One Thousand Chestnut Trees - a Whitetail Deer Project

[lakngolf]

These pictures were taken 11/09/2016. You are definitely a bit north and show more effects of colder weather.

I have about ten seedlings here that I will transplant in late December or January. Chestnuts were direct seeded two springs ago (spring 2015). The plants grew well but I did not protect them. They came back and this year I kept wire cages around them. I will leave a couple of trees in this area, and group the rest elsewhere on the property.

 

[wbpdeer]

Lak,

This color showed up in the last 7 to 10 days. All five of my chestnuts at home are turning now. We have been so dry for the last 50 to 55 days. Your seedlings look great.

 

[wbpdeer]

This photo is from a 2015 Seedling. It shows the zones of color extremely well. Just part of the process each fall.

 

[TreeDaddy]

Wayne,

was the seedling in the picture started from seed in spring '15?

Is that typical for first year growth?(height,foliage,etc)

thanks,
bill

 

[Neahawg]

Bill it just depends I up mine up to 3 and five gallon pots and average about 4-5 foot first year at home with some bigger then that.

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

 

[wbpdeer]

Wayne,

was the seedling in the picture started from seed in spring '15?

Is that typical for first year growth?(height,foliage,etc)

thanks,
bill

Bill,

Both of my photos are chestnuts that were collected in the fall of 2014 and placed in the fridge. In Jan of 2015 each chestnut was put in a rootmaker 18 in a grow box. The chestnuts in the yard was planted in late April 2015 and here we are in November 2016. I have not been aggressive at moving them up in pots.

Neahawg does a super job at getting tall trees fast. Matter of fact, he is among the fastest at getting that.

Look at his tree and my tree. Mine is a branchy tree - his is phone pole straight. These are examples of two different types of tree shapes.

I could definitely learn a few things from Neahawg - Merle trained him well.

One point I want to make - look at the number of leaves on my tree. It is loaded and healthy. It takes a great root system to drive that type of foliage. The rootmaker approach worked great for this tree.

 

[Neahawg]

I say another thing I've observed is that many of my smaller trees catch up by the second growing season, my hope is by the third I'll have several that really take off.

 

[lakngolf]

Ok, Wayne, my direct seeded trees have caught up and have brown leaves now. This picture was taken today.

 

[wbpdeer]

Lakngulf

Glad to see your chestnut trees are on script. My weather has been colder and the greenhouse is a sea of brown leaves.

My sawtooth oaks are mostly all brown too. What do your sawtooth leaves look like?

Hope the tornadoes gave you a pass. Gatlinburg fires are a horrible disaster.

 

[lakngolf]

Lakngulf

Glad to see your chestnut trees are on script. My weather has been colder and the greenhouse is a sea of brown leaves.

My sawtooth oaks are mostly all brown too. What do your sawtooth leaves look like?

Hope the tornadoes gave you a pass. Gatlinburg fires are a horrible disaster.

We got some good rain and with little wind damage. I was pleased to find out today that I still have some oat/wheat alive in the food plots that the rain can now give a boost.

 

[wbpdeer]

I did my son and favor and picked up his deer from the meat processor. On the way home I saw a for sale sign in yard of the homeowners where I collect chestnuts with the 30 tree grove. These landowners have been very nice to me.

I see no reason why their property will not sell. I just hope the new owners allow me to collect chestnuts on their land.

Guess I will get busy and find other locations to collect from just in case I lose this honey hole. I am just now bringing my walk in cooler to completion so I will scramble around to cover my bases.

 

[catscratch]

That would be a bummer to loose your "spot". I suppose it's happened to all of us in one form or another. Maybe the current residents will put a good word in for you when they sign papers. A welcome basket never hurts either.

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[wbpdeer]

Catscratch,

That could be a loss of 30 trees out of the 46 I collected from in 2016. People continuously tell me of Chinese Chestnut trees that are loaded at other locations. I know these 30 trees by their drop time. It would certainly be a loss. They are between 2 and 3 miles from my driveway which makes checking on them so easy.

If I can't locate other trees by the end of May, I have some trees I have access to that I will spray to eliminate weevils at that locations.

Got a good friend that is a newspaper reporter and we can get an article timely placed to bring more trees to the process I believe.

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) helped distribute trees approximately 50-60 years ago after the American Chestnut disaster. It will be many of those trees that are now very mature that I will hopefully benefit from.

 

[FTG-05]

Catscratch,

That could be a loss of 30 trees out of the 46 I collected from in 2016. People continuously tell me of Chinese Chestnut trees that are loaded at other locations. I know these 30 trees by their drop time. It would certainly be a loss. They are between 2 and 3 miles from my driveway which makes checking on them so easy.

If I can't locate other trees by the end of May, I have some trees I have access to that I will spray to eliminate weevils at that locations.

Got a good friend that is a newspaper reporter and we can get an article timely placed to bring more trees to the process I believe.

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) helped distribute trees approximately 50-60 years ago after the American Chestnut disaster. It will be many of those trees that are now very mature that I will hopefully benefit from.

Wayne, where are those trees located?

Thanks,

 

[wbpdeer]

Wayne, where are those trees located?

Thanks,

All of the trees I collect under are located in northern Sumner County, TN. Six of them are miles east of me, four of that six is located on a farm I drive by on the way to our farm. Two of the six are in the east side of Sumner County - south of Westmoreland.

The 30 tree grove is approximately 2.5 miles from my house. I have worked hard to find this large collection of chestnut trees spread across the north end of my county.

 

[FTG-05]

No I meant the TVA-planted trees from 50-60 years ago.

 

[wbpdeer]

I have only been told of that program. It was a distribution program. Most of the people that took advantage of that program have passed on.

The contributions of the American Chestnut to the way of life when the blight began to destroy them is something hard for present day citizens to process.

Short answer to your questions - they are spread across the eastern US and they are where you find them. Where are Arbor Day trees located - everywhere you find them.

TVA distributed them and citizens planted the seedlings on their land and farms is how I believe that program worked. One place I got to collect this year has four trees in an exact box shape. They are impressive trees - both productive and huge.

 

[FTG-05]

I gotcha now. Sorta like the free tree (or almost free) program that participated in last year. Got about 60 trees, planted them, then we had the 6 month drought. Oh well.

 

[Mark1427]

Wayne, what and where do you spray for weevils ?

 

[wbpdeer]

I have never sprayed for weevils. If I spray this year, I will speak to my county extension agent in my county. These are part state part federal paid employees. They help farmers, gardeners, orchard folks, etc.

I moved Chinese Chestnuts from my dorm fridge to my new walk in cooler after lunch. This year I am going to test the chestnuts with weevils to determine what the germination rate is. Any chestnut that has mold gets tossed without fail.

Told you what I know - which shows my inexperience with spraying.