Nut Grafting American Chestnuts - Transferred from QDMA Forums

[yoderjac]

After reading the articles (listed below) on nut grafting American Chestnuts, since I had all the ingredients, I decided to give it a go. This thread is to report on what I did and on what the results were.
http://www.accf-online.org/chestnut/nutgrafting.htm
http://www2.volstate.edu/tnchestnut/...ingbasics2.pdf
http://mdtacf.org/linksfiles/Mayfiel...20Mar%2007.pdf
On March 24, 2013, I started with an exacto knife, fresh cut scions (last year's growth) from my two American Chestnut trees, and germinated nuts from the same trees.

I cut the ends off the nuts, cut the scions in sections with one bud each, and cut wedges on the bottom ends of the pieces of the scions. I then cut into each nut bisecting the petioles (round circles in roughly the center of the nut). The petioles were (before being cut) connecting the root to the two cotyledons.

I then firmly inserted the scions into the nuts. It would have been better to not have the cuts go all the way to the outsides of the nuts but I didn't have a square-ended exacto knife blade. In a couple of cases I used airplane glue to seal the scion in place.

I wrapped the grafts in squeezed-damp paper towels, placed them in a sealed sandwich baggie, and placed them in a desk drawer at a room temperature of 70 degrees. I had them on their sides but should have had them verticle so the roots would grow down away from the bud end.

In about three weeks the petioles regrow outward forming stubs. This picture was taken on April 4, 2013. Cauliflower-like knobs form at the ends of the petiole stubs and the new roots grow from the knobs! The center graft has a root starting while the right graft shows well-developed petiole knobs.

Once the roots have started to grow I planted the grafts in peat moss in biodegradeable pots. The roots are buried just below the surface while the scion with bud is left exposed. I watered with rain water and placed them in indirect sunlight inside of a sealed baggie at room temperature. Every day or two I opened the baggie to let in fresh air and to check moisture levels, watering when necessary. This picture was taken on April 5, 2013.

On April 9, 2013, I have my first swelling bud!

A great way to propagate a blight resistant American chestnut right there!!

By April 14, 2013, the bud had burst and four leaves had rapidly grown. When the bud first burst open I placed the graft where it could get full sunlight for as much of the day as I could manage, most of the time inside but some of the time outside.

What advantage does this technnique give the tree? I guess you would get the traits of the tree you got scion wood from, but will it grow any better or produce faster than a seed tree. It's very interesting either way please keep us posted

On April 20, 2013, I transplanted the first budded graft into a two-gallon root maker pot. Here I show the root development.

And here is the transplanted graft.

Ultimately I got 6 grafts to take out of 12 tries. One didn't bud out for over two months! Below is a picture of 5 transplanted grafts taken on May 6, 2013. By now they are receiving full sun and a periodic watering with rain water. I'm using Miracle Grow Potting Mixture with a light monthly supplement of acid-type fertilizer.

The same plants on May 29, 2013.

And again on July 13, 2013.

Since the above picture there has been very little additional leaf growth, however, the stems have continued to put on girth and I'm sure the roots have continued to grow. Below I show a close-up of the stem and root interface structure as of August 5, 2013. One question I have is how do these turn into trees? So far the grafts are growing like limbs, i.e. they seem to prefer horizontal growth. The buds did not open up and grow straight up. Some hormone for vertical growth must turn on at some point. Anyone out there have any experience with this?

Quote:
==================================
Originally Posted by Hardwoodshall
What advantage does this technnique give the tree? I guess you would get the traits of the tree you got scion wood from, but will it grow any better or produce faster than a seed tree. It's very interesting either way please keep us posted
==================================
First, you produce a clone of the original tree so it has all the exact same characteristics of the original tree. So if the original were blight resistant the clone would be too. Second, it seems possible that since (as I pointed out in my last post above) these clones seem to think they are branches they might "bloom" much earlier than a seed tree. That is essentially my question about what hormones will be in control of the future growth. This is my first try at this so I honestly don't know. In the articles I cited they show small cloned trees but I can't remember if anything was said about when to expect nut production.

Very cool!!!

Yea that's definately cool.

Quote:
==================================
Originally Posted by indianasam44
First, you produce a clone of the original tree so it has all the exact same characteristics of the original tree. So if the original were blight resistant the clone would be too. Second, it seems possible that since (as I pointed out in my last post above) these clones seem to think they are branches they might "bloom" much earlier than a seed tree. That is essentially my question about what hormones will be in control of the future growth. This is my first try at this so I honestly don't know. In the articles I cited they show small cloned trees but I can't remember if anything was said about when to expect nut production.
==================================
Also, it can be a great way to get future scion wood off those nut grafts if many of a certain chestnut are needed.
Be a great way to spread around a blight resistant chestnut.

 

[yoderjac]

Outstanding! Thanks for posting this thread!

Could you also use this technique to turn Chinese chestnuts into dunstans? I would love to get some dunstan seeds and try to grow them but they are pretty hard to find but I have a couple young dunstans planted and this may allowe to grow them on Chinese chestnut roots. Would this severely alter thefo or charachteristics of the tree if I put it on Chinese chestnut rootstock?

Outstanding Thread!

Quote:
==================================
Originally Posted by Hardwoodshall
Could you also use this technique to turn Chinese chestnuts into dunstans? I would love to get some dunstan seeds and try to grow them but they are pretty hard to find but I have a couple young dunstans planted and this may allowe to grow them on Chinese chestnut roots. Would this severely alter thefo or charachteristics of the tree if I put it on Chinese chestnut rootstock?
==================================
If that is the result you want, you don't need these emerging techniques. You can simply graft Dunstan scions to full Chinese rootstock using traditional techniques. I bought 200 Dunstan seeds last year and hope to buy about twice that this year. You just need to find someone with a mature tree willing to go pick them up.

Quote:
==================================
Originally Posted by Hardwoodshall
Could you also use this technique to turn Chinese chestnuts into dunstans? I would love to get some dunstan seeds and try to grow them but they are pretty hard to find but I have a couple young dunstans planted and this may allowe to grow them on Chinese chestnut roots. Would this severely alter thefo or charachteristics of the tree if I put it on Chinese chestnut rootstock?
==================================
No to the first question. The tree that grows is a clone of the scion, i.e. it's identical to the tree the scion was cut from, while the roots that grow have the characteristics the seed. This process is not the same as cross pollination between two species of trees so you could not get a Dunstan this way.
For the second question, I should have mentioned that in one of the articles referenced above the author states that nut grafting between American scions and Chinese nuts rarely, if ever, works. There is apparently some incompatibility between their tissues. I don't know if the same problem would exist if a Dunstan nut were used.

Very cool thread Sam, keep us posted on how they grow! It will be very interesting to see if/when they start their verticle growth!

Quote:
==================================
Originally Posted by indianasam44
No to the first question. The tree that grows is a clone of the scion, i.e. it's identical to the tree the scion was cut from, while the roots that grow have the characteristics the seed. This process is not the same as cross pollination between two species of trees so you could not get a Dunstan this way.
For the second question, I should have mentioned that in one of the articles referenced above the author states that nut grafting between American scions and Chinese nuts rarely, if ever, works. There is apparently some incompatibility between their tissues. I don't know if the same problem would exist if a Dunstan nut were used.
==================================
My bad. I did not realize they were not compatible. It is unusual for trees this closely related not to accept scions from the other. Since a Dunstan is a cross between an American and Chinese, I wonder if this would still have a low success rate?

How old is this technique?
Does it work on acorns? I couldn't find that it did.
If it does it would be good for cloning good seed producers. I have read oaks are hard to clone although I am not sure of the context intended.

All of the nut graphs have lost their leaves and I thought were preparing themselves for the long winter when much to my surprise about three weeks ago one of the buds swelled, then burst open, and today (Oct. 12) looks like this! Yes, those are minature catkins!!! What will the next surprise be?!?

I know Joe Schibig (vol state) he was one of my Biology professors, He knows what he is doing, and has great success with his grafts. I have been to his farm and seen his trees. It works.
Good luck!

Amazing! Cant wait to give this a shot i have a single american that was planted 15 or so years ago and hasnt produced yet ill take scions off of that and try it.Can you tell me the best time to cut the scions please?

Quote:
==================================
Originally Posted by NYHUNTER
Amazing! Cant wait to give this a shot i have a single american that was planted 15 or so years ago and hasnt produced yet ill take scions off of that and try it.Can you tell me the best time to cut the scions please?
==================================
The scions must be totally dormant. Anytime in January or February will do. Just wrap the scions in a damp paper towel, put them in a sealed ziploc bag, and store in the vegetable crisper. They will keep under these conditions for a very long time. Carefully note that the nut must be of the same chestnut variety as the scion, i.e. American nut for American scion, Chinese nut for Chinese scion, etc. Note also that a clone will NOT be able to pollinate the tree it was cloned from because it still has the same genetics! The genetics of the nut will play no roll in the ultimate reproductive genetics of the scion.

Ok great ill have to cut some in January then.My property is next to Herbert Darlings in Zoar Valley,NY you may have heard of him he is the president of the American Chestnut Foundation i think this tree may have originated from one of his trees he had a live american chestnut growing on his property in the 80s it has since died though from
blight.I was a teenager when my father planted this tree as well as 4 others that didnt make it but this one is around 20 ft tall and doing well we had forgotten about it for several years until i was cutting a new trail for deer last spring and saw an old tree tube laying on the ground broke in half (the growth blew the tube right off) i looked up and there it was i have since released it from shade and put a cage on it
Do you think a Dunstan nut would work cause it has American in it or does it have to be
pure?

Quote:
==================================
Originally Posted by shedder
How old is this technique?
Does it work on acorns? I couldn't find that it did.
If it does it would be good for cloning good seed producers. I have read oaks are hard to clone although I am not sure of the context intended.
==================================
I'm curios about oaks as well has anyone tried this I may this year just to see how it goes.

Neat stuff.
Has anyone tried it on oaks?

Quote:
==================================
Originally Posted by indianasam44
Since the above picture there has been very little additional leaf growth, however, the stems have continued to put on girth and I'm sure the roots have continued to grow. Below I show a close-up of the stem and root interface structure as of August 5, 2013. One question I have is how do these turn into trees? So far the grafts are growing like limbs, i.e. they seem to prefer horizontal growth. The buds did not open up and grow straight up. Some hormone for vertical growth must turn on at some point. Anyone out there have any experience with this?
==================================
You may just have to stake them straight for a couple years. As the wood hardens they'll stay that way and probably start growing upright on their own.

Quote:
==================================
Originally Posted by MDTrees
Neat stuff.
Has anyone tried it on oaks?
==================================
Not that I know of if all goes as planned I am going to try inverted radicle grafting oaks I think it would be more succesful than nut grafting from a person I emailed that was having better success with inverted radicle grafting then nut grafting in chestnuts. One benefit of the radicle root graft is if it fails it will send up a shoot that can be grafted later nut grafting failures don't recover like that though.

 

[yoderjac]

END TRANSFER FROM QDMA FORUMS