Chestnut Production?
- Thread starter KSQ2
- Start date
KSQ2
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Everything I do will be small scale. For one I can’t afford to plant a lot of trees each year because of watering concerns. We have no water at the farm.
So what medium do you use to keep your soil in the bottom of your containers?
yoderjac
Well-Known Member
The holes in 18s are small enough that I just use promix. With the larger rootmaker containers, they all come with root directing bottoms so there is no issue keeping promix in the container.
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wbpdeer
Well-Known Member
I have always been one to cold stratify for a long time. I get impatient waiting for a chestnut to throw up top growth once is in the growing media. Also, I always like to know who is the NCAA Football Champion before I get nuts going. Back when Yoder and I did that experiments I was growing in my basement in two grow boxes. Now I use the sun as my power plant.
If you stick 100 chinese chestnuts in growing media, what experience has taught me is the early sprouter show up and it is a long time (maybe 4 weeks) before the last sprouters raise their head above the growing media. So, don't give up on a seedling too soon.
So waiting on the sun and warm temps mean I am really cold stratifying a long time. This requires some checking on the nuts in the fridge to add a bit of water so they don't dry out. If you have two different fridges, one of them will be more efficient at removing moisture from the nuts that the other one.
I buy chestnuts from Greg Miller, Route 9 Cooperative in Ohio, usually 5 pounds. I spread those nuts across all the fridges I am using because if I have a fridge that stops working, I don't want my best nuts all lost or having major germination issues.
Do I keep too many nuts each fall in cold stratification? Yes, my name is Wayne and I do have a nut addiction!
But that is how I get a greenhouse full of green seedlings.
If you stick 100 chinese chestnuts in growing media, what experience has taught me is the early sprouter show up and it is a long time (maybe 4 weeks) before the last sprouters raise their head above the growing media. So, don't give up on a seedling too soon.
So waiting on the sun and warm temps mean I am really cold stratifying a long time. This requires some checking on the nuts in the fridge to add a bit of water so they don't dry out. If you have two different fridges, one of them will be more efficient at removing moisture from the nuts that the other one.
I buy chestnuts from Greg Miller, Route 9 Cooperative in Ohio, usually 5 pounds. I spread those nuts across all the fridges I am using because if I have a fridge that stops working, I don't want my best nuts all lost or having major germination issues.
Do I keep too many nuts each fall in cold stratification? Yes, my name is Wayne and I do have a nut addiction!
But that is how I get a greenhouse full of green seedlings.
yoderjac
Well-Known Member
Back to the point of the charts in a previous post. Those charts are not to say there is a "better" amount of cold stratification. The point is that cold stratification time impacts germination rates. How long to cold stratify depends on your objectives. In my case, it was important to be able to transplant to 1 gal RB2 when it was time to move outside as I did not have space for them inside under lights. I expected lower germination rates and had many more 18 cells than 1 gal containers on purpose. Nuts are not expensive, so buying 30% more nuts was no big deal.
Also, one of the big benefits of growing chestnuts from seed in air pruning containers is the fact that you can cull each step along the way. My first cull is with nuts. Floaters never get cold stratified or planted. Next is with 18s. I select the best growing trees from my 18s to transplant into 1 gal RB2s. Then again, I select the best of those to transplant into 3 gal RB2s.
This sort of mimics the culling in nature, but by the time I plant a tree in the field, I know it is a winner.
Also, one of the big benefits of growing chestnuts from seed in air pruning containers is the fact that you can cull each step along the way. My first cull is with nuts. Floaters never get cold stratified or planted. Next is with 18s. I select the best growing trees from my 18s to transplant into 1 gal RB2s. Then again, I select the best of those to transplant into 3 gal RB2s.
This sort of mimics the culling in nature, but by the time I plant a tree in the field, I know it is a winner.
yoderjac
Well-Known Member
Wayne,
That makes perfect sense. Dr. Whitcomb warns against trying to start chestnuts too early in a greenhouse when the sun is low in the sky. He says that the lower intensity of the sun light makes them tall and spindly and reduces good root development. This is true for all trees. I did a comparison of pawpaws with a guy who started his in a heated greenhouse while I was doing mine under lights indoors. His were taller and looked good above ground, but had very poor root development and did not survive. Mine thrived.
So, cold stratifying longer is a win-win for you. You get higher germination rates plus, it give time for the sun to get higher in the sky and provide the necessary intensity.
No. There's a bottom that's slightly above the bottom of the pot, so there's an air gap above whatever they sit on.
yoderjac
Well-Known Member
You are right that trees started in doors can be spindly if you are not careful. Often the biggest culprit is light. Hanging cool fluorescent or LED shop light with lots of lumens close to the tops of the trees worked for me. Using the express trays, I was able to sort my trees by height and hang the shop lights at an angle and keep them a few inches above all the seedling tops. I did use a fan on a timer as well. I found about 4 double bulb shop lights can cover about 6 express trays. On very few occasions, seedlings will not want to stand erect when transplanted to 1 gal RB2s because they are top heavy with leaves. I find the thin wired safety flags make good stakes for outdoors. They bend easily in the wind which the new trunks need this so they don't get brittle.
I know folks with long growing seasons, like in TX, have great success starting them outdoors. In my area of zone 7a, it would add overwintering and another growing season before I could plant them.
It is all about figuring out what works best in your situation.
KSQ2
Well-Known Member
Pretty rapid fire there for a bit, I had a question that got buried. How do you guys winter the 3 gallon container trees? I cannot plant in the fall, they will have to wait until the following spring. If I can keep the trees in the 3 gallon containers for 2 years, it will be 2 winters to keep them in the containers.
yoderjac
Well-Known Member
It depends on your location. The principle is to keep the stems cool enough that they don't break dormancy and the roots warm enough that they don't freeze hard. In some areas, you can group them together and cover the containers with straw to insulate the roots enough. In some places, Guys dig holes in the ground and put the containers in the hole and cover them with straw.
I made a cold room in my basement. I sealed off a room and opened a window to the outside. That worked well for me. The room stayed cold enough that trees did not break dormancy but above freezing. I put one of those acurite temperature/humidity sensors in the room to monitor it.
They do need some water in the winter, but since they are not growing much if at all, they don't need watered frequently. When I overwinter outside, the normal rain is sufficient. In the cold room, I'd water them about once a month or so.
yoderjac
Well-Known Member
My best trees go from 18s to 1 gals to 3 gals in 1 season and get planted in the winter or early spring when dormant. Lesser trees don't have roots that have filled a 3 gal in one season. I over winter those and keep them on my deck a second season. I have not had any that have not filled a 3 gal with roots in 2 seasons.
Much will depend on the length of your growing season. Further north, it may make sense to transplant from 1 gal to 3 gal at the end of the first growing season and you may need a 3rd season for them to fill 3 gal containers. They do make larger containers and you can use the green inground bags if you have room in the garden or somewhere. I find transportation and planting out of anything larger than 3 gal to be problematic in my situation.
Much will depend on the length of your growing season. Further north, it may make sense to transplant from 1 gal to 3 gal at the end of the first growing season and you may need a 3rd season for them to fill 3 gal containers. They do make larger containers and you can use the green inground bags if you have room in the garden or somewhere. I find transportation and planting out of anything larger than 3 gal to be problematic in my situation.
KSQ2
Well-Known Member
Do you simply unband the containers to check the root progress?
yoderjac
Well-Known Member
No. I don't unwrap them until I'm ready to plant. I can tell when the roots have filled a container by watering. When you start watering after transplanting to a new container, when you top water, it doesn't take long for the water to infiltrate the container and come pouring out the lower holes. As the roots begin to fill the voids in the media, it becomes harder to top water them. Water will pool in the top of the container and very slowly infiltrate. You then add more water and have to wait for it to soak in. It take a lot of watering and waiting before water begins to come out the lower holes. This conditions lets me know it is time to transplant again.
You will eventually get the hang of it. If you decide to transplant to a larger container, unwrap the current container. If chunks of media fall off, you are on the early side and there is still room for root growth in the container. Go ahead and transplant. Dr. Whitcomb says it is better to transplant too early than too late. Over time, you will be able to correlate the root progress with how hard it is to water them.
KSQ2
Well-Known Member
yoderjac
Well-Known Member
Yep, that works well. I found I can get it much cheaper at the local coop. Some independent garden centers and nurseries car it. I've never seen it in a big box store.
KSQ2
Well-Known Member
Ok, I’ll do some shopping.
KSQ2
Well-Known Member
Thanks for the help, a couple more questions. Do you mix this with anything? And how many lbs does it take approximately to fill a 3 gallon container? One of those bales is 60lbs.
