My First Chinkapins

[Native Hunter]

I can't remember the exact year I set these, but it seems like 7 years ago or so. I thought they were never going to make nuts. For the last couple of years it has been burrs with no nuts. This year one of them is loaded from top to bottom. This tree is about 18 feet tall and at the edge of a clearing with about 1/2 day sun.

Another tree had nuts that were bigger than these, but just a few of them.

 

[Jordan Selsor]

Nice!
This a chinese chinkapin by chance?

 

[Native Hunter]

Nice!
This a chinese chinkapin by chance?

Jordan, no the are Allegheny. They came from WG.

 

[mikmaze]

those are awesome, how many yearsdid you have them in until they were fruiting size?

 

[Skelly]

Man that’s great. I was lucky to have a member here give me quite a few to plants here at the house. Excited to see what they do in the next few years.

 

[Native Hunter]

those are awesome, how many yearsdid you have them in until they were fruiting size?

Thanks. I'm doing a better job keeping records and tagging than I did a few years ago. I didn't tag those, but I think they have been in the ground about 7 - 8 years. The last two years I have had burs with no nuts. This year the biggest one (about 18 feet tall) is loaded with nuts from top to bottom, but the nuts seem a little small to me.

There is another one set the same time that had to be moved, so it is only a small bush. It had just a few nuts this year, and those nuts were a little bigger.

A third tree hasn't opened burs yet, so I don't know what I have with it.

One thing that impresses me about these is fruiting with little sunlight. This is at the west edge of a woods with a small clearing. It couldn't get over 5 hours of sun a day and maybe not that much. An apple tree I planted nearby is healthy but makes very little fruit.

I had been expecting to see some blight on these, but so far not a hint of it. My understanding is that some are immune to it and others were killed quickly like the American Chestnut. These must be very resistant.

 

[Native Hunter]

Man that’s great. I was lucky to have a member here give me quite a few to plants here at the house. Excited to see what they do in the next few years.

Don't give up on them if you see burs without nuts for a couple of years. I think that is common with trees that are just starting. I was seeing that and now I'm loaded with nuts.

 

[Native Hunter]

Notice in my second picture how the right side of the tree is where all the limbs and nuts are. The left side is the east side facing the woods. Very few limbs on that side.

 

[Native Hunter]

I might as well post some pictures of my hazelnuts while I'm doing this thread. This is off of a bush that I dug up on my farm and transplanted to the NH Jungle a few years ago. These nuts are nice sized. I've had hazelnuts before this year, but this is the first ones I've had from bushes I set.

 

[yoderjac]

Wow! I wonder if WG is selling some particular variety. That tree is larger in height than any native AC on my land. Mine tend to take a bush like form and are mostly found on the edges. They can produce nuts when they are knee high and produce copiously at 5 or 6 feet tall, but they are usually about 4 or 5 foot wide with multiple stems. I've had a few that grew like trees but before they get that big they get hit by blight and die back to the roots. It only takes a couple years to produce again once they die back.

Great looking tree with an outstanding future I'm sure! By the way, were those pictures just taken? None of my ACs hold nuts this late. They usually open in early to mid September here and if I don't get to them within a week or so, they are gone.

Thanks,

jack

 

[Native Hunter]

Wow! I wonder if WG is selling some particular variety. That tree is larger in height than any native AC on my land. Mine tend to take a bush like form and are mostly found on the edges. They can produce nuts when they are knee high and produce copiously at 5 or 6 feet tall, but they are usually about 4 or 5 foot wide with multiple stems. I've had a few that grew like trees but before they get that big they get hit by blight and die back to the roots. It only takes a couple years to produce again once they die back.

Great looking tree with an outstanding future I'm sure! By the way, were those pictures just taken? None of my ACs hold nuts this late. They usually open in early to mid September here and if I don't get to them within a week or so, they are gone.

Thanks,

jack

Jack, yes those pics were taken the same day I posted the thread. One ironic thing is that I only planted 4 trees because I had little faith they would be successful and be hit by blight. Now I may get some more.

I think those trees will get much bigger in time too. And, like you, I was impressed with the late maturity date. I will watch this in the future and report back.

 

[yoderjac]

Jack, yes those pics were taken the same day I posted the thread. One ironic thing is that I only planted 4 trees because I had little faith they would be successful and be hit by blight. Now I may get some more.

I think those trees will get much bigger in time too. And, like you, I was impressed with the late maturity date. I will watch this in the future and report back.

They are very easy to grow. They don't need cold stratification. I usually put the nuts in a ziplock bag and put them in the crisper with no added moisture or medium. This will slow them down so I can start them indoors in the winter. I think in nature, they will germinate in the fall and begin to put down a tap root but won't produce top growth. The following spring they will continue to grow and produce a tap root. They should be easy to direct seed in the fall if you want.

I wonder if that later drop is your location, some specific variety, or just the happenstance of the particular tree you got. I may need to get some of those if they continue to drop in October.

Thanks,

jack

 

[Native Hunter]

They are very easy to grow. They don't need cold stratification. I usually put the nuts in a ziplock bag and put them in the crisper with no added moisture or medium. This will slow them down so I can start them indoors in the winter. I think in nature, they will germinate in the fall and begin to put down a tap root but won't produce top growth. The following spring they will continue to grow and produce a tap root. They should be easy to direct seed in the fall if you want.

I wonder if that later drop is your location, some specific variety, or just the happenstance of the particular tree you got. I may need to get some of those if they continue to drop in October.

Thanks,

jack

The smaller tree that only had a few nuts would have dropped them probably about the first of October or a little earlier. It looks to me like the tree I show in the pictures above could possibly still be dropping into early November. I will let you know later.

I should direct seed some of those in a fence row and just see what I get. May not be able to this year, but next year I could kill the vegetation in a fence row with gly early on and then plant the nuts when they drop.

 

[yoderjac]

The smaller tree that only had a few nuts would have dropped them probably about the first of October or a little earlier. It looks to me like the tree I show in the pictures above could possibly still be dropping into early November. I will let you know later.

I should direct seed some of those in a fence row and just see what I get. May not be able to this year, but next year I could kill the vegetation in a fence row with gly early on and then plant the nuts when they drop.

If you store the fresh nuts with no added moisture in a Ziploc in the crisper, you can probably keep them until spring and plant them then. That would give you an extra growing season if you've got the time in the spring to deal with it.

 

[Native Hunter]

Jack, you were right - they do sprout easily. These were in a plastic bag setting on my kitchen counter. There are dozens of these that look like this.

 

[NorthPotter]

Jack, you were right - they do sprout easily. These were in a plastic bag setting on my kitchen counter. There are dozens of these that look like this.

glad you finally have some produce nuts NH. Its odd that is took 7 years because I have had 2 year old bushes produce flowers and 3 year olds that produce flowers and a few nuts.
yes, some even form a radicle while still on the tree/bush.

If you are direct seeding those I would plant them now. It gives them time to get the tap root going before the cold sets. Be sure to protect the nut. But you can also easily plant in containers now or store in fridge. Once they develop a radicle I have challenges storing in the fridge for a long time. It seems the moisture has to be just right or the radicle will either brown or become moldy due to the high carbohydrate content in the nut and storing it for months.

It is great you have a tree producing this late. Mine were finished by October 10th or so...but I am about 41.8 latitude and 1600'-1900' elevation so I suspect that makes a difference too.
A few particular trees of mine form burrs with very few pollinated nuts...and those nuts tend to be smaller. Seems similar to you. Then other bushes I have produce burrs where 95% contain pollinated nuts. I still have not figured out why this occurs but my guess is that some specimens are just not strong self pollinators. Maybe consider planting a few more upwind of the tree that has burrs w/o pollinated nuts.
Once the animals find mine, they clear me out in days! Squirrels, Turkey, Bear, Deer. The squirrels and bear smell them when the burrs start to split. Sometimes it seems like they fight over the nuts.

Missed this post, was in CO hunting and fishing.

 

[Native Hunter]

glad you finally have some produce nuts NH. Its odd that is took 7 years because I have had 2 year old bushes produce flowers and 3 year olds that produce flowers and a few nuts.
yes, some even form a radicle while still on the tree/bush.

If you are direct seeding those I would plant them now. It gives them time to get the tap root going before the cold sets. Be sure to protect the nut. But you can also easily plant in containers now or store in fridge. Once they develop a radicle I have challenges storing in the fridge for a long time. It seems the moisture has to be just right or the radicle will either brown or become moldy due to the high carbohydrate content in the nut and storing it for months.

It is great you have a tree producing this late. Mine were finished by October 10th or so...but I am about 41.8 latitude and 1600'-1900' elevation so I suspect that makes a difference too.
A few particular trees of mine form burrs with very few pollinated nuts...and those nuts tend to be smaller. Seems similar to you. Then other bushes I have produce burrs where 95% contain pollinated nuts. I still have not figured out why this occurs but my guess is that some specimens are just not strong self pollinators. Maybe consider planting a few more upwind of the tree that has burrs w/o pollinated nuts.
Once the animals find mine, they clear me out in days! Squirrels, Turkey, Bear, Deer. The squirrels and bear smell them when the burrs start to split. Sometimes it seems like they fight over the nuts.

Missed this post, was in CO hunting and fishing.

Thanks for the reply NorthPotter. That is some really good information in your post. I did go ahead and get them in the ground the other day, so hopefully they will do good. As of this morning I still had many holding on, despite the burr being fully open.

 

[yoderjac]

One year when I was planting hazelnuts that Blitz suggested did best when vernalized, I tried vernalizing ACs. They did fine, but I could not see any advantage over cold storage and then planting them when I was ready. Of course, I was starting mine early indoors and growing them in a root pruning container system. My guess is that if you plant them now, they will develop naturally getting a little tap root growth. The only down side is the need to protect them from rodents over the winter. Even if you keep them in the fridge and direct seed in the spring, they will still need the protection. If you direct seed now and only plant nuts that show a tap root starting, you can be pretty confident your protection will be worth it. If you are planting nuts with no tap root, you may be protecting nuts that never germinate as some won't.

One of these years, I'm going to do some direct fall seeding with no protection. I'm expecting a fraction to survive, but I should be able to plant hundreds with very little effort. The nuts are free, and I'm sure each nut will have much greater chances of success than if left to nature.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[NorthPotter]

Very much agreed with all of Jack's points in #18 above ^. Must, must protect direct seeded nuts well. The animals will find every last one if they can get 'em. I use about a 18" section of PVC pushed into ground at least 5" around nut. wire mesh on top or stapled/taped clear plastic cup. The PVC is starter protection if they sprout before you can get to them in the spring. I am sure you have your own preferred protection system too.

on a few of my bushes the nuts also still hang on tight with the burrs still open. Those are good specimens.

 

[Native Hunter]

I looked at my tallest and widest chinkapin today. It is just a little taller than the one shown above and I stepped it 18 feet wide due to the low spreading limbs. When I looked at this tree the other day, I thought it had unpollinated burrs - but today I noticed that some of them were starting to open, and many had nuts. Looks like we could be having chinkapins for Christmas this year.....

The first tree show above is still holding many nuts. I picked and ate a few today and they were delicious.

One thing I love about chinkapins over chestnuts - I haven't seen a single worm in any of them. Yes, the nuts are small, but so easy to eat with just the tip of a pocket knife blade.