Congratulations on the $5 trees. All you have to do is be patient and realize that if they aren't any left when they get cheap then it wasn't meant to be. Go buy a couple more $5 trees or you will be kicking yourself later.
For anybody thinking about buying a cheap chestnut that doesn't look so good, Chestnut Hills posted this the other day on their Facebook page. One of their shipments to Illinois and Wisconsin was delayed and the trees were in bad shape when they finally arrived. Chestnut Hills stated that this will revitalize the trees. I guess it would work on any chestnut trees that are heat or water stressed after sitting in a parking lot.
We are advising customers to water their stressed trees with this solution once a week for 4-6 weeks:
Soak 1 multi B vitamin & 1 tablespoon of Epsom salt overnight in 1 gallon of water. Apply one gallon per tree, once a week with this solution for 4-6 weeks. Don't water them more than once a week with this solution to avoid salt buildup. Water your trees with regular water as needed as well.
For nutritional deficiencies/ green up recipe:
Mix the following dry ingredients well in a 5 gallon bucket and distribute about a 1/2 cup on two sides of mature trees (4 yr olds ) at the drip line.
Less for younger trees with less caliper.
1/2 the bucket - Milorganite
1 cup - Ironite ( dry, granular )
1/2 cup - Manganese sulfate
1 cup - Epsom Salts