Charlieyca
Active Member
Majority of trees will be going home with kids or teachers, I will keep a few and a few will be planted on campus. Hopefully, each year we can plant a few more so we can see the changes here on campus.
Growing Chestnuts with Students
- Thread starter Charlieyca
- Start date
catscratch
Well-Known Member
I bet the one's planted on campus turn out really nice.
Congrats on getting the project started and good job!
Congrats on getting the project started and good job!
Charlieyca
Active Member
They will be on the edge of our athletic fields, in the city, and have irrigation, so barring a baseball player running it over, they should do fairly well. I hope to be able to have classes walk out there in the future and show them the stages of growth on the these trees and other, and teach them about cuttings, pruning and other things related to planting.
catscratch
Well-Known Member
Very cool!
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wbpdeer
Well-Known Member
In the city you still have to prevent squirrels and rabbits from hitting them. Plant the seedlings after the chestnut has been removed at least a week or two. Put some hardware cloth 18 to 24 inches tall to prevent the rabbits from feasting on the tender bark of the young seedlings.
I would say if can test the pH of the water in the irrigation system. If you are above 7.0 on pH that will not be kind to the chestnuts.
It sure is nice to know you are giving these city students this opportunity.
I would say if can test the pH of the water in the irrigation system. If you are above 7.0 on pH that will not be kind to the chestnuts.
It sure is nice to know you are giving these city students this opportunity.
Charlieyca
Active Member
Had forgot they like slightly acidic water, Might be a good way to get the chemistry classes outside and soak up some sunlight. They will be tubed thanks to a donation from tree pro. Local seed company donated the pro-mix so my only cost was landscape fabric and some pvc stakes. WBP, would you like me to leave a few seedling unprotected vs max protection (tube,stake, mat) to see any difference in growth in the city?
Charlieyca
Active Member
Bad news to report. I wanted to be patient and let them grow at the own pace, but I currently have 0 radicles at this point. 4 weeks after i removed them from cold storage and none of them have put on a radicle. About 2 weeks ago I put em back in cold storage for 3 days and brought em back out again. Nothing. Only guess I have is maybe my fridge turned into a freezer over christmas break. Disappointed to say the least. will get some pictures of the inside soon so maybe get an answer to what happened.
Charlieyca
Active Member
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Charlieyca
Active Member
No thermometer and no clue, its a community fridge for my department so no telling who changed it or what the settings are
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Charlieyca
Active Member
Im resoaking them overnight to see if maybe they got dehydrated in the fridge even though i soaked them 2x during cold stotage
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catscratch
Well-Known Member
I've had a very similar experience this yr with my student's chestnuts. Very few germinated. I'm doing the exact same thing you are; soaked over night and back into the fridge.
wbpdeer
Well-Known Member
I use two fridges and both have a thermometer. Otherwise, you risk huge losses.
Sorry for your issues.
Wayne
Charlieyca
Active Member
You know some lessons are learned the hard way. Next time I will use my personal mini fridge and invest in thermometer. is there any thing else you think could have resulted in 0 germinating after this much time?
wbpdeer
Well-Known Member
I would soak them overnight and then put them in a fridge that I had a thermometer inside so I could check the temp about 3 hours.
Two days in the fridge and 2 days outside. If no radicles, I would soak them for three hours and put in the fridge for 2 days and 3 days outside.
I believe with zero germination, they got too cold and killed their viability. That being said, we have to go the in and out process for about 2 weeks to see if we wake any of them up.
I just updated my germination rate on the One Thousand Chestnuts Tree Thread. I am much slower than normal but the last week have seen good improvements.
Question. Do you have access to a good fridge that you can control and put a thermometer in?
If you do, I might be able to find some with radicles. If you don't have a better fridge situation, I will leave things as they are now.
Wayne
Two days in the fridge and 2 days outside. If no radicles, I would soak them for three hours and put in the fridge for 2 days and 3 days outside.
I believe with zero germination, they got too cold and killed their viability. That being said, we have to go the in and out process for about 2 weeks to see if we wake any of them up.
I just updated my germination rate on the One Thousand Chestnuts Tree Thread. I am much slower than normal but the last week have seen good improvements.
Question. Do you have access to a good fridge that you can control and put a thermometer in?
If you do, I might be able to find some with radicles. If you don't have a better fridge situation, I will leave things as they are now.
Wayne
Charlieyca
Active Member
I soaked them all over night, then back to fridge today with temp at 39 deg. will try the 2 days in then 2 days out.
The inside smelled good and didnt look molded or rotten on the 2 i opened. Hopefully they are just being slow to wake.
The inside smelled good and didnt look molded or rotten on the 2 i opened. Hopefully they are just being slow to wake.
wbpdeer
Well-Known Member
Kabic
You make a good point. I do believe parts of New York and Maine have trouble with Chestnuts thriving. A chestnut that lays on the top of the ground anywhere suffers the environment (cold, heat & sun). If a squirrel plants it in the ground that insulation provided by the ground makes a huge difference in the level of effect of a freeze.
Do I have all of the answers? Of course not, but I don't want my chestnuts exposed to freezing temps 24/7 because I think my germination is going to drop severely. Especially if it is a chestnut that comes from a southern region.
On another note, my dog Scotty is learning rapidly. His interest in searching / casting inside the woods has improved tremendously. He responds to hand signals and has started to hunt down blindly thrown antlers that I direct him toward. Our obedience is improving slightly but that is because I am not working that as often. Cold weather limits my time outside - so the antlers get the first priority right now.
Wayne
Charlieyca
Active Member
Friday chestnuts got a soak and then went back into fridge for the weekend. Just got them out and gonna soak and put back in the media in an hr or 2. See if that wakes em up!
Charlieyca
Active Member
on cycle number 3 of 2 days in, 2 days out. No response. I'm going to soak them today, put them in some media and hope warm temps wake them up.
