Chest nut seeds

[barnetmill]

ive got about 500 chestnut trees but planted them all as seedlings. I never grew my own from seed. but just about a week ago I got some real nice Italian chestnuts I found at a grocery store in the city that I bought with the intention of growing. I'm going to try markp's advice and hope it works. it would be real nice to add another variety to the orchard.

I am not sure what success with germination you will have.
After harvesting, chestnut seed requires the following:

KEEP THE SEED MOIST. ...
CHILL, BUT DO NOT FREEZE, THE SEED FOR TWO TO FOUR MONTHS. ...
PLANT IN A WELL-DRAINED, ACIDIC (pH 5-6) SOIL OR POTTING MEDIUM. ...
PROTECT SEED FROM ANIMAL DEPREDATION. ...
PLANT SEEDLINGS AT LEAST 6 INCHES APART.

[barnetmill]

Of course they rely on beetles and flys for pollination, prior to the European transfer there were no honey bees in America.

While there were no honey bees prior to the europeans, we do have native bees in the america that pollenize flowers.
The american paw paw is another plant requires other insects than bees for being pollenized

[BLAHUT]

Wash them with a dilute solution of water and bleach, rinse them off well with water. Place the nuts in a zip lock plastic bag filled with moist clean sand and place the bag in the refrigerator in the winter time. The nuts should begin to sprout around Springtime. Plant in a deep grow-tainer pot allow to grow until fall and transplant before the ground freezes to the desired location. It will resemble an uncooked bean sprout coming out of the nut. The problem I had was with squirrels digging up the nuts while they were in the pots. I had a bunch of Scarlet Oaks growing in deep root grow trays the squirrels destroyed these in one day.

A good friend of mine got a PhD in seed science and works in the seed priming industry, he told my about the moist sand in refrigerator technique.

May need to clean the sand with dilute beach as well.

These are the types of trays & pots that I used for growing trees. 1 qt and 1/2 gal paper milk cartons will work as well, I would assume a Pringles potato chip can should work for getting deeper downward growing roots as well. Maybe duct tape two milk cartons together to make deep root containers.

After transplanting on rural property and spot watering for the first year I would guess I had a 15 to 20% survival rate after 3 yrs or so. SW Iowa -- deer, mice, insects, and summer heat are tough on them. City Trees have a much easier life as compared to wild trees.

Attachment 307380Attachment 307381

Where do you find the type of growing containers ?? Thank You for all the information.

[BLAHUT]

if anyone is interested in buying seedling/saplings in bulk. many state have seedling sales programs as part of the department of forestry. some will ship out of state. this is where I got my Chinese chestnut trees and dustan trees for about $1 a tree. they ship bare root trees during winter and early spring to be planted during dormancy. they usually go on sale mid or late summer to be shipped in winter. varieties like chestnuts dont last long you need to place pre paid order as soon as the sale opens.

If you could tell me where to look ? What states will ship out of state ? I am new to all this ?? Thank You

[barnetmill]

If you could tell me where to look ? What states will ship out of state ? I am new to all this ?? Thank You

It depends on what state you live in and what you are ordering. In florida I can not order out of state citrus, but I have ordered many other types of trees. CA is worst about allowing out of state plant shipments. Simply on go on line with google. My opinion is to avoid Ty Ty and their related companies. I have to say in my opinion because they are said to have a team of lawyers that go after any one on the net that rates them in a negative manner.

[Wayne Smith]

Blahut, I don't know where you live (MPLS?) but your state's department of forestry is the place to start. I know VA has several tree nurserys but don't know if they are growing Chestnut - there is a new cross that is 90% American chestnut and stops the blight successfully. I would be looking for that one.

[farmbif]

I got the dustan chestnut trees from state of Tennessee dept of forestry nursery in Delano . I got Chinese chestnut trees from the now closed West Virginia dept of forestry Clements nursery . I got bulk apple and pear trees from Virginia dept of forestry seedling program. you just have to search each state for seedling sales programs through dept of forestry website. sometimes a phone call to them can get you to the right place quick. if you join the American chestnut foundation. they offer trees to members

[Silvercreek Farmer]

Roasted and ate my first small harvest of chestnut this fall. Resulted in robust flatulence. Anyone else experience this?

We won’t talk about Jerusalem artichokes…

[BLAHUT]

Roasted and ate my first small harvest of chestnut this fall. Resulted in robust flatulence. Anyone else experience this?

We won’t talk about Jerusalem artichokes…

Looking to try ?