John Barnes
Member
Here are the pics.
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Check your Chestnuts
- Thread starter mattpatt
- Start date
mattpatt
Well-Known Member
Well after doing some research and reading the ACF manual on chestnut pollination I have decided that my one female flower was ready to be pollinated. To give me a better chance instead of hoping it happens naturally, I went ahead and took a catkin from another late dropping tree and rubbed it gently across the top of the female flower on the other tree. According to the manual this is the best way to hand pollinate.
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mattpatt
Well-Known Member
I was thinking about building a small cage from hardware cloth around the burr and attach it to the tree limb somehow. I figure that would be the best defense against a squirrel.
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mattpatt
Well-Known Member
My one and only burr still hanging on. We had a severe thunderstorm come through the other day with 60 mph gusts and I just knew I was going to go check the tree and find the burr on the ground. But it held on and seems to be getting bigger.
Matt
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USC country
Member
Need some advice on what to do with this chestnut this winter. Should I prune it below the split or take out the right fork and support the left to straighten it out? Any other ideas?
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USC country
Member
Yeah that’s my main concern.
USC country
Member
The one pictured above was a 7 gallon tree planted almost 3 years ago and it still hasn’t produced. I have one that I planted at the same time that was a 3 gallon tree that has produced a bur every year. It has 3 this year. 
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mattpatt
Well-Known Member
Nice! I guess maybe next year I can expect my tree that has a single bur to maybe have 3-4 next year and the ones that don’t have any to maybe have 1 next year. I’m just impatient! I still think 10 years is a good realistic time frame to expect he tree to be big enough and mature enough to produce a sizable quantity of nuts.
Matt
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Cap'n
Active Member
http://www.canr.msu.edu/chestnuts/horticultural_care/pruning
I don't remember who posted this but it has some good info on pruning chestnuts.
mattpatt
Well-Known Member
Has anyone ever experienced or heard of Chestnuts blooming twice in a year? I watering my trees in the test plot today and noticed insects flying around the top of one of the trees. I investigated a little further and found these.
What appear to be male and female catkins at the first week of August? Another tree looks like is has a few on it as well. These are my “late dropping” trees. The tree the pics cams from has my one and only burr that I’m hoping was pollinated from earlier in the year when Chestnuts normally bloom.
Thoughts?
Matt
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What appear to be male and female catkins at the first week of August? Another tree looks like is has a few on it as well. These are my “late dropping” trees. The tree the pics cams from has my one and only burr that I’m hoping was pollinated from earlier in the year when Chestnuts normally bloom.
Thoughts?
Matt
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j-bird
Well-Known Member
I have never had mine bloom this late.....but I don't have "late droppers" either. As far as protecting the bur.....I would bet that until the bur opens from starting to dry out it will be fine. Gonna take a pretty hungry critter to mess with it other wise. I had my first nuts last year. One tree that produced last year didn't this year, but it looked poor. I have one that has several burs on it this year. I also have a few I am trying to salvage from dying and another that was reduced from a 6 foot tree to roughly a 6" stick, that is bouncing back nicely. In my area if I can get them thru their first full year in the ground they seem to do fine. My coarse soil and no clay makes summers dry and they require watering the planting year and the first full year in the ground for me. My first nuts came from 3 gallon trees that had 3 full years in the ground.
j-bird
Well-Known Member
as long as it's growing you will be in good shape. Don't be surprised if you only get 1 nut out of it however. It will try to produce 3 but the first ones I had there was really only one good one while the other 2 are junk. It's still progress. As the protective husk dries it will split and you will be able to see the nut inside (will be about the color of a buckeye). Then you may want to consider going in after it.....
If I had one flower now there would be know way it would have adequate time to grow before the cold weather would shut it down.
If I had one flower now there would be know way it would have adequate time to grow before the cold weather would shut it down.
Cap'n
Active Member
In my business when i get a call about a tree flowering in the summer it's usually a fruit tree and it's usually because it's dying. That doesn't appear to be the case with your Chestnut's though, they look great. I'd say it's either environmental or genetic. Plus the fact that it's a young tree and isn't in tune with a normal cycle yet. It would be nice if it was genetic though. Only time will tell.Has anyone ever experienced or heard of Chestnuts blooming twice in a year? I watering my trees in the test plot today and noticed insects flying around the top of one of the trees. I investigated a little further and found these.
What appear to be male and female catkins at the first week of August? Another tree looks like is has a few on it as well. These are my “late dropping” trees. The tree the pics cams from has my one and only burr that I’m hoping was pollinated from earlier in the year when Chestnuts normally bloom.
Thoughts?
Matt
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