Growing Chestnut Trees from Chestnuts - Transferred from QDMA forum

[yoderjac]

I just wanted to follow up on this carrot root thing for others who have had chestnuts or ACs suddenly get "crispy" where all of the leave dry out. I kept this tree growing and was careful with water not to make things worse. I culled it today, but here is what it looked like:

The top growth looks pretty good considering. But here is the interesting thing:

You can still see the "carrot root", but unlike last time when there were only one or two lateral roots coming from the carrot root, we now have a nice root ball starting to form with good secondary and tertiary rooting.

Here is my theory:

Some kind of disease pathogen infects the tree and is likely encouraged by damp conditions. The symptom is a swollen root like a carrot with very few lateral roots. The top growth looks fairly normal and is fed by the nut. Finally, the nut runs out of energy and the tree is unbalanced between the meager root system and substantial top growth. The root system simply can't support the top growth.

The potential cure:

First, minimize the chances of it happening by good watering procedures. Keep an eye on your trees, and when you first see leaves starting to get crispy, find a couple nice buds low in the stem, and cut the stem just above the bud as you would when pruning. Remove all remaining leaves from the tree. Be very careful with water.

Without top growth to support, the root system can begin to try to heal. The pruning has brought the tree back into balance. I wish I had taken a picture of it in the "crispy" state. Next year, I'm sure I'll screw up and see this condition again. If I do, I'll grab a picture then.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[Knehrke]

Your experience mimics mine exactly. The main source of "crispy" leaves for me has been, counter-intuitively, over watering. In ~half the cases I've been able to trim back to the stem and the trees recovered over the course of the summer, with great root balls for fall planting. In the other half, I've found carrot root even after pruning and the trees were eventually sac'd.

 

[yoderjac]

Your experience mimics mine exactly. The main source of "crispy" leaves for me has been, counter-intuitively, over watering. In ~half the cases I've been able to trim back to the stem and the trees recovered over the course of the summer, with great root balls for fall planting. In the other half, I've found carrot root even after pruning and the trees were eventually sac'd.

Yep, I'm guessing it is a function of how early we catch them and how bad the infection is. As I say, I culled the tree in question, but it was a good learning experience. My guess is that these trees will never be as good as a tree that was never infected.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[yoderjac]

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