Nanny's Persimmons and Chestnuts….

[Tra_cline]

My wife and I purchased 125ac farm this year and having these growing there would mean the world to me.

With the Persimmons dropping like rain from my grandma's persimmon trees in her yard she is gathering them up for me. She is wrapping them in Paper towels, putting them in freezer bags then putting the bags into the freezer. She says she will easily have over 2 gal of persimmons when she's done…...
I'm not sure if this is the correct way to keep them stored ……
The chestnut trees are the typical Chinese variety, planted by my "Pops" - grandpa in 1974 these line the driveway and fall every year in wheel barrel loads. Till now the only use I ever saw in these were hellish "snowball" fights with my cousins… but now between having the farm and the explosion of interest in chestnut for deer I really want to transplant some of these also.

Once I pick them up, I plan on potting them into gal pots and buying potting dirt from a local tree farm/nursery.
Any of you guys have any tried and true tricks to good tree start up from seeds?
I plan to keep these at my house for time being and transplant these once they are couple feet tall????

 

[dogdoc]

Both persimmons and chestnuts require a period of cold stratification.

I collect my persimmon seeds from coyote scat around my land in the late fall and winter. I clean them really well then store them in the fridge for a minimum of 60 days. I usually put them in peat moss while under going the stratification with just a very small amount of moisture. I have never had any mold problems with persimmons. If collected straight from the fruit though you have to make sure you get all the fruit pulp off the seeds. I don't know if storing them in the freezer for an extended period of time will keep the seeds viable.

Chestnuts also need a minimum of 60 days in the fridge. Picking them and then planting them in pots will not work unless you are attempting to do a natural cold stratification by keeping the pots outside. I kept my chestnuts in the fridge for about 75 days. Tossing any that developed mold. I removed them every 2 to 3 weeks to clean them all well and then put back into fridge. I changed baggies every time I cleaned them. I only had about 2 mold but ended up losing several after planting to mold. I didn't have the best success with chestnuts. I think they are much pickier with the amount of moisture while germinating and with the type of potting mixture. You want a well drained mixture--they don't like to stay wet.

There are a lot of guys with a lot more experience than me with chestnuts but I can definitely help you with the persimmons.

todd

 

[wbpdeer]

Tra,

I suggest you grade those chestnuts trees into early droppers and late droppers by the tree. You will need to rake the ground to remove the burrs to know when a burr dropped. I am a guy who has collected chestnuts and shipped out 145 orders the last two falls.

I think you need to decide how many trees you would be planting on the new ground. If the answer is 60 chestnut trees - then I would collect 180 chestnuts. Last year, Jack Yoder from Virginia and I followed germination schedules for his batch and mine. I cold stratified mine about 84 days - he stratified his for 60 days. Mine germinated better percentage wise. I recommend cold stratifying as close to 90 days as you can get.

If you were going to plant 6 chestnut trees together in a location, I would plant 3 early droppers and 3 late droppers. Your have to collect them like two different species. Down the road if you are a hunter, this will pay great dividends.

I soak my chestnuts overnight as soon as they are collected and the next day, the floaters are tossed out. Do you know what a weevil hole looks like. It is a small round hole in the chestnut - you toss them too. I want my chestnuts hydrated when they hit the fridge. I like to aim for 33 or 34 degrees in the fridge. I use an indoor/outdoor thermometer.

I have given you some things to think about. Please don't be afraid to ask me any questions - I would want you to be successful. Because of the heritage of the chestnuts - everyone will want you to be successful.

 

[Fish]

Follow the advice illustrated above and you will have success.......
Kudos to you for keeping these trees in the family. Planting from seed is always a guess to the quality of tree you will ultimately get, but it sounds like you have excellent parentage to work with. I use the same logic with my sawtooths and have produced some great trees.

 

[wbpdeer]

Tra,

I read your post again. Chestnuts are stored in the fridge at about 33 or 34 degrees. I will let DogDoc and others speak to you regarding persimmons. I will address the Chinese Chestnuts.

What county in Kentucky? I hunt a lease in Butler County on the Green River.