Chestnut Storage

[possum]

For last week or two, my Chinese chestnut trees have been dropping nuts all over the yard. Ive been collecting a few nuts each day and putting them in a five gallon bucket in barn. I noticed today a bad odor and upon closer inspection, many of the nuts were covered in white mold.
I was saving these up to just feed deer but Im guessing they wont eat them now.
I also noticed little white worms in bottom of bucket. Is there a better storage method I could be doing to keep them preserved for a few weeks, keeping worms out and keeping nuts fresh? Our fridge is full so cant keep there. Could I add salt to keep fresh? Im thinking deer may like a salted nut?
This may not be right forum for this question so mods feel free to move if needed.

 

[wbpdeer]

The white worms are called chestnut weevils. The mold is part of the process. Chestnuts are high in carbohydrate which makes them at risk for mold.

Collect them as soon as possible - collect them in an open bur in the tree if you can.

If I were feeding deer, I would wash them with a hose pipe and dry them with a fan. Put them in a fridge after that - just make sure they are dry. Don't cram a bag full - make many little bags to contain mold if it occurs.

Some people try a 5% bleach 95% water solution to wash them. Mold can occur but it can be contained with some effort.

I put mine on a towel in the floor and run two fans on them. This works good to dry them out.

NO on the salt question. Leave that alone.

Wayne

 

[wbpdeer]

If you are storing them to grow later - you would want to hydrate them at least 10 hours in a water bath. Make sure the water is deep enough that the chestnut can float. After I have soaked them for 10 hours, I will collect the floaters and toss them. I am not risking them as a viable tree.

I don't want them to go into the fridge wet at this point. I give them the fan treatment as mentioned in my post above. I put two towels in the floor and put two fans on them. I will roll them with my foot after 15 minutes. I will make sure they are dry.

I will put them in a bag with holes in one side. I avoid my normal fridge because it has fruits and vegetables which produce gas that is reported to hurt our germination rates. I have a dorm fridge I use. My goal is at least 80 days in the fridge at about 34 degrees. I will check them once a month. It is okay to see condensation on the inside of the bag.

When I inspect them I am looking for two things: white mold and any soft chestnuts. When you identify either white mold or soft chestnuts, you removed those from the bag and toss those too. After about 50 to 60 days I add long fibered Sphagnum Moss to the bag that has been soaked first and squeezed dry with a hard grip. This product does not readily take water so we soak it in a small bucket for at least 10 minutes and then work the hands getting it as dry as we can. Spread the moss thru the bag to cover the nuts as best as reasonably possible.

I avoid peat moss in a bag in a fridge. Thru experience I realized it was giving me too many rotten - soft chestnuts. It creates too wet of an environment. For your info I am attaching a photo of the good stuff - I buy it at Lowes.

 

[Sampson]

Thank you,Sir that's just the kind of information, I needed.

 

[mattpatt]

If you're just going to feed them to the deer no prep is necessary. Just put them in a bag in the fridge. They'll keep there for a long time. I've kept some for over a year and was able to get them to sprout. Other than that a cool dry place may work as a temporary solution. The problem is chestnuts are full of carbs and will go bad pretty quick if not refrigerated.

 

[Mark1427]

If you're just going to feed them to the deer no prep is necessary. Just put them in a bag in the fridge. They'll keep there for a long time. I've kept some for over a year and was able to get them to sprout. Other than that a cool dry place may work as a temporary solution. The problem is chestnuts are full of carbs and will go bad pretty quick if not refrigerated.

Did they mold at all?

 

[mattpatt]

Did they mold at all?

No mold at all. I have some one year old Dunstans in the fridge right now.

 

[shedder]

http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdfplus/10.1139/cjps-2015-0089

"Efficacy of washing treatments in the reduction of postharvest decay of chestnuts (Castanea crenata ‘Tsukuba’) during storage"