Chestnuts

buckdeer1

5 year old buck +
I have around half dozen or so planted,some from Chestnut Hills and some from a Chestnut farm in Oklahoma. They are doing ok.They seem to grow fairly slow first year or 2 and I have 1 that is probably 5 and is producing.I have an acre of food plot that I am thinking about planting to trees. I have apples,pears and asian pears now and like fruit trees but the fruit is gone by middle of October. Does anyone have a chestnut orchard? I usually plant 4 acres of soybeans and then overseed in winter wheat.I also have my ag fields all around the timber and food plot/orchard.
 
I’d get some latter dropping fruit tree verities or even maybe some AU Buck III’s or AU Buck IV chestnuts from Wildlife Group if your wanting latter dropping chestnuts.

Kieffer
Dr Deer

Arkansas Black
Enterprise
Sundance

Just some examples
 
The great thing about chestnuts is that they typically bud out a lot later than the last frost, so you are more likely to get nuts on any given year. I think chestnuts are just overall much easier to grow. There are a number of YouTube channels that people have documented planting chestnut orchards for wildlife. The first one that comes to mind is called lake Erie chestnuts.
 
Thanks I am still in process of deciding.Do you think that Chestnut hills has the best chestnuts and what difference between other them and other chestnut orchards
 
I personally think just going with straight Chinese chestnuts is better than the Dunstan’s lots of slick marketing but from my reading they are lower on chestnut production and for wildlife it’s all about production and drop time if your planning to hunt the trees.
 
What orchard sells the chinese chestnut
 
The great thing about chestnuts is that they typically bud out a lot later than the last frost, so you are more likely to get nuts on any given year. I think chestnuts are just overall much easier to grow. There are a number of YouTube channels that people have documented planting chestnut orchards for wildlife. The first one that comes to mind is called lake Erie chestnuts.
Lake erie chestnuts is about an hour from me. Never heard of them before. I may have to take a little drive there this summer.
 
Wildlife Group
Red Fern Farm(pick up only)
I’m sure there are lots of others vendors as well most places will be sold out of everything this time of year.
 
I'm primarily a hickory/pecan/oak guy, but have had some Dunstan seedlings growing here for 20+ yrs. As others have indicated... slick marketing... and they probably have little or no American genetics in them... mostly, if not all Chinese.
James Nave recently posted the linked pdf on one of the FB chestnut pages. Aimed mainly at commercial, and to some degree, home growers, but may have some points that are of applicable to wildlife habitat producers.
 

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Keep in mind that Dunston is both a patented variety name as well as a trade name by chestnut hill. The Dunstan variety does indeed have American genetics. Most of what we see sold as "Dunstan" is the trade name. Unless a tree is grafted from the Dunstan variety, we don't know the genetics. Since chestnuts don't self-pollinate, trees grown from seed under the Dunstan trade name are really better described as progeny of Dunstan variety. So, we don't really know 50% of the genetics.

They do have a few characteristics like dropping from the husk that seem to be true to seed and may be beneficial for wildlife. I would say they are no better or worse than Chinese chestnuts for wildlife. Other than being over priced because of the marketing, there is nothing wrong with them. I grew mine from seed, so cost was not an issue.

Thanks,

Jack
 
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I have 2 CHO Dunstans and 1 Chinese from Edward Fort Nurs in an open field. Been bearing now for several years. '21 we had poor pollination and we still weighed / sold 55 lbs. The Dunstan nuts are much bigger, and always drop 2 weeks later than the EFN. I don't care about the size, just saying that's what it is. I have planted a few other Chinese in the past few years and this spring put in 3 alleged Americans. That puts me at 10 total. These are all at my house. Future owners can have fun collecting/selling them, or just let them lie. I've strategized a variety of fruit/nut drop times to feed potential farm animals, same as my strategy in the woods. But we rarely have deer at the house, dependent on cover left on surrounding farmland. I got started with CHO Dunstans because I couldn't find any local sellers of wildlife trees, and at that point had never tried mail order. The WalMart distribution got me involved. Initially they would sell out in a day, and I was always calling to check and even making extra trips to check in person. First year I missed it, next year got a couple, next year missed it. Nowadays they don't sell as fast. One store carried inventory all summer. If you're only planting a few, and you're already an old guy, CHO trees from Wal-Mart are a good choice. My CHO trees bear after 3 yrs, and bear well at 5. I think chestnut orchards are great for harvest or wildlife.
 
Thanks I have 8 or so right now but only is old enough to produce.Thinking about planting 10 more
 
I got energetic this last fall and bought some nuts from Chestnut Ridge and also two varieties from ebay where someone picked them up from their fruiting trees. Overall, I had about 250 nuts in the fridge over winter and started them in pots around the last week of March. I may have bitten off more than I can chew but I am out moving pots around under the grow lights constantly and trying to get them acclimated to outside now, here and there. I will report back later on how this all works out. Can’t hurt to dream, can it?
 
I got energetic this last fall and bought some nuts from Chestnut Ridge and also two varieties from ebay where someone picked them up from their fruiting trees. Overall, I had about 250 nuts in the fridge over winter and started them in pots around the last week of March. I may have bitten off more than I can chew but I am out moving pots around under the grow lights constantly and trying to get them acclimated to outside now, here and there. I will report back later on how this all works out. Can’t hurt to dream, can it?
I started about 120 Dunstans from Chestnut Ridge in late November in the fridge. I was blown away by the germination percentage and now have about 100 chestnut seedlings. Next year I will probably do a few other varieties, so if you have any success with them, please let us all know.
 
I bought 5lbs of Chinese Chestnuts last fall to eat some I had never in my life even tasted one. They where ok nothing great to me anyway I had way more than we where interested in eating so I put them in the fridge not one of them produced a radical. I think the gal I got them from maybe microwaved them to maybe sterilize them from weavels or something I don’t know for sure. I did receive a few from another member here and I got my hands on 5 American and 20 that could possibly be American. I’ve got most of those in RT18’s outdoors.
 
I started about 120 Dunstans from Chestnut Ridge in late November in the fridge. I was blown away by the germination percentage and now have about 100 chestnut seedlings. Next year I will probably do a few other varieties, so if you have any success with them, please let us all know.

I started doing this in 2016 with rootmaker strategies that i learned from jack yoder

Started my seventh year feb 22

I stopped ordering from chestnut ridge in 2020 because my own progeny have started to produce enough to continue the process!!

i grow all things Castanea( allegheny chinkapins, chinese chestnuts, dwarf asian chestnuts)

bill
 
Looks like you won't need to buy any seedlings this year.
 
I have been buying up some different sources of chestnuts this fall. It seems that there might be some availability for those looking to purchase some nuts for growing your own seedlings. Chestnut Ridge is just now posting some of theirs for sale online. Route 9 Cooperative is mostly sold out of theirs. Someone I have been following for a few years recommended Burnt Ridge Nursery for sourcing some rarer cultivars of Chinese, Japanese, hyrbids and even some American chestnuts. I have ordered a few different cultivars to try out. If you are looking to order some yet this fall, you may want to get on it. I get the feeling they may not be available much longer.
 
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