Check your Chestnuts

mattpatt

mattpatt

Well-Known Member
Check your Chestnuts for catkins. Spotted some on mine this afternoon. These are my Buck IV trees.

IMG_7621.JPG

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Last pic is for reference.

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There are five trees. All of them have catkins this year. Only two of them had catkins last year and none of them produced nuts. Feeling hopeful for a few nuts this year!

Matt
 
Mine are loaded up. Some of the three-year-from-seed ones that I got from Wayne are blooming as well.
 
Yep I'm in KS. I have a friend who lives in OKC (which is only 3hrs south) and it's amazing how much quicker they green up than us. It's very evident in pear trees and their bloom times. He also gets less late frosts than I do, but more winter ice storms.
 
Mine leafed out in April just in time for a freeze that got down to 24. Then a week later it did it again and snowed. It jacked them up pretty bad. I have one that it didn't hurt too bad but the rest lost 80 % of their leaves but are regrowing new ones but some of the limbs a completely dead. I had some direct seeded STO up also and I lost 2 or 3 but all the rest took it pretty well, Bur oaks too, no problems.
My Chestnuts in rootmaker 18's just started to break ground today. I've had them outside in a screened in patio and they are in clear plastic bags. like little individual green houses.
Did yours produce nuts last year Matt?
 
We had two that produced a few blooms last year but none of them set any nuts. This year they are loaded with blooms. Been trying to figure out when to start looking for the bisexual catkins which is where the nuts will form. From everything I can find it looks like I have maybe another month before I’ll know if any of the trees are going to try and produce nuts this year.

I think I know the two recent cold spells you’re referring to. It got below freezing here one night but it was relatively mild compared to what you describe. Some of tips of the leaves got bit back but nothing too bad.


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Well thats exciting. Hope they do well. Mine are Chinese, from Wayne last year. I was hoping for a big growth year but this isn't a good start. I think i'm going to build me one of those pvc pipe greenhouses for next winter.
 
Awesome! I’m excited to see what happens!

Here’s a little video I shot this morning of my Wal-Mart Dunstan trees I purchased when they clearanced them out last year. They looked pretty bad when I planted them but have come back nicely this year. The Wildlife Group grew these so I have no idea how old they are when they ship them to Wal-Mart. I’m assuming 3-4 years old.


Matt



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I look forward to seeing if any of my chestnuts produce nuts this year. I have seen husks before but don't know if they actually had seeds. Below is a picture from a few weeks ago of a "dunstan" direct seeded in February 2013. I say "dunstan" as I bought them off ebay in the early years (rkfarmer209 I think). Last few years I went with seed from Chestnut Ridge.

I recently took the tubes off a number of them, trimmed some odd branches, and placed a small ring of cattle fence around it to protect it from rubbing. Note they don't get "orchard" treatment otherwise.
TwG9JsK.jpg
 
Last summer I bought 14 Dunstans from the parking lot of a Walmart. They were closing them out and I paid about $6 ea. Thirteen of those trees survived and are growing nicely. Twelve of them are a foot or more taller than my 5 ft tree tubes. Most of them have catkins on them. Overall very pleased so far.
Keith
 
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