Chestnuts and QDM

[wbpdeer]

Rocksnstumps, you have helped me make up my mind to make in to 102 years old so I can eat a chestnut under a tree like that at my place. I'm halfway to it already. Thanks for the inspiration!

Merle I am sad to say I will be eating those chestnuts before you are when counting BDs.

 

[MoBuckChaser]

I have helped many individuals start growing chestnuts for the first time. The info below is what I share with them. Most of us learn the hard way. This information should aid most beginners.


What Kills Our Chestnuts When We Try to Grow Them?

#1 Main Killer is Moisture! We over water them. We think Miracle Grow with Moisture Control has to work - look who is selling it. More chestnuts will rot before they break soil than a first timer would ever guess.

#2 Wrong Type of Growing Medium - We don't need soil & we don't need moisture control. Chestnuts like to get to the point of dry before they like water. Using the right growing medium helps the roots and allows us to learn what watering plan works. Roots need air for oxygen and they need space to grow.

#3 Mold Kills - We put them in airtight container with no chance to breath & we put too much moisture inside the container.

#4 Sunlight & Heat Kills - We collect chestnuts but we put them somewhere and forget about them. When a chestnut is collected - get it cleaned and inspected to see if it is a firm chestnut with no rattling in the hull. Leaving them in a hot vehicle for a week after collecting - just reduces our chances.

#5 Chestnuts Smell Good to Critters. Chipmunks, Squirrels, Rabbits, Deer, Turkeys, field mice, etc. Our chestnuts get killed because we don't protect them. If you plant a chestnut in the wild outdoors - you better protect it for a couple of years. Better to plant 5 trees well than plant 50 trees without protection.

#6 Chestnut get killed / setback by sunlight. Grown inside means we must gently push them into the sunlight. Baby steps required here. I use a pine tree that protect them from mid day and pm sun. My seedlings get early morning sun. Worked well until the squirrels made a raid.

#7 Lack of Moisture During Dog Days of Summer. Depending on your containers and location, in July and August if you go three or four days without watering seedlings that have many leaves, you can lose all of your work. Shade cloths are what nurseries use and they water twice a day.

#8 Chestnut Seedling is in Perfect Health then it gets planted in the wrong location. Sunlight is the power plant that generates the chestnut seed. We have to get pollinated by another chestnut tree that is nearby. Location of tree and proximity to other trees matter. We avoid stream sides due to risk to standing water during certain months.

#9 Negligent will kill. Every two or three days you better check on chestnuts under grow lights. In summer heat, you better water at reasonable intervals for your climate. I like to feel of the chestnut leaves with my eyes closed. What does the touch tell me? If you check ten seedlings - one of them may really need some water while the other nine show no stress.

Folks I am not an expert. I am motivated to accomplish my goal - improve my deer's habitat. It is certain I left something off the list above. I just wrote the hard lessons I have learned. If you like to cut corners - your success rate will go down. Mine did until I wised up.

I love your list! I am one of those guys that has learned the hard way with chestnuts. But Have been able to keep 80 out of 100 planted 5 years ago alive so far!

 

[wbpdeer]

80 out of 100 after 5 years is remarkable success. Too many people think once planted - we good with a mature tree to follow. Nature ain't that kind.

MoBuckChaser are the 80 on the same farm in an orchard style or spread around here and there?

 

[MoBuckChaser]

80 out of 100 after 5 years is remarkable success. Too many people think once planted - we good with a mature tree to follow. Nature ain't that kind.

MoBuckChaser are the 80 on the same farm in an orchard style or spread around here and there?

Planted 90 in tubes, big mistake as the mice have been building nests in the tubes and cutting the trees off above ground level. We are now caging the trees and screening the bottoms, shitcanning the tubes.

 

[MoBuckChaser]

We do have some that still look good in the tubes in the back yard. We are in the process of putting 16' cattle panels around every tree on this farm. The deer were pushing over every tree and eating the tops sticking out! Here is a little video of some of the trees.

 

[jaximus]

gonna have to look into Red Fern Farm and get more into on the Benton Harbors. i have 5 in the ground (planted from 1 gallon original rootmakers) and 7 still in one gals waiting to be bumped to 3 gallons. probably going to do that next week. im most likely too far north for any sustained success, but im giving it a try. i plan to overwinter the 7 still in containers at my house so that when they hit their first northern wisconsin winter they will have had 2 growing seasons. next years batch of nuts will have a much easier go of it, i learned quite a bit with this being my first year trying them.

my brothers property is mostly wild pines and shrubs with some pockets of aspen surrounded by ag fields. no hard mast trees for miles, but we have some good deer around. weve started bur/white/red oaks from acorns and bareroots, but we know its going to be a long time... hence trying chestnuts. we also have some pear trees, an apple orchard and a large chunk of dogwood cuttings going. chestnuts give me a good cabin fever medication.

 

[kabic]

When chestnuts start to get a sort of bronze color to the top leaves, is that too much water?

I think with some recent rains my 2 trees were a little too wet...I moved them to a sunnier location to dry out faster.

 

[yoderjac]

When chestnuts start to get a sort of bronze color to the top leaves, is that too much water?

I think with some recent rains my 2 trees were a little too wet...I moved them to a sunnier location to dry out faster.

I'm not sure what you mean by your description. A pic would help. Chestnuts naturally can have some red in their stems and new leaves. The combination of red, brown and green may look bronze to you. If the leaves look healthy otherwise, I wouldn't worry. If the leaves are curling or turning brown or dry, you may have a problem.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[kabic]

 

[wbpdeer]

View attachment 9772 View attachment 9773

Your chestnuts are healthy. Many times new growth shows up red, reddish or may a tint of brown. That is new growth - which is a great thing to have.

Don't fertilize them anymore this calendar year. That forces a growth spurt and it will not harden off before cold temperatures hit. Die back in your northern location can cause issues.

What I see in your photo is a good sign - nothing bad about that. :)

 

[yoderjac]

Wayne is right. That is a very normal looking chestnut.

 

[Shedder]

When chestnuts start to get a sort of bronze color to the top leaves, is that too much water?

An adaption to browsing pressure, I believe, and have read. Mine do it plus many other trees do it. Deer don't see red so the trees try to hide new growth.

 

[MN_Chestnut]

I have two and three year old chestnuts growing northwest of Duluth, MN They do suffer some dye back, but I have some that are nearly pushing out of a 5' tube.

I would say that I have about a 50% mortality rate. Spring planting is much more succesful than fall planting for me

 

[Redonthehead]

Here's a pic of Dunstans' in their fourth year since direct seeding. They have not been coddled. A couple put on a burr this year.

 

[yoderjac]

Here's a pic of Dunstans' in their fourth year since direct seeding. They have not been coddled. A couple put on a burr this year.

Very nice!. Those look like very healthy trees. It wouldn't surprise me if they are getting close to producing the first nuts.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[MN_Chestnut]

Did you have any in the ground over the winters of '12-'13 or '13-'14? I even lost all of mine but one last winter due to lack of insulating snow cover when it hit -20

May of '14 was the first year I put any in the ground. Planting in the spring has been more successful then fall or late summer planting