. Eatable apples has come to be called malus domestica, but that is not correct in a strictly biological meaning. If you seed sow seeds from eatable apples most of them will turn out to be crabapples.

Crabapples and eatable apples cross breed easily and are not possible to separate into two different species in a biological meaning. There are no pure species really, therefore it is most correct to call them Malus SP all off them.

In my realtives apple plantation they graft the eatable trees on the self sown crabapple trees. Quite an old method and not the most effecient. But really the only way given the soil conditions. Planting trees would just be too hard work in the rocky soil.

With eatable I mean tasty direct from the tree. All apples are non poisonous and can be eaten. Most crabapples makes good jam or cider.

Tropfrog wrote:

Yes, crabapple is a species of apple. All eatable apples drives from crabapple several decades ago. Eatable apples has come to be called malus domestica, but that is not correct in a strictly biological meaning. If you seed sow seeds from eatable apples most of them will turn out to be crabapples.

Crabapples and eatable apples cross breed easily and are not possible to separate into two different species in a biological meaning. There are no pure species really, therefore it is most correct to call them Malus SP all off them.

In my realtives apple plantation they graft the eatable trees on the self sown crabapple trees. Quite an old method and not the most effecient. But really the only way given the soil conditions. Planting trees would just be too hard work in the rocky soil.

With eatable I mean tasty direct from the tree. All apples are non poisonous and can be eaten. Most crabapples makes good jam or cider.

Sorry, but there are dozens of malus species. stating that you get crabapples when you grow domesticated apples from seed it incorrect