Chinese Chestnuts

[yoderjac]

I would not expect significant growth after a transplant for half a growing season followed by planting in October. I don't see a location with your profile. In my area, the first thing to watch for is Japanese beetles in late May or June. They seem to like young chestnuts and can decimate the leaves on a young tree. You can spray with Sevin but I prefer Permethrin. Both work, but permethrin seems to last longer before retreatment is needed. I don't spray on a schedule, I just watch out for the beetles and spray when I see them hitting the trees. They are the only insect I've had significant issues with on young chestnuts.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[weekender21]

I would not expect significant growth after a transplant for half a growing season followed by planting in October. I don't see a location with your profile. In my area, the first thing to watch for is Japanese beetles in late May or June. They seem to like young chestnuts and can decimate the leaves on a young tree. You can spray with Sevin but I prefer Permethrin. Both work, but permethrin seems to last longer before retreatment is needed. I don't spray on a schedule, I just watch out for the beetles and spray when I see them hitting the trees. They are the only insect I've had significant issues with on young chestnuts.

Thanks,

Jack

The trees are in 6B in western NC, I reside 4,600 miles away. I'll see how the trees do this season and apply pesticide as needed next year. Goal is not to baby them unless absolutely necessary.

 

[yoderjac]

The trees are in 6B in western NC, I reside 4,600 miles away. I'll see how the trees do this season and apply pesticide as needed next year. Goal is not to baby them unless absolutely necessary.

Yes, that was my goal as well. Once planted, the only thing I do is to spray for Japanese beetles. I found that necessary when they are young. You may not have as many Japanese beetles as we do. They seem to be the only significant threat other than voles eating roots.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[Cap'n]

I see on ChestnutHills site that they are delivering Dunstans to stores in my area this week. I'm going to keep an eye on them to go on sale, always room for more.

Yeah, i just looked and they are delivery to a walmart close to me this week. Thanks for the tip. I've got several growing in rootmakers now. 1 yr old and seedling but it would be nice to have some Dunstans that will produce in a year or 2.

 

[weekender21]

Yes, that was my goal as well. Once planted, the only thing I do is to spray for Japanese beetles. I found that necessary when they are young. You may not have as many Japanese beetles as we do. They seem to be the only significant threat other than voles eating roots.

Thanks,

Jack

I noticed a few that seemed loose at/below ground level. Even though they appear healthy I think some may have been severely damaged by voles.

 

[Needmorebrush82]

I noticed a few that seemed loose at/below ground level. Even though they appear healthy I think some may have been severely damaged by voles.

The voles are attacking my sawtooth like no other. baseball bat sized trees just falling over.

 

[weekender21]

The voles are attacking my sawtooth like no other. baseball bat sized trees just falling over.

That's hard to swallow. How big does a tree need to be before it's no longer threatened?

 

[Bowsnbucks]

^^^^ When they are firewood. We lost some OLD apple trees at camp that were girdled by voles / mice all the way around the trees. Trunk dia. - about 18" at ground level. Dead.

 

[Tap]

I just tubed and planted 50 of them. I don't have the experience others here have with them though. I can't speak to real life results, but I hope they start producing by 5 years and have a few bushels or more per tree by 10 years. They do best in full sun and soil that drains from what I've read and been advised.

I would be a little concerned about mice getting inside your tubes. I lost (to mice girding the bark) several basswood trees that I had in tubes. The outside of the tree was protected from the deer by the tubes, but the little bastard mice were actually living inside the tubes. They had nice little nests packed in there...their bedroom was right next to the kitchen
Even with tubes, you should still protect the lower trunk with aluminum screen or hardware cloth, IMO.

 

[Tap]

What is the best to use in order to keep these trees from blowing around? Also do you guys take all the dry leaves off when planting?

A little bit of flexing from the wind is a good thing. It help to create a stronger trunk. One of the complaints about tubing is that the sapling doesn't get blown a little bit.
Just make sure that the bark isn't being abraded from bashing against the fence. Compromised bark can allow disease to enter the tree.
The stick-thru-the-cage method (post #14) is an excellent way to give trees a little, but not too much, support. Just choose the proper holes in the cage to insert the sticks.
Removal of dead leaves is not necessary. Let nature do it.

 

[Tap]

The Chinese I have planted I screened and caged just like fruit trees. Deer and bunnies will eat the leaves and bark if they are not protected.
Some of mine started to produce at 4-5 years others planted at the same time seem to be taking their time. Like others have said they need to be planted in full sun and not in a low spot that will stay wet for long periods.

That's pretty much the same as my experiences.

One issue that I did have was planting chestnuts too close the Black Walnut trees. I had one chestnut that struggled to stay alive for several years after I planted it as a 3 year bare root sapling. It was getting a decent amount of sun but it was also just on the outside, South edge of the drip line of a mature walnut. I already had 1 adjacent chestnut die, so I decided to transplant the sick one to about 25 yards away. It took a couple years for it to recover, but it's now growing and seems to be showing promise.
I assume chestnuts are sensitive to juglone, so if you have black walnut trees, don't plant your chestnuts near them. And BTW, walnut roots are much more extensive than you might realize. I have BW that shows roots exposed more than 75 feet from the trunk. That could be a root ball diameter of almost 150 feet! All parts of BW contain juglone...everything from the nuts to the roots have it and a lot of stuff we try to grow won't tolerate juglone.

 

[blueKYstream]

I would be a little concerned about mice getting inside your tubes. I lost (to mice girding the bark) several basswood trees that I had in tubes. The outside of the tree was protected from the deer by the tubes, but the little bastard mice were actually living inside the tubes. They had nice little nests packed in there...their bedroom was right next to the kitchen
Even with tubes, you should still protect the lower trunk with aluminum screen or hardware cloth, IMO.

I have weed mats and recently sprayed roundup to clear out nearby grass. I was hoping that would keep the mice away. I'll try to monitor them. If I seem to be losing a few to the mice, I will try to figure out a way to screen them. Thanks for the tip!