Acorn/Chestnut/Other indoor growing

[tinytim]

those chestnut pictures look almost alien! seems like you guys are well on the way to years of chestnuts ahead. My persimmons are germinating. This is my first try with tree seeds so I am encouraged, I have potted up over 50 of the date plum persimmon so far. None of them are out of the ground yet. I have not had a single American persimmon germinate yet, and I have lost at least 100 to mold so far, a couple hundred remaining so am hopeful they just need more time. These were the first ones to sprout.

 

[tinytim]

I am up to over 100 date plum persimmons sprouted and potted up, a few are breaking through the soil. Only 3 of the American persimmon seeds have sprouted, so I may need to try again next year on them.

I also was lucky enough to receive some stratified and germinated yellow crab apple seeds, they arrived looking very good, and I potted them up immediately and put them under the lights. There were lots of seeds left in the moss so I put them back in the fridge to see if I can get a few more to go.

 

[mthompson]

So, I've noticed that the Yellow Buckeye seedlings have been dwindling and some of the Chestnut (the ones that didn't germinate well) are having a rough go of it.

I pulled the Buckeyes, and yep.... Fungus gnat larvae have eaten their roots up bad, and what's left is rotten.

I cleaned those pots out and put some more Burr Oak that finally germinated in them. I'll be watering them with Mosquito dunks and maybe sprinkle a crushed one over the surface of all the pots I have in the house. Mosquito dunks are a specific bacteria, Bacillus thuringiensis var. israeliensis (Bti)... Bacteria grows in the gut of the larvae and paralyzes the innards... Larvae can no longer eat and die.

I also dusted the plant leaves with some Garden Dust (copper & rotenone) to get any adults before they can lay more eggs. I'll set some yellow Vaseline card traps too... Adults will flock to the yellow cards and get stuck to them.

I've never had so many issues growing things as these dang trees!

 

[tinytim]

Oh no, fungus gnats. Amazing how something so small and insignificant can wipe out a lot of time and effort. Hope you can get them under control before they chomp the roots off. I used to have yellow sticky's everywhere and ended up going with a systemic, i can't remember which one, "plant shield" i think it was called to finally eradicate them.
I have had some success with my indoor growing. Had close to 150 date plum persimmon seeds germinate, and have over 30 little guys coming, most of the seeds died out before breaking through the soil, but i am focusing on the success! I have only 3 ammerican persimmons that have come up, hope they are not all male!

And my little crab apples are off to the races! quite a few of them fizzled out, and a few others seemed to get stuck in the seed coat and died, despite my best efforts to free them. These guys seem to be really putting on so that's encouraging. I have brought the rest of the crab apple seeds out of the fridge in the hopes of getting a few more to pop, there are still a lot of seeds.

 

[mthompson]

Oh no, fungus gnats. Amazing how something so small and insignificant can wipe out a lot of time and effort. Hope you can get them under control before they chomp the roots off. I used to have yellow sticky's everywhere and ended up going with a systemic, i can't remember which one, "plant shield" i think it was called to finally eradicate them.

I looked for the mosquito dunks, but couldn't find any....apparently there is no need to stock in WI during winter months.

I ended up getting a systemic for indoor potted plants that listed fungus gnats. I had yellow stickies out and never caught a single gnat, but I can see a few flying around the plants here and there. And the larvae are definitely fungus gnats.

So far, the Buckeyes took them the worst, only one survived and it is looking rough. Then the Am Chestnuts, which seem to be about as susceptible. Then Red Oaks seem like maybe a couple got chewed on enough to set them back....and the Burr Oaks look like they were never bothered by them at all.

I have more Am Chestnuts that I pulled out, and will get some more to germinate and replace all the hurting trees.

 

[chickenlittle]

I have a couple trays of RM 18 going with Chinese chestnuts. However I direct seeded 45 over the weekend which was always my plan. I put 2 nuts each in a tin can/18" mesh tube. If any of those fail, I will replace with the indoor started ones in June and plant out the rest of the indoor trees then.

 

[NorthPotter]

First batch started 1/24, and 1/30. Second batch started 2/13, and 2/20. Some are 12 weeks and others are only 6-9 weeks. I get frost through the end of may up North so I bring these along slow since I can't plant these until June at the earliest. I was 48 for 50 in the racks.

The nuts with late radicle are the tubes within buckets. Plus I thinned a few tubes from the racks into the buckets. Today I transplanted the most developed seedlings into larger containers.

Most seedlings are nuts from Hybrid American x Hybrid American cross. Also have about 8 wild American seedlings whose parent trees show blight tolerance and produce burrs every year. These are about the closest I am going to get to pure PA Americans,... just using the 'boots on the ground' method to find trees and secure the nuts.

 

[Merle Hawggard]

First batch started 1/24, and 1/30. Second batch started 2/13, and 2/20. Some are 12 weeks and others are only 6-9 weeks. I get frost through the end of may up North so I bring these along slow since I can't plant these until June at the earliest. I was 48 for 50 in the racks.

The nuts with late radicle are the tubes within buckets. Plus I thinned a few tubes from the racks into the buckets. Today I transplanted the most developed seedlings into larger containers.

Most seedlings are nuts from Hybrid American x Hybrid American cross. Also have about 8 wild American seedlings whose parent trees show blight tolerance and produce burrs every year. These are about the closest I am going to get to pure PA Americans,... just using the 'boots on the ground' method to find trees and secure the nuts.

They look great, you're on your way to quite the chestnut forest. Do you have any older american trees? I've been planting nuts since 06 from the ACCF and while I have several smaller trees, I only have one that's made in long term so far. It's roughly 18', hope it blooms this year.

 

[NorthPotter]

They look great, you're on your way to quite the chestnut forest. Do you have any older american trees? I've been planting nuts since 06 from the ACCF and while I have several smaller trees, I only have one that's made in long term so far. It's roughly 18', hope it blooms this year.

MH, last week I replied to you on my mobile,.. but I don't see where it posted. sorry.
I have a few that are almost 10' but not anything at 18' yet. I do hope your larger tree blooms this year.

 

[Merle Hawggard]

MH, last week I replied to you on my mobile,.. but I don't see where it posted. sorry.
I have a few that are almost 10' but not anything at 18' yet. I do hope your larger tree blooms this year.

I'll get a pic of it when I go up there next week. I did go check on it last week and it was growing like a weed and looked healthy. It had a blight canker back in 2011 that has about healed over. I had a sister tree that got it that year and died above the ground. It's only 5' or so after I cut it back.

 

[tinytim]

Not sure how I missed those chestnuts, they look great. I have about 25 persimmons that have made it so far, but I have lost quite a few. It seems that only the first few seeds that germinated turned into good little seedlings, and any seeds that took a while failed, or are failing. Also a shot of the 3 little crab apple seedlings that made it, the rest died or just failed to grow well, I am glad to have these 3. Our last frost date here is the first week of June, so they will be going out in the next 2-3 weeks

 

[NorthPotter]

good stuff TT. The crab on the far right is also having rooting issues. Sometimes they send out new/additional roots and recover. Other times they just don't make it. If you can transition them into some sunlight this time of year that will help.