yoderjac
5 year old buck +
I've struggled in the past trying to figure out how to deal with planting chestnuts. One can really plant a lot of chestnuts easily directly from the 18s. I first thought this method may be the most efficient. Unlike some trees, they seem to do pretty well planted directly from 18s. My initial thought was that I could overwhelm deer this way and I would plant in high volume with no protection and just accept the losses. The problem is that rather than killing some trees and leaving others alone, it seem that deer kill very few trees, but set back almost all trees by browsing.
I also tried planting the nuts as soon as stratified, transplanting to 1 gal RB2s or 5" roottrapper bags while still indoors and then planting them with minimal protection in the spring. While these trees did well, I soon found that my low cost protection was insufficient. Bamboo stakes rotted in the ground. Central leaders often grew through the sides of the ridged plastic mesh tops I put on short tubes. They got nipped off and set back as well. I ended up remediating them with 5' plantra tubes and PVC stakes. This method takes up a lot of indoor space over the winter.
I also tried planting directly from 18s using tubes. While planting is quick, until you are done dealing with tubes and such it reduces the volume you can do and growth is good but still slower.
Another option is to wait until later to plant the nuts so they are ready to transplant from the 18s when the last frost of spring has passed and then transplant to 1 gal rb2s and keep them for the summer and plant them in the fall with full protection. It is a lot more work to plant the larger trees from 1 gals, but they establish much quicker this way and you still need protection.
So, I'm trying something new this year for a test. I did not start the nuts for this as early as I should have. I transplanted the tree to a 1 gal RB2 just before the last frost of spring. In late spring, I transplanted it to a 3 gal RB2 to maximize growth. It seems no harder to plant from a 3 gal than it is from a 1 gal. I use a tractor auger with planting from these larger containers and it is simply a matter of choosing a different bit size. The potential difference is a larger tree with the same work and protection cost. This means fewer trees per year but perhaps fewer years until they are large enough to produce nuts.
Again, this is just an experiment to test the concept but it looks promising. In my area I still have at least another month or month and a half of growing season ahead of me. Also remember I could have started this nut earlier (but again that means possibly few trees since you need more indoor space to handle 1 gal indoors than 18s).
So, here is where things stand:
The tree is currently 54" tall. Unfortunately I held the camera at an angle to the tape measure, but the actual caliper is about 1/2".
Here is what I'm considering for next year:
1) Start with 100-200 nuts.
2) Only stratify for 60 days and then plant them in 18s.
3) Transplant the top 25 trees into 1 gal RB2 in the normal 12-16 weeks.
4) Let the rest of the chestnuts stay in 18s until the weather breaks even if that means limiting growth. Then reuse the short tubes with rigid mesh tops to plant them in the spring. The only thing I would change is the stakes to PVC rather than Bamboo.
5) For the best 25, as soon as the 1 gal RB2s become limiting, I'd transplant to 3 gal RB2s. This would be earlier than with the experimental tree so presumable I would have even better growth. I'm thinking that at the end of the first growing season in the fall they would be at least 6' tall and have at least 3/4" caliper. I would then plant them with the full 5' tube protection.
I'd appreciate any thoughts...
Thanks,
Jack
I also tried planting the nuts as soon as stratified, transplanting to 1 gal RB2s or 5" roottrapper bags while still indoors and then planting them with minimal protection in the spring. While these trees did well, I soon found that my low cost protection was insufficient. Bamboo stakes rotted in the ground. Central leaders often grew through the sides of the ridged plastic mesh tops I put on short tubes. They got nipped off and set back as well. I ended up remediating them with 5' plantra tubes and PVC stakes. This method takes up a lot of indoor space over the winter.
I also tried planting directly from 18s using tubes. While planting is quick, until you are done dealing with tubes and such it reduces the volume you can do and growth is good but still slower.
Another option is to wait until later to plant the nuts so they are ready to transplant from the 18s when the last frost of spring has passed and then transplant to 1 gal rb2s and keep them for the summer and plant them in the fall with full protection. It is a lot more work to plant the larger trees from 1 gals, but they establish much quicker this way and you still need protection.
So, I'm trying something new this year for a test. I did not start the nuts for this as early as I should have. I transplanted the tree to a 1 gal RB2 just before the last frost of spring. In late spring, I transplanted it to a 3 gal RB2 to maximize growth. It seems no harder to plant from a 3 gal than it is from a 1 gal. I use a tractor auger with planting from these larger containers and it is simply a matter of choosing a different bit size. The potential difference is a larger tree with the same work and protection cost. This means fewer trees per year but perhaps fewer years until they are large enough to produce nuts.
Again, this is just an experiment to test the concept but it looks promising. In my area I still have at least another month or month and a half of growing season ahead of me. Also remember I could have started this nut earlier (but again that means possibly few trees since you need more indoor space to handle 1 gal indoors than 18s).
So, here is where things stand:
The tree is currently 54" tall. Unfortunately I held the camera at an angle to the tape measure, but the actual caliper is about 1/2".
Here is what I'm considering for next year:
1) Start with 100-200 nuts.
2) Only stratify for 60 days and then plant them in 18s.
3) Transplant the top 25 trees into 1 gal RB2 in the normal 12-16 weeks.
4) Let the rest of the chestnuts stay in 18s until the weather breaks even if that means limiting growth. Then reuse the short tubes with rigid mesh tops to plant them in the spring. The only thing I would change is the stakes to PVC rather than Bamboo.
5) For the best 25, as soon as the 1 gal RB2s become limiting, I'd transplant to 3 gal RB2s. This would be earlier than with the experimental tree so presumable I would have even better growth. I'm thinking that at the end of the first growing season in the fall they would be at least 6' tall and have at least 3/4" caliper. I would then plant them with the full 5' tube protection.
I'd appreciate any thoughts...
Thanks,
Jack
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