One Thousand Chestnut Trees - a Whitetail Deer Project

Catscratch,

Funny I have 3 sawtooth here in my back yard and one of them might bear some acorns this year. They are true stair steps, tall, medium and short. So are there any chinese chestnuts in your area that are older established trees?

My chestnuts have done well here and on our farm too.
 
Catscratch,

Funny I have 3 sawtooth here in my back yard and one of them might bear some acorns this year. They are true stair steps, tall, medium and short. So are there any chinese chestnuts in your area that are older established trees?

My chestnuts have done well here and on our farm too.
Zero chestnuts in my area other than what I've planted. Had never seen one until I grew one.

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I'll take some. We still grow sawtooths every yr in rootmakers vs student designed pots (after they learn the 4 inch rule and air pruning mechanisms). Haven't done chestnuts in a long time. I'll pay shipping so you don't have to spend any of your money. I have to warn you... they don't grow well here. I have trees from the original shipment of nuts you sent me that are only 3-4' tall. Caged and babied, but struggling. I hope to see a nut on one someday.

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Cat, we grew a collection of Chinese and dunstan chestnuts from seed. I kept them in 1 gallon rootmakers for the first year and then put them in the ground behind our house. That was the spring of 2016. 3 of the 9 survived and are growing like crazy every year now. Still no nuts, but the biggest is 13’ tall now. I messed up in that I didn’t know anything about pruning them to begin with, so I began pruning them this late winter I was worried they’d show negative affects, I pruned them probably a little too aggressively, but they took it in stride and are doing great. I’d be glad to give you some Kansas tree nuts when they begin producing. I honestly don’t know if these three survivors are Chinese or dunstan.
 
First one.. whoop

20210721_180045_copy_1024x1365.jpg
 
Chestnuts are dropping in Portland, TN and I have been out enough that I have been hit in the head at least 3 times and the shoulder more than that with brown chestnuts but not any burrs.

At this point I have collected 3 five gallon buckets full from two mature trees that I always collect from. Additionally, in my backyard, the tree in my avatar plus two other trees, I have collect about 2 gallons at this point. This is the best these trees in the back yard have provided.

Thank goodness for my nut wizard, it makes the task less difficult and more efficient.

Hope others have trees that are as loaded as what I have here.

Wayne Pruett
Portland, TN
 
I shipped a larger order of chinese chestnuts to Astoria, IL 61501 today. I used a medium size Flat Rate Box from the Post Office.

It felt good to see those chestnuts go a man and his brother who are motivated to grow some trees for deer and turkeys.

This year I am concentrating on giving chestnuts away in my home town. A supervisor in the Post Office was surprised when I told him his chestnuts would be free to him.

Hand delivery is cheaper than what they have to charge for their service.

Wayne Pruett
Portland, TN
 
My Avatart Photo has a Chinese Chestnut tree I planted between my backdoor and my greenhouse. I had collected that chestnut and then grew it in one of my grow boxes. Planted the seedling with 4 others to make collecting chestnuts easier and more convenient down the road.

So here I am in Sept 2021 and the very tree I am standing beside has really produced well this year.
This tree is about 75% dropped while the tree right beside the avatar tree is still holding 90% of it's burrs.

I have one of the five with no burs that are viable. So my efforts have paid off. The chestnuts are real beauties. I just have to get to the tree early each morning to prevent the squirrels from getting too many. None of the chestnuts in this bowl will be consumed by humans, all will be grown into a seedling by me or someone else.

upload_2021-10-2_13-48-27.jpeg
 
A big thanks to Cutman and my friend Milton, tomato whisper, as they got my password issue solved. I have been scarce for a couple of years. I suffered a mild heart attack in June 2020. It was a defining moment and I have worked hard to correct my health. I got back deer hunting this fall, spent 10 days in Ohio. Killed a 135 inch buck on our Tennessee Farm.

I have changed my habitat approach. I got tired of shipping and worrying about recovering my postage cost. So recently I have been growing chestnuts and sawtooth and giving away the seedlings I don't plant. I give them to deer hunters that have ground they can plant on. I have changed some of planting procedures, YouTube is a great resource and a person can learn a great deal if they want to improve.

I tried to loggin on New Years Eve and struck out. So I went back to reading some of my post from the old QDMA Forum. Before I knew it I had spent 3 hours reading how this thread got started.

You newbies may know about how this forum become to creation. Still makes me red faced for what they did pulling the plug on the old forum.

So I am thankful for the leadership that got this forum started.

Had a bad afternoon, my truck blew a head gasket this afternoon. So I had to get it towed in a rain storm.

Give me a few days to get my good stuff up for anyone that thinks it might interest them.
 
Glad you are back and healthy.
I have 4 dorm fridges full of chestnuts and sawtooth oak in my basement. I have buried buckets underground on the shady side of my house for 2 years, I will be digging up the 2nd group in about 2 months. I use 2 gallon buckets and like to use play sand to layer the nuts in. It has worked well, I use the same hole each year. That is how the old timers winterize their stashes. I hit rock in the ground due to a basement wall (house built in 1952) so I put a small rectangle of wood to build the right depth. The top of those buckets are 9 to 10 inches beneath the surface.

My change in approach was guided by I want as many of my seedlings as possible feeding deer. People are so busy that they don't have time to grow the seedlings or if they do, they make great killers (sudden death). So my satisfaction comes from me growing good seedlings and giving people a chance to plant them.

Regarding how many chestnuts I have shipped via the Postal Service, the number is 22,420 since I began in 2014. At my busiest time, I had over 700 bucks out in postage. I stopped shipping until some of those funds came back to me. People are great at paying, I only had one jerk from Michigan that stiffed me. Unfortunately, people are horrible at returning growing containers. Over half have not returned their containers from the last 3 or 4 months. But that is part of the process to put nut bearing trees in front of the deer and turkeys.

I am using worm castings in my planting holes this week, 1st time ever. I am about to compost effectively, still got my learners hat on now. Purchased an aerator tool from Home Depot and I love it. I will post photos and explain the process later. Our farm was logged, and I run into compacted soil especially on ridgetops. So I am amending the soil some and definitely improving the aeration. I have been brewing compost tea in the past and 2023 is gonna be a huge compost tea effort. The aerator tool will help me get that resource closer to the roots.

Lake Erie Chestnuts helped me get a good metal tag system acquired. He is on Facebook is how we crossed paths. He is a nice guy and good resources. I use Route 9 Cooperative in Eastern Ohio, formerly the Empire Chestnut Company. Greg Miller who heads that up is the chestnut whisperer of all the whisperers IMO.

I added a 15 gallon stainless steel kettle to treat my chesntuts to 120 F water to kill weevils. Water heater elements usually have a low setting of 120 F. I am pleased with how that turned out. I am confident the germination will be normal for those chestnuts - stay tuned????

So even with me laying low, I have been active with my trees. I have lived long enough to know the giver gets more than the receiver. The seedlings are my way of giving back to the whitetail deer. I will turn 70 in late April and I have hunted whitetails since I was a 12 year old boy. So I believe I need to give back.
 
Jan 15th, 2023

This week I will begin to pull some chestnuts from the Dorm Fridges where they have been cold stratifying and get Rootmaker 18s going in my grow boxes. I had rather grow in my driveway under cages using the sun's energy since it is free, but I am hoping to grow the largest amount ever in 2023. I will be giving my seedlings away, but I avoid shipping bareroot due to cost and hassle. This year will be some in the grow box and the majority outside in the driveway.

If you are going to grow chestnuts this year, please post your plans on this thread. Join in so others can learn from your experiences.

Wayne
 
Jan 15th, 2023

This week I will begin to pull some chestnuts from the Dorm Fridges where they have been cold stratifying and get Rootmaker 18s going in my grow boxes. I had rather grow in my driveway under cages using the sun's energy since it is free, but I am hoping to grow the largest amount ever in 2023. I will be giving my seedlings away, but I avoid shipping bareroot due to cost and hassle. This year will be some in the grow box and the majority outside in the driveway.

If you are going to grow chestnuts this year, please post your plans on this thread. Join in so others can learn from your experiences.

Wayne
How long do you keep the seedlings in the Rootmaker 18 cells?
 
How long do you keep the seedlings in the Rootmaker 18 cells?
It depends on how well they grow, but about 12 weeks seems to be the optimum time to move them to another container. I am not a person that plants them when I remove them from the 18s. At 12 weeks I expect to see good stem strength and multiple scaffolds of leaves.

Everything I have read says it is better to move them too soon as opposed to too late. I am growing chestnuts so people reading this need to understand that other nuts may not grow at the same rate. The growing media is a critical piece of the growing puzzle. I use Osmocote Plus in my cells which gives them plenty of upp to grow well.

Check the bottom of various cells to see how the roots are expanding. Some cells will take off and some will be slow to gain height, girth and leaves.

Additional Advice: When evaluating if it is time to move a seedling up to another container, look closely at the appearance of the leaves and overall health of the seedling. I am one who always close my eyes as I feel the condition of the leaves as I gently rub them between my thumb and index finger. How does it feel. Also, I look at the stem at about 2 inches above the soil line. I am looking for some girth here, not just a straight, leggy line.

Hope my reply helps.
 
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Well I have been planting chestnuts and sawtooth in growing media to beat the band. Now the Tuesday Evenings low for my town is 33. So if they miss it by 2 degrees I will have a huge setback. So tomorrow after lunch I will be moving things into the garage and move things into the greenhouse which has only a shade cloth on it.
I have rootmaker 18s that I will stack with an inch spacer between layers. I will put a tarp over all those rootmaker trays. My greenhouse is a gravel floor which will help with the heat retention.
I will cover some of my cages with tarps or plastic.
So it appears this is a one night issue in the 10 day forecast. I live 32 miles north of Nashville, TN and I have to avoid their forecast as it two degrees warmer than us. Bowling Green, KY is 32 miles north of me. In this instance, their temperature forecast matches my hometown.

Gonna be the largest growing year I have ever had. Wish me luck.

wbpdeer
 
Well I have been planting chestnuts and sawtooth in growing media to beat the band. Now the Tuesday Evenings low for my town is 33. So if they miss it by 2 degrees I will have a huge setback. So tomorrow after lunch I will be moving things into the garage and move things into the greenhouse which has only a shade cloth on it.
I have rootmaker 18s that I will stack with an inch spacer between layers. I will put a tarp over all those rootmaker trays. My greenhouse is a gravel floor which will help with the heat retention.
I will cover some of my cages with tarps or plastic.
So it appears this is a one night issue in the 10 day forecast. I live 32 miles north of Nashville, TN and I have to avoid their forecast as it two degrees warmer than us. Bowling Green, KY is 32 miles north of me. In this instance, their temperature forecast matches my hometown.

Gonna be the largest growing year I have ever had. Wish me luck.

wbpdeer
Same here, our fruit trees are starting to bud, so the next month is critical for freezing. I hope that your big chestnut growing year is successful. I find that planting trees is very addictive, but I've had to write this tree season off due to a large construction project that I have going on this winter. Next year I'm just going to make time to put out some more chestnuts.
 
Well I have been planting chestnuts and sawtooth in growing media to beat the band. Now the Tuesday Evenings low for my town is 33. So if they miss it by 2 degrees I will have a huge setback. So tomorrow after lunch I will be moving things into the garage and move things into the greenhouse which has only a shade cloth on it.
I have rootmaker 18s that I will stack with an inch spacer between layers. I will put a tarp over all those rootmaker trays. My greenhouse is a gravel floor which will help with the heat retention.
I will cover some of my cages with tarps or plastic.
So it appears this is a one night issue in the 10 day forecast. I live 32 miles north of Nashville, TN and I have to avoid their forecast as it two degrees warmer than us. Bowling Green, KY is 32 miles north of me. In this instance, their temperature forecast matches my hometown.

Gonna be the largest growing year I have ever had. Wish me luck.

wbpdeer
Good luck Wayne. I had some to get bit by our cold spell couple weeks ago. This time not so bad for us, so hoping for the best.
 
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