Teeder
5 year old buck +
Donate to the American Chestnut Foundation and they'll send you some.
This years chestnut project...
- Thread starter Davewp
- Start date
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
Depends on what kind of chestnuts you want to plant. Chestnut Ridge of Pike County has been a good source for Dunstan nuts for me, but there are lots of varieties of Chinese chestnuts that could be good wildlife trees.
Hoytvectrix
5 year old buck +
Burnt Ridge Nursery has probably one of the more diverse selections of chestnuts to buy as seed. Route 9 Cooperative is also really solid. I've bought from these two and Pike County. They all typically sell out pretty quickly.
Davewp
5 year old buck +
Week 4 update: 31 chestnuts planted in 2 seperate batches 19 and 12 (only because local stores did not have peat moss bundles to accomodate 3 batches of 10).
Between the 2 batches; 3 nuts have shown no growth at all. When float tested, all 3 sank. So secondary experiment was to replant, 1) as is 2) with cut hull 3) with cut hull and with a bottle placed over nut. REmaining nuts have shown growth variability from starting root but no top / stem growth to 8 inches tall.
Of note, the 2nd pic was from bag started in finished basement were temp was cooler than sun room, but not by more than 10 degrees. Moved to sunroom week 3 when other bag was showing more growth.
Between the 2 batches; 3 nuts have shown no growth at all. When float tested, all 3 sank. So secondary experiment was to replant, 1) as is 2) with cut hull 3) with cut hull and with a bottle placed over nut. REmaining nuts have shown growth variability from starting root but no top / stem growth to 8 inches tall.
Of note, the 2nd pic was from bag started in finished basement were temp was cooler than sun room, but not by more than 10 degrees. Moved to sunroom week 3 when other bag was showing more growth.
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Davewp
5 year old buck +
Week 5 update: no growth noted from the 3 prior mentioned nuts.
Interesting development difference between the 2 containers. Same nuts, same type of medium, same source. However when taken out of refrigerator, the smaller bundle was placed in cooler basement. While initial thought was that growth was slower, it has proven to be more uniform, consistent and that more of them have leafed out as compared to the larger batch (9 of 11 vs 5 of 17). Only 2 of the smaller group are less than 2 inches rest being between 8 and 10 inches. larger batch with greater variabiliy in growth 1/2 inch up to 18. Which questions is the transition from cold storage to warm planting of significance in growth?
Small batch...
Larger batch
Interesting development difference between the 2 containers. Same nuts, same type of medium, same source. However when taken out of refrigerator, the smaller bundle was placed in cooler basement. While initial thought was that growth was slower, it has proven to be more uniform, consistent and that more of them have leafed out as compared to the larger batch (9 of 11 vs 5 of 17). Only 2 of the smaller group are less than 2 inches rest being between 8 and 10 inches. larger batch with greater variabiliy in growth 1/2 inch up to 18. Which questions is the transition from cold storage to warm planting of significance in growth?
Small batch...
Larger batch
The answer to your question my friend is ... temperature had little - or much less - to do with the phenomenon you observed. The chestnuts started in the bag in the basement were - initially, much less "leggy" than the batch upstairs. Why, you ask ...... sunlight ... those exposed to more sunlight keep reaching for it and soon become spindly (arborists like that term). How to prevent it from happening or reduce the acceleration of their climb to the sun. Place a grow light 6-8 inches above your tray/container and they will grow more uniformly in relation to height-girth. New LED bulbs work well for that in that they can be placed near young plants without "burning" them. Good luck my friend. 
Davewp
5 year old buck +
Appreciate the light theory on the "legginess" of growth. Fully agree. Of interest was WHY there is such a variability within the bin that was sun exposed, vs the none sun exposed having a much more consistent growth rate across all nuts.The answer to your question my friend is ... temperature had little - or much less - to do with the phenomenon you observed. The chestnuts started in the bag in the basement were - initially, much less "leggy" than the batch upstairs. Why, you ask ...... sunlight ... those exposed to more sunlight keep reaching for it and soon become spindly (arborists like that term). How to prevent it from happening or reduce the acceleration of their climb to the sun. Place a grow light 6-8 inches above your tray/container and they will grow more uniformly in relation to height-girth. New LED bulbs work well for that in that they can be placed near young plants without "burning" them. Good luck my friend.
Angus 1895
5 year old buck +
Davewp
5 year old buck +
short answer is yes. trying to mimick outdoors and nature seldom has places that go from 90 days of 34 degree weather than boom = 70 degrees. I was curious if there would be an affect from a cooler more gradual warm, as in allowing roots to mature or the center of the nut itself to mature to temp.
Davewp
Best response - as vague as it is - genetics & environment (e.g., heat, angle of sunlight, water/nutrients in grow mix, etc). I still maintain it is difficult to grow trees in containers above ground without issues you avoid when starting them in containers nestled in the soil. These photos show chestnuts started in gallon milk jugs - in the ground -while not identical, they are much more uniform in size and shape, and ... they require much less attention during the first 18 months. A lot of folks on this site have lamented the yellow-leaf-water-problem associated with attempts to grow trees in containers above ground.
bottom ones are in half-gallon milk cartons; I believe gallon cartons work better ...
check the tap root on second from right
Best response - as vague as it is - genetics & environment (e.g., heat, angle of sunlight, water/nutrients in grow mix, etc). I still maintain it is difficult to grow trees in containers above ground without issues you avoid when starting them in containers nestled in the soil. These photos show chestnuts started in gallon milk jugs - in the ground -while not identical, they are much more uniform in size and shape, and ... they require much less attention during the first 18 months. A lot of folks on this site have lamented the yellow-leaf-water-problem associated with attempts to grow trees in containers above ground.
check the tap root on second from right
Davewp
5 year old buck +
Week 6 update: A breakdown of growth so far. 3 nuts with no growth have made no change.
Small batch was started in cooler environment (basement) has 9 plants that average more than 1 foot tall, 12.2 inch average. 2 started to grow, but then stunted at 4.25 and 1.5 inches. Overall, average is 10.5 inches.
Large batch: 7 plants well leafed out and average 14.86 inches tall. 4 plants that are on verge of leafing at 9.31 inches, 6 plants that are just stems average 3.75 inches. giving an average growth rate of 9.63 inches. Nearly an inch less on average than the plants / nuts that were transitioned to cooler environment before sun room.
Small batch was started in cooler environment (basement) has 9 plants that average more than 1 foot tall, 12.2 inch average. 2 started to grow, but then stunted at 4.25 and 1.5 inches. Overall, average is 10.5 inches.
Large batch: 7 plants well leafed out and average 14.86 inches tall. 4 plants that are on verge of leafing at 9.31 inches, 6 plants that are just stems average 3.75 inches. giving an average growth rate of 9.63 inches. Nearly an inch less on average than the plants / nuts that were transitioned to cooler environment before sun room.
Davewp
5 year old buck +
Appreciate the non conventional potting attempt. the long tap rots speak to the need for better potting methods. What a good job you did getting those out of ground (i imagine for transplanting) without breaking those roots.Davewp
Best response - as vague as it is - genetics & environment (e.g., heat, angle of sunlight, water/nutrients in grow mix, etc). I still maintain it is difficult to grow trees in containers above ground without issues you avoid when starting them in containers nestled in the soil. These photos show chestnuts started in gallon milk jugs - in the ground -while not identical, they are much more uniform in size and shape, and ... they require much less attention during the first 18 months. A lot of folks on this site have lamented the yellow-leaf-water-problem associated with attempts to grow trees in containers above ground.
bottom ones are in half-gallon milk cartons; I believe gallon cartons work better ...
check the tap root on second from right
Teeder
5 year old buck +
Davewp
Best response - as vague as it is - genetics & environment (e.g., heat, angle of sunlight, water/nutrients in grow mix, etc). I still maintain it is difficult to grow trees in containers above ground without issues you avoid when starting them in containers nestled in the soil. These photos show chestnuts started in gallon milk jugs - in the ground -while not identical, they are much more uniform in size and shape, and ... they require much less attention during the first 18 months. A lot of folks on this site have lamented the yellow-leaf-water-problem associated with attempts to grow trees in containers above ground.
bottom ones are in half-gallon milk cartons; I believe gallon cartons work better ...
check the tap root on second from right
How do you deal with those taps when you replant?
Teeder & Davewp,
You don't; they are lost ... cut them off. Can take a post hole digger and go 3-4 feet if ambitious ... it's the 8-10 inch clump of roots higher up that determines the fate of the tree. I grow only a limited number of container trees for gifting to others or replacement in a critical spot (e.g, screen). I try to direct seed whenever possible. Don't be discouraged Dave; you are using a unique container system that may ultimately produce good trees. Keep us informed of your journey so we can learn from your efforts. Good luck.
You don't; they are lost ... cut them off. Can take a post hole digger and go 3-4 feet if ambitious ... it's the 8-10 inch clump of roots higher up that determines the fate of the tree. I grow only a limited number of container trees for gifting to others or replacement in a critical spot (e.g, screen). I try to direct seed whenever possible. Don't be discouraged Dave; you are using a unique container system that may ultimately produce good trees. Keep us informed of your journey so we can learn from your efforts. Good luck.
Davewp
5 year old buck +
Late with week 7 up date, but interesting results are that 2 of 3 chestnuts, (Where hull was split) that had zero growth are now showing signs. 3rd chestnut, that was not split, passed a float test 2 months after taking out of frig. Majority of stems that died back after prelimanry growth are resprouting. often multiple stems.
Hoytvectrix
5 year old buck +
This seems to be a common thing with multiple species of chestnuts. I would still plan on cutting down to a single stem. I have found that even the ones that resprout with an individual stem will still create branches almost immediately. Eventually, they nearly always end up with some squirrely growth habits.
I’m in NE Ohio, put in about 60 Route 9 seedlings in 2017/2018. I live over an hour away from the property so I cared for them best I could but not great… I’d say they’re at 90% or better survival as of this year, and starting to crank out some nuts. Been fun and sometimes stressful (deer protection, bug damage, drought, wind, etc.) but so rewarding to see em grow.
Davewp
5 year old buck +
Week 8: Watering; noticing that with the more porous medium used for planting that it is better to water more frequently to prevent freshly sprouted from dying back. Also, the last chestnut that has not shown any growth is still dormant. Remaining plants have shown fresh or continued growth.
Angus 1895
5 year old buck +
I had a heck of a wreck last year in chestnuts
with dampiNing disease
i am attempting to rectify this with my chinquapin s this year
with dampiNing disease
i am attempting to rectify this with my chinquapin s this year
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