Chinese chestnut question

[Bowsnbucks]

For any out there who have Chinese chestnut growing - How many years does it take until you start getting burs/nuts ??

Nurseries tend to give overly rosy time frames. I'm looking for some real-world info. Thanks guys.

 

[Native Hunter]

It's gradual. In 4 years you might get a few burs. After that the tree will just gradually get better about producing and the tree develops more in size too. In 8 or 10 years you will have a good sized tree that is dropping a lot of nuts, but the tree is still far from what it will eventually be in 10 more years after that.

 

[Persimman]

Total 2017 harvest from (1 tree each)
Edward Fort chinese chestnut planted spring '12 alleged 2 yrs old, and
Walmart Dunstan (the big nuts) planted spring '12 alleged 2 yrs old.
Trees started making a single burr the second year after planting, but this is the first significant harvest. They're in a clay field with limestone ledges, one gets 6 hr light, other 8. The Dunstan was badly damaged twice by neighbor's cows. Both are badly attacked each spring by May Beetles, who try to eat all the buds as they are expanding. This fall I did a good job of treating with imidacloprid to get it in the system before spring, and hope to have a much better harvest next yr. And, all nuts dropped by Oct 1.
I know, I know, I write too much. Love to work with my trees...

 

[Persimman]

and... 2 Dunstan planted fall '14 in rich bottom soil, 4.5 pH, 6-8 rs light, way over 15' tall but no blooms yet. Disappointing.
2 Chinese planted spring '14 on hardwood mountain side, 4.5 pH, 6 rs light, 1 at 10' other near 20 but no blooms yet. Disappointing.
2 Dunstan planted fall '14 in tiny hardwood mountain clearing, 6rs light max, haven't grown well, no blooms yet.
Overall I think the trees grow well and agressively, but absolutely need more light than what I'm getting. Not my land, so I'm cautious about cutting shaders. I put lime on all these trees. 4.5 is within their range, but I'm sure performance is better closer to 6.

 

[yoderjac]

I bought my first set of Dunstan chestnuts in the fall of 2012, cold stratified them, and started them in 18s indoors under lights in December. They were planted in the field in the spring of 2013. I've planted more of them each year since then until last year. I found keeping them over the summer in containers and planting them in the fall after transplanting to 1 and then 3 gal RB2s gave me the best results.

My trees get great care when they are in containers at home and have a fantastic growth rate (here is a thread if you are interested in growing your own: http://www.habitat-talk.com/index.p...h-rootmakers-transfered-from-qdma-forum.5556/

So, this year (2017), I got the first viable burr and chestnut on one tree. That is about 4 years from the original nut to the first offspring nut. I'm guessing it will be several more years before that tree is actually productive. I have others that are similar size that have not yet produced a nut but I would expect in the next year or so to see a few.

If you are buying bare root trees, they will likely be older when you get them, but they will suffer from transplant shock when you plant them. That usually means a year of sleep and a year of creep before they begin to grow vigorously. So, I doubt they will ahead of mine grown from seed.

I'd say 4 years without field care for your first viable nuts is possible optimistic. I'm not sure how much if any field care has on production. I will add one thing here. I have heavy clay soil which are not particularly productive, but they are acidic which chestnuts like.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[TreeDaddy]

Jack,

What is your plan for 2018 re:growing chestnuts from seed?

thanks,

bill

 

[yoderjac]

Bill,

My focus is changing and I'm on the tail end of chestnuts. I purchased some AU Buck III and IV Chinese chestnuts from the wildlife group a couple years back. They produced viable nuts on my deck the very first year. I collected those nuts and started them last year. Some of those trees didn't make it. The couple that did make it could use another growing season of care, so I'm over wintering them in my cold room and will plant them next fall.

Last winter I purchased a couple Dwarf Chinese Chestnuts (also called Sequins or Chinese Chinquapins) from the Wildlife Group. Again, I put these in 3 gal containers an grew them on my deck. They produced viable nuts on my deck this fall. I collected those and they are in cold stratification.

I have native Allegheny Chinquapins growing on my farm. I collected nuts from them this fall and they are in cold storage.

So, as far as the chestnut family goes, I plan to start all those nuts under lights this season. We will be out of town for the first of Jan this year. Since getting water right is critical with chestnuts, I decided not to start any in December. My plan is to get everything started as soon as we get back in January.

In general, I finally worked my way down the tree list far enough to get to apples last year. I started many from seed last winter and tried to graft them during the first season (aggressive I know). A few of them took and were planted this fall. The rest went into my cold room. I had issues with powdery mildew with many of the apples last season so I sprayed them good and cut them all back. I had chip budded and T-budded many of them this summer but none of the buds took off immediately. This is my first try at it and folks say sometimes the buds don't take until the next spring.

So, I plan to bring all of those apples in and put them under lights for an early wake up. Those that take will be transplanted to 3 gal RB2s. I plan to try to regraft those that don't take from the budding.

So much of my efforts this winter will go to trees started last winter, but I'll still be starting some from nuts/seed.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[yoderjac]

Bill,

I started my nuts tonight. I just thought I'd update this for you with numbers. I have 8 seguin nuts started. I have 64 Allegheny Chinquapin nuts that I started normally. I've got 7 more ACs that I'm starting in the dark. I plan to use those in a grafting experiment. I've never tried this technique but I think DLH has. It is called etiolated grafting. You grow chestnuts in the dark and when the shoots are 4" to 6" you cleft graft to them. The shoots are pretty much white since they get no light. Folks do this with chestnuts, but I'm not sure if the AC nuts are large enough to have enough stored energy for it to work. I plan to try to graft Seguin scions from my Wildlife Group trees to these light deprived ACs. I doubt it will work given the failures I've had in the past with grafting in the chestnut family. The AC nuts may not have enough energy to produce large enough shoots and sustain the plant until a graft can take and photosynthesis can begin. On top of that, while related, ACs and Seguins are not as closely related as chestnuts and Sequins.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained. If I can get it to work, my thought is that because both species produce nuts quickly the graft would as well. Rather than fielding these trees, I would keep them at home as a nut source for growing more Seguins. The trees from the Wildlife Group are small but produced nuts the first growing season after I got them. I don't know how many of the Seguins I'm starting from nuts will make it. I'll add those that do to my Wildlife Group trees for as seed stock. If any of these grafts work, I'll have a few more. Within a few years, I should be able got increase the number of Seguins I have.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Yoder - Your 1st sentence above sounds like it could be interpreted in a few ways !! Good opening line for a joke.