Looking for Chestnut Trees

Farmboss

New Member
Hi all! New to the forum but looking for chestnuts trees to add to my farm for deer attractant/food supplementation. Looking for 12 trees to get planted this Fall, any help is appreciated.
 
Since no one has responded, I thought I'd at least give this thread a bump. Most of the trees, especially chestnuts, that I've grown on the farm, I've grown from nuts rather than buying trees. So, I don't have any experience to share regarding chestnut tree sources.

The trees that I planted years ago are producing a great crop this year. It till the deer a little time to find them, but they are now hammering them. They are a good wildlife tree, at least for me.
 
I’ve started some from seed, bought some from local stores and bought some online. If I wasn’t starting them from seed myself I’d look Whitetail Hill. Have nothing but good things to say about their trees that I’ve ordered and planted.
 
I started growing chestnuts from seed back in the '14/'15/'16 timeframe (don't recall exactly...) based on the wealth of knowledge that used to be on the QDMA forum. I haven't participated here as much, but do recognize some familiar names, and appreciate the high quality info shared, like the old days on the other site. I've kept at it as a hobby and sell some locally to other land managers, but I'm in Kansas City. Long drive from TN.

I store nuts in spagnum in the fridge in plastic shoe boxes. I pull them out in late January, and pot those with radicles into RM18s. By last frost, they are 18" and potted up to RM1G for the first season. I get 30-36" from most in that first year.

I pot some up to 3g fabric pots for a second year of growth. These are mostly 5-6' by their 2nd fall. And a handful are moved to 10g fabric pots for the 3rd year, reaching 8-12'. Those take up a ton of space, so I only do a couple dozen...

Imo, the key is drip irrigation. I struggled in the early years with keeping the trees going through the summer. It only takes one or 2 days to smoke them if you forget, and vacations are out of the question. The drip irrigation waters daily, just enough to get them to the next day. Not overwatering, and never forgetting...

I hope nobody feels like I'm hawking trees. Not sure there's anyone local on the site, and they are not worth a long drive- surely there are easier options. It's more of a re-introduction and letting you know I'm happy to share my methods if anyone is interested. There were some knowledgeable folks that shared info with me years ago, happy to continue that tradition. If the OP wants to try his hand at sprouting nuts and growing, I'm sure there's help to be offered.
 
I started growing chestnuts from seed back in the '14/'15/'16 timeframe (don't recall exactly...) based on the wealth of knowledge that used to be on the QDMA forum. I haven't participated here as much, but do recognize some familiar names, and appreciate the high quality info shared, like the old days on the other site. I've kept at it as a hobby and sell some locally to other land managers, but I'm in Kansas City. Long drive from TN.

I store nuts in spagnum in the fridge in plastic shoe boxes. I pull them out in late January, and pot those with radicles into RM18s. By last frost, they are 18" and potted up to RM1G for the first season. I get 30-36" from most in that first year.

I pot some up to 3g fabric pots for a second year of growth. These are mostly 5-6' by their 2nd fall. And a handful are moved to 10g fabric pots for the 3rd year, reaching 8-12'. Those take up a ton of space, so I only do a couple dozen...

Imo, the key is drip irrigation. I struggled in the early years with keeping the trees going through the summer. It only takes one or 2 days to smoke them if you forget, and vacations are out of the question. The drip irrigation waters daily, just enough to get them to the next day. Not overwatering, and never forgetting...

I hope nobody feels like I'm hawking trees. Not sure there's anyone local on the site, and they are not worth a long drive- surely there are easier options. It's more of a re-introduction and letting you know I'm happy to share my methods if anyone is interested. There were some knowledgeable folks that shared info with me years ago, happy to continue that tradition. If the OP wants to try his hand at sprouting nuts and growing, I'm sure there's help to be offered.
What are your settings on the drip irrigation?

bill
 
I use 0.5 gph drip emitters on the 1 gal, run for 25 min daily in the mid afternoon during summer, which is the most critical part of the year. If we get to a really hot, windy, dry spell, I might add a quick 5 min watering at sunrise to make sure they don't dry too much before the main watering. In the spring when I first put them out, I usually start with a couple days per week, then ramp it up based on weather and water usage. Trees that are just starting don't use nearly as much water until they advance farther in the growing season. Ideally, they get watered as soon as they dry out, which may be 1x per week, or 2x per day, depending on water needs of the tree at any given point in time.

On the bigger trees I use spray emitters that are adjustable. I set them for the lowest setting that produces a spray (vs a trickle) and has coverage of the pot. Those only run 5 min because of the greater volume they produce. In the past, I used drips on the big pots too, but felt like a significant part of the pot stayed dry with the slow drip. Sprays give better coverage of the whole container.

1 gal with drip emitters
20241029_084601.jpg

3 gal with spray emitters
20241029_084517.jpg
 
Go for their AU buck trees if you're only ordering 12.
I will say that I had a couple AU bucks that died. I don't know the situation now, but when I got them they were nut-grafted and grown in rootmaker bags. I put mine in 3 gal RB2s and babied them for a year before planting them in the field. They did well but then in a couple years died. I may have just been unlucky, but there is some talk of nut-grafted trees having a short life-span. Most likely, I was just unlucky with mine. I mention it because the chestnuts grown from nuts along side them did just fine.
 
I will say that I had a couple AU bucks that died. I don't know the situation now, but when I got them they were nut-grafted and grown in rootmaker bags. I put mine in 3 gal RB2s and babied them for a year before planting them in the field. They did well but then in a couple years died. I may have just been unlucky, but there is some talk of nut-grafted trees having a short life-span. Most likely, I was just unlucky with mine. I mention it because the chestnuts grown from nuts along side them did just fine.
They sell seedlings, not grafts now
 
They sell seedlings, not grafts now
If they are seedlings, they can't be the patented trees. Chestnuts can't fertilize themselves, 50% of the genetics come from another variety of chestnut. In order to get an identical clone of a Chestnut, some kind of grafting is required.

Having said that, in general, chestnuts seem to be more "true to seed" than other trees like apples. I expect that the progeny of the patented trees to have similar characteristics as the parent but with a lot more variability from tree to tree.

For example, one of the AU patented trees was touted for dropping later in November. I would expect that some of the seedlings of it would drop later and some earlier.

I'm just trying to make sure folks expectations are in line so they can decide if the premium associated with some trees is worth it.

Most of my trees were grown from nuts from patented Dunstan trees. They are now producing. There is a lot of tree to tree variability in terms of volume of production, when they are dropping, and whether the nuts fall from the husks in the tree or if the husks fall with the nut inside. Trees planted next to each other with the same conditions vary in size and form. Some are more American like growing taller and others are more Chinese like branching out more.

There is nothing wrong with this variability in wildlife trees. It can be an advantage if you have volume, putting nuts on the ground over a longer time span.
 
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