One Thousand Chestnut Trees - a Whitetail Deer Project

[Scott44]

Wayne, Do you try and keep your grow box at a certain temp? My grow box is a stand with a plastic cover that I pick up a couple years ago, I have it sitting in the south window in our kitchen so the only heat it used to get was from the sun. This year I added a small ceramic heater in the tent, I have it on low. When I planted my original chestnuts a week ago I filled the tray out with 6 that had not started to show a radicle yet and know all 6 have taken off. Just curious on what temp I should shoot for.

 

[wbpdeer]

I buy timers from Walmart and Lowes that have two electrical plug outlets available. The timers have 48 decisions / switches. The switch is a up and down toggle on a circular dial. Every 30 minute interval in the 24 day is either in the on or off position.

I start out running the timer on an even and odd setting. 30 minutes on followed by 30 minutes off. This spaces out the heat. Keep in mind the heater has a setting which cycles the heater on and off during the 30 minutes the timer is providing power.

One grow box stays in the low 80s and the other stays in the high 70s right now. These temperatures are high because I want the growing media as warm as I can get it. I want it warn to drive the germination rate.

One of my boxes I turned four of the on 30 minute switches to the off position. I wanted in a little lower.

Does my answer make sense to you?

I will lower the temps when I have green top growth across the board. After germination occurs on most all - my goal is 70 to 74 degrees.

Wayne

 

[Scott44]

Thanks!

 

[wbpdeer]

You are welcome.

Make me smile to know those chestnuts first hit the ground in Portland, TN and will soon be feeding deer under a new tree on your farm.

Now that is a good outcome.

Sweet - as my granddaughter would say.

 

[THE LLC]

Three went in the ground today, Wayne.

 

[wbpdeer]

Good Deal LLC. This Jan has been extremely warm here. Hope those three make great trees for you and the deer.

Wayne

 

[Benja]

Quick question, I have several chestnuts with blackened radicles like the one in the photo below. The nuts were in bags with 15 - 30 other chestnuts. They've been in the refrigerator crisper since October and November, but I moved 2 weeks ago and have a dramatically smaller fridge, so the nuts (200+ of a variety of fruits - several types of apples, pears, peaches, acorn, Chinese chestnuts, Dunstans, etc.) have been in a fabric shopping on a covered south-facing porch, roughly 8 feet above ground. Were the radicles frozen? And are the nuts still likely to produce a seedling?

 

[wbpdeer]

I have got to say I have not seen a radicle do that but then I have not put any outside.

You have three choices: 1) put them in growing media to see if they grow, 2) put them in fridge with temps in mid 30s. or 3) throw them away.

The only way to know if they want to survive is we give them a chance. Very often we can see a black/brown end on a radicle that is white on the nut side of it. Chestnuts want to survive - I have seen it repeatedly. With that in mind I say option 3 above should be avoided.

If any of the chestnuts are extremely soft, they means they are rotten on the inside. If the hull pushes in but springs back out when the pressure is off that just means we have an air gap between the nut and the hull.

I have read your post again. You say you have several like the photo. I assume you have some normal looking radicles on chestnuts.

Factor in how many trees you are willing to plant and protect the seedling. Protection of seedlings generally cost $$ - just keep that in mind.

If you had of put them in a cooler and put them outside that would have reduced the chance of freezing.

Good luck in solving this minor setback.

Wayne

 

[Benja]

Good point, Wsyne. I failed to mention that nearly half of these black radicled chestnuts were soft. I cut a few in half and found that the blackness extended to some distance from the radicle. They smelled. . . fermented. I tossed all the soft ones and kept 5 to plant.

The new fridge should come middle of February. Apparently LG's freight forwarder has filed for banktuptcy, so my fridge needs to find an alternate route from South Korea. Once it's here, I'll have a fridge just for vernalizing seeds.

Meanwhile, I am going to put them in an ice chest. (Had one on the porch all along, but it was full of food until recently)

 

[Benja]

I have read your post again. You say you have several like the photo. I assume you have some normal looking radicles on chestnuts.

Wayne

Yes, I have normal looking chestnut radicles, but not in that bag. All the radicles in this particular bag are blackened. I picked them from the same tree on the same day. Others bags of chestnuts have normal radicles.

 

[wbpdeer]

Yes, I have normal looking chestnut radicles, but not in that bag. All the radicles in this particular bag are blackened. I picked them from the same tree on the same day. Others bags of chestnuts have normal radicles.

You did nothing wrong then. Those chestnuts smell bad because they are rotten. Unless we monitor a tree on a regular basis, we don't really know how long a chestnut has been laying on the ground.

The sooner you can collect a chestnuts when it drops, the less issues you will encounter.

I like to grab a limb and shake it to get as many to drop right then as possible. You can take a stick and the burs that are open on the tree but still holding the chestnuts will give them up with a whack by the stick. You can also pick them from an open bur.

I submit the rotten ones were doomed the day you collected them (bad things already set in motion). I have one tree that the grass is tall under it and we have trouble with mold due to the ground moisture. I pick from the burs hanging on the limb in that situation.

If I can help in any way, please let me know.

Wayne

 

[Scott44]

You are welcome.

Make me smile to know those chestnuts first hit the ground in Portland, TN and will soon be feeding deer under a new tree on your farm.

Now that is a good outcome.

Sweet - as my granddaughter would say.

Yea those chestnuts are growing 588mi north according to Google

 

[Bottomland]

I've finally found this forum after the QDMA forum was shut down last year.

Wayne, I've got a bag of your chestnuts in the fridge. With the warm weather we've been having in the Deep South, I may start planting some of them in Rootmakers soon. No radicle yet. Too early?

 

[wbpdeer]

Bottomland,

Any condensation in the bag? If no, I would add a few drops of water. Just an effort to avoid them drying out.

Too much water can cause mold - a few drops is 5 or 6 drops. Glad you found us.

Welcome. This forum has been put together in around 6 months - thereabouts.

Wayne

 

[Bottomland]

Bottomland,

Any condensation in the bag? If no, I would add a few drops of water. Just an effort to avoid them drying out.

Too much water can cause mold - a few drops is 5 or 6 drops. Glad you found us.

Welcome. This forum has been put together in around 6 months - thereabouts.

Wayne

Very little condensation, but still some. I've been regulating it as it gets too moist. No mold. I haven't put them in any sphagum yet. That could be the issue. I'll do that today.


Sent from my iPhone using Deer Hunter Forum

 

[wbpdeer]

I would say with no mold - then things are in good shape. I stick many of my chestnuts in growing media before the radicle shows. I have good success. But it is nice to see the radicle - tells us this chestnuts wants to become a tree.

Wayne

 

[Diamond hunter]

Wayne,when is the best time to direct seed chestnuts,I cant remember? Also,what is the minimum spacing you know of for chestnuts? All I am planting will be in my electric fence enclosure.Also,I purchased a post hole digger 12" for my tractor,It will really help digging for those potted plants. If It seems easy,I may even dig a hole and pull the rocks out and then fill the hole back in and do the direct seed thing.You can borrow the auger anytime you want it.

 

[wbpdeer]

Diamond Hunter,

I got up early and drove to Indiana to a Shed Dog Trial and just got home.

Chestnuts do better if they already have a radicle and do better when the soil is warm. I like to get them 1 inch below the soil. Prepping a hole is good - create a hole and back fill. When the tap root starts - it has a favorable downward cylinder.

Maybe the first week or two of April. Ground just don't freeze much in April. The ground will protect the chestnut if it is an inch deep.

You have got to protect the chestnuts against tree squirrels, chipmunks, etc.

I like spacing of seven good steps apart.

Chestnuts direct seed in October seem to do OK for most people. Hope my answer helps.

Congrats on the pole hole auger. That will make for good planting. Guys say take a shovel and create holes in the side of hole if it appears hard. If not the roots may circle.

Wayne

 

[wbpdeer]

I have heard from some chestnut guys that are seeing their chestnuts show the radicle and top growth. Mine have got going very well in the last week. I expect many more with top growth this week.

CAS_HNTR gave me some swamp white oak and they are on steroids - growing at a rapid rate. Thanks Craig.

Regular chinkapin are the slowest thing I have going right now.

If you have success on any Chinese Chestnut please post your photos on this thread. This is how we give hesitant watchers to get in the game.

Thanks for reading this thread.

Wayne

 

[Scott44]

Topgrowth on 29 of the 48 so far, 17 of the other 19 have roots started and 2 I'm not sure. Looking good so far.