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Comment by lopis | Hacker News Reader

Most fruits, like apples and avocados, don't grow true to seed. The characteristics of the fruits of the seedlings or a tree are practically random. If your plant 10 seeds from the same apple, you'll get 10 trees with totally different apples, and most likely they will all be inedible. The chance of getting a viable apple is 1 in tens of thousands.

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Do you mean inedible as in indigestible, will make you sick, or taste awful? Do you mean viable as in produces any fruit, produces edible fruit, or produces enjoyable fruit. I'm familiar with crab apples. But I'm curious in what the avocado equivalent of a crab apple is and what it's characterics are.

People are always quick to parrot this old thing, but I think it's propaganda. Apple seeds will absolutely produce edible fruit. Most is fine for eating, and if it's too sour, it'll make fine sauce or cider. Crab apples are a different species from domesticated apples. The apples we eat come from Asia originally, where crab apples are worldwide. Different parents.

I live in an old farming community and there are hundreds of feral apples around here. I've tasted dozens of them and have yet to find one that was not edible or even delicious.

Modern apples (most fruit really) are selected for transport and keeping. Not flavour or edibility.

> "Most likely they will all be inedible"

I beg to differ. There are hundreds of feral apple trees around here — old farming community — and I have yet to find one that is inedible. Most are delicious.

Also, what do you mean by "viable"? Even if an apple is too tart for fresh eating, it will often make a great pie, sauce, or cider apple.

The apple varieties we're all familiar with are selected for transport and keeping. A commercial selection. Not flavour or sugar.

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