Growing Chestnuts for Wildlife

[RGrizzzz]

Anyone shopping for seed chestnuts, mark your calendars for Route 9 Co-ops seed sale. The sale usually opens sometime in September. They offer some high quality offerings, with both timber and wildlife trees.

Shop Seed Nuts - Route 9 Cooperative

 

[9x56MS]

Question for you more experienced arborists. My dunstan chestnut trees were leading out when they got frosted killing all the leaves. They are releasing now but I am wondering will I get any chestnuts this year or not?

 

[Native Hunter]

Question for you more experienced arborists. My dunstan chestnut trees were leading out when they got frosted killing all the leaves. They are releasing now but I am wondering will I get any chestnuts this year or not?

The same thing happened to the chestnut trees here this year, and persimmons were also defoliated. I am now seeing catkins coming out fairly strong on the chestnut trees, and that is a good sign. I expect to have chestnuts this year based on that observation. Based on recent observations of persimmons, I'm expecting only about a 40% crop.

 

[wbpdeer]

Question for you more experienced arborists. My dunstan chestnut trees were leading out when they got frosted killing all the leaves. They are releasing now but I am wondering will I get any chestnuts this year or not?

I had a good young tree bit hard by the late frost this time. It was loaded with leaves and it nuke them all. The tree is alive but mine will not have any chestnuts this year IMO. The tree did put out a good limb about 7 inches above the soil line with huge leaves. I have scrape some bark and it will live to fight another day. I am watering it real good now to take as much stress off of it as possible. This tree pollenated a small young tree beside it last year and both had chestnuts in 2022. I am gonna attempt to hand pollenate the tree that was not bitten by the late frost to see if I can have viable chestnuts on that tree this fall.

The untouched tree has plenty of catkins, so I am gonna make the effort. Stay tuned for how this effort pans out.

 

[9x56MS]

The same thing happened to the chestnut trees here this year, and persimmons were also defoliated. I am now seeing catkins coming out fairly strong on the chestnut trees, and that is a good sign. I expect to have chestnuts this year based on that observation. Based on recent observations of persimmons, I'm expecting only about a 40% crop.

Mine are not showing catkins yet maybe next week

 

[mattpatt]

Question for you more experienced arborists. My dunstan chestnut trees were leading out when they got frosted killing all the leaves. They are releasing now but I am wondering will I get any chestnuts this year or not?

How old are they?

 

[9x56MS]

5 years old.

 

[mattpatt]

5 years old.

They are still pretty young. It could have set them back. Did they have any nuts last year?


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[9x56MS]

Rex

They are still pretty young. It could have set them back. Did they have any nuts last year?


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yes the last 2 years. Had a bumper crop last year.

 

[mattpatt]

Haven’t posted much here lately. Here’s a pic of my home orchard. I have five producing trees that vary in age from around 6-10 years all Chinese. Three of those are late dropping (Oct-Nov) and I use the nuts from those trees to grow more for planting where we hunt. I also have a five year old Dunstan, a three year old Sleeping Giant, 2- three year old Dunstans and 2- Colossal seedlings.


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[RGrizzzz]

FYI. Experimental Farm Network has some Badgersett chestnut (and hazelnut) seeds for sale. These are really hard to get. These would be ideal for folks in zones 4 and 5.

Badgersett Chestnut and Hazelnut SEED

The Experimental Farm Network sells rare heirloom vegetable, grain, and other useful plant seeds to support our non-profit organizing mission.

store.experimentalfarmnetwork.org