Native American Chestnut Comeback?
- Thread starter cagantpr
- Start date
Kerrin Hester
Member
You are right the blight is all around the eastern forest
Kerrin Hester
Member
oaks carry it,Oaks and chestnuts are in the beech family,Blight enters the chestnut tree through cracks or damaged area's of the bark.I spray my Chestnut trees bark with Biota max every spring.Biota max has the right soil microbes to counter the blight,seems to help in my opinion
shedder
Active Member
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chestnut_blight#Environment_and_Disease_Cycle
Upon becoming airborne, ascospores are carried by eddies of wind to new hosts or infect other parts of the same tree.[27] When insects, birds, or other wild life come into contact with the cankers, they can mechanically disperse the conidia to a new host.[27][28] Additionally, the asexual spores can be dispersed by rain splash.[28]
shedder
Active Member
Scarlet Oak suffers similar effects.
The fungus will also infect other tree species such as oaks, red maples, staghorn sumacs, and shagbark hickories.[10] Once infected, these trees will also exhibit orange bark with cankers. However, they will not exhibit shoot die back and death of the main tree. Instead the pathogen will be able to persist in trees, causing the fungus to be able to attack new growth in American Chestnut trees.
The fungus will also infect other tree species such as oaks, red maples, staghorn sumacs, and shagbark hickories.[10] Once infected, these trees will also exhibit orange bark with cankers. However, they will not exhibit shoot die back and death of the main tree. Instead the pathogen will be able to persist in trees, causing the fungus to be able to attack new growth in American Chestnut trees.
letemgrow
Well-Known Member
I was wondering about spraying a microbial mix for the first 3-5 years of a chestnuts life....see if the bacteria sticks and provides lifelong resistance. If not, just spraying the hot spots as needed.
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cagantpr
Active Member
I spent some time on Wednesday fertilizing the 3 in caliper and larger American Chestnut trees (I have identified 14 that large now). I used the technique that seemed to work on my fruit trees last year of using a digging bar to spear 3 holes, clocked around the trunk near the drip line. Once opened up about 5 inches deep, I filled the holes with 10-10-10 and stomped them shut. My hope is that after a couple years of recovery from the gypsy moth defoliation, this shot of fertilizer will produce a few nuts that I can pass around to you guys this fall. Time will tell.
While roaming around, I found an additional 4 inch caliper, 35 footer that I had previously not noticed. Unfortunately, this one may have a sign of blight. The trunk looks only slightly swelled about 15 feet up so I am not positive. This damage was less obvious and much higher relative to the damage on my blighted trees. Unlike my 2 trees that show blight, this one was NOT growing from an obvious dead stump. IF this tree was grown from seed AND it has blight, my original hope and theory that I started this thread with may be out the window.
I have not mentioned this previously, but I also have 14 still living Dunstans that I planted 6 years ago. These are all now 1 to 2 inch caliper and 12 to 18 feet tall. A few of these fruited the first year I transplanted them from the Walmart cage but none of them have fruited since. They also got the fertilizer treatment on Wednesday. If I get nuts from these this fall, I will be sure to keep them separate from the true Americans.
While roaming around, I found an additional 4 inch caliper, 35 footer that I had previously not noticed. Unfortunately, this one may have a sign of blight. The trunk looks only slightly swelled about 15 feet up so I am not positive. This damage was less obvious and much higher relative to the damage on my blighted trees. Unlike my 2 trees that show blight, this one was NOT growing from an obvious dead stump. IF this tree was grown from seed AND it has blight, my original hope and theory that I started this thread with may be out the window.
I have not mentioned this previously, but I also have 14 still living Dunstans that I planted 6 years ago. These are all now 1 to 2 inch caliper and 12 to 18 feet tall. A few of these fruited the first year I transplanted them from the Walmart cage but none of them have fruited since. They also got the fertilizer treatment on Wednesday. If I get nuts from these this fall, I will be sure to keep them separate from the true Americans.
Kerrin Hester
Member
I think it is possible,It definately helps directly on the blight kind of like mudpacks, whether it lasts long I do not know
shedder
Active Member
https://lists.psu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=TACF-GROWERS;5765b641.1803
"I have American chestnut nuts that are starting to sprout. I send these nuts out free of charge to people that are interested in starting some "mother" trees, so they have a tree to cross with our blight resistant tree, when it is available. Please read this email and the attachments on planting mother tree orchards and how to plant and care for your seedlings, and then let me know how many nuts you want to plant. ...."
A possible nut source.
"I have American chestnut nuts that are starting to sprout. I send these nuts out free of charge to people that are interested in starting some "mother" trees, so they have a tree to cross with our blight resistant tree, when it is available. Please read this email and the attachments on planting mother tree orchards and how to plant and care for your seedlings, and then let me know how many nuts you want to plant. ...."
A possible nut source.
shedder
Active Member
Yes, or reply to him on the site, or the NY TACF site.
Nichols has posted here before but may not visit much.
shedder
Active Member
https://myfrenchforest.blogspot.ca/2010/11/sweet-chestnut-coppice.html?m=0
A clue what the woods would be like if C dentata was still common.
A clue what the woods would be like if C dentata was still common.
shedder
Active Member
"The results were not what we expected. We had assumed that the trees of the Canadian C. dentata population were completely susceptible to chestnut blight, and the trees pollinated with the Connecticut backcross pollen would be somewhat tolerant. Instead, we found that both populations varied in their tolerance in the same way. In other words, the two populations did not differ, and most of the trees are still alive.
From this we have hypothesized that the American chestnut has the same gene loci for resistance as the Chinese and Japanese chestnuts, and that over thousands of years there have been mutations at these loci. Some of these mutations give some resistance/tolerance, but they had never been tested by the fungus. Consequently, when the American chestnut was challenged by the blight, these loci were tested and allowed the trees to survive. As a consequence, we are now more interested in our Canadian x Canadian crosses, as we can increase blight resistance and maintain tree stature."
http://www.canadianchestnutcouncil.ca/index.cfm?page=newsletters
http://www.canadianchestnutcouncil.ca/docs/newsletters/CCC - June 2018.1 TA.pdf
I was really surprised that they think they found resistance in pure AC and so soon. I am a little skeptical,
From this we have hypothesized that the American chestnut has the same gene loci for resistance as the Chinese and Japanese chestnuts, and that over thousands of years there have been mutations at these loci. Some of these mutations give some resistance/tolerance, but they had never been tested by the fungus. Consequently, when the American chestnut was challenged by the blight, these loci were tested and allowed the trees to survive. As a consequence, we are now more interested in our Canadian x Canadian crosses, as we can increase blight resistance and maintain tree stature."
http://www.canadianchestnutcouncil.ca/index.cfm?page=newsletters
http://www.canadianchestnutcouncil.ca/docs/newsletters/CCC - June 2018.1 TA.pdf
I was really surprised that they think they found resistance in pure AC and so soon. I am a little skeptical,
cagantpr
Active Member
My fall update.
The good news is that none of my previous blightless trees show any signs of blight. As a matter of fact, they looked great and I swear grew well this summer.
The bad news is no catkins or fruit on any of my Americans or Dunstans. I'm a broken record, but I still think my woods is suffering from the Gypsy Moth defoliation in 2015. At least I have a few acorns this year, but I still keep losing the occasional large oak. Here is a pic of red oak in one of my orchard plots that leafed out in spring but then died last summer. I paced it off and it was a 60 footer and counted 80 rings. Unfortunately, I look around and see a few more that wilted and died late this summer.
The good news is that none of my previous blightless trees show any signs of blight. As a matter of fact, they looked great and I swear grew well this summer.
The bad news is no catkins or fruit on any of my Americans or Dunstans. I'm a broken record, but I still think my woods is suffering from the Gypsy Moth defoliation in 2015. At least I have a few acorns this year, but I still keep losing the occasional large oak. Here is a pic of red oak in one of my orchard plots that leafed out in spring but then died last summer. I paced it off and it was a 60 footer and counted 80 rings. Unfortunately, I look around and see a few more that wilted and died late this summer.
Jason Broom
Well-Known Member
Has anyone heard an update on the GMO chestnut and approval from the USDA and FDA?
Cap'n
Active Member
What do you think is getting the Red Oaks? Hypoxylon Canker?
cagantpr
Active Member
I don"t have proof, but I blame it on the stress from the defoliation in 2015.
I wrote about it earlier in this thread, but in the summer of 2015 several hundred square miles around me had every oak, apple, and chestnut tree 100% defoliated. It was disgusting - so many caterpillars that they covered the tree trunks. The chewing sound all night was overwhelming. So many leaf fragments and so much caterpillar poo raining down, it clogged the gutters on my cabin.
I included the discussion of my oaks in this thread because I believe the stress from that defoliation is still affecting my American Chestnut seed bearing. In 2016 I had no acorns. In 2017 the acorns I had were tiny and fell in August. This year I finally have a decent crop, yet the occasional red oak contines to just brown out and die.
I have also had no chestnuts since. I don't know if I had any before because I hadn't catalogued my trees then yet. I do have a bunch of 3 or 4 footers around, however. So, I believe they once fruited and will again (2019)?
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Kerrin Hester
Member
I am Back,I had a computer problem and could not log in for a long time
