when to transplant my Dustan Chestnuts
- Thread starter Kabic
- Start date
wbpdeer
Well-Known Member
Kabic,
That is a good looking seedlings. Notice the number of layers of leaves. I see leaves with red tips on the top layer.
They are healthy - plant them and protect them. Congrats to you. You are in a good position with those seedlings. You are concentrating on height - I am concentrating on leaves. Got plenty and they are healthy.
That is a good looking seedlings. Notice the number of layers of leaves. I see leaves with red tips on the top layer.
They are healthy - plant them and protect them. Congrats to you. You are in a good position with those seedlings. You are concentrating on height - I am concentrating on leaves. Got plenty and they are healthy.
Sam
Active Member
Mind explaining the setup with the bucket and holes and bag like material inside the bucket? Im going to try my hand are planting for seed this spring and want to start getting things setup and ready to go once the seeds come out of the fridge. Your seedling looks good and i look forward to watching the progress.
Kabic
Active Member
I will start off by saying that I don't know if my approach is good or not. This is my second attempt at growing chestnuts. The first time I tried a gutter system. Here is a video that inspired me to try that approach. I will also describe below what I'm doing now.
The holes were an attempt at air pruning with the gutter system.
I decided that gutter system didn't work for chestnuts...I think the soil stays to moist. I also may have watered too much before moving to the buckets, I had multiple sprouts forming from the roots, that I didn't have an issue with this year. I also start in smaller pots and then move to these buckets, but in the future I think I'm leaning towards just planting directly in the buckets.
I also don't want to spend a lot of money on this endeavor. I think I paid $2 a bucket off of craigslist. The fabric is landscape fabric from Menards.
I got a hole saw set from harbor freight to cut the holes.
http://www.harborfreight.com/34-in-5-in-carbon-steel-hole-saw-set-18-pc-68115.html
Moving away from the gutter system, I took out the net pots from the bottom of the buckets and covered the hole with a square of landscape fabric. Besides attempting the air pruning, I believe the holes provide good drainage.
I didn't buy fancy growing material...it is a mixture of dirt from the final growing place, compost from the city yard waste area and the soil left over from some old potted plants. This year I also put some acid loving plant fertilizer below the roots of the trees moved to the buckets. I have the philosophy (which may be incorrect) that I don't want to have trees thrive at home because of fancy growing medium and then struggle when they are placed in native soil. Did I mention I didn't want to spend much money on this
I hope by using these 6 & 5 gallon buckets the soil is deep enough to give the roots plenty of room until I transplant to the final place. This years growth has be wondering about that which was the reason for the original post.
Finally this has been a wet year, I think I only watered them once or twice...I have enough rain otherwise that I am more worried about them being too wet. I have moved them from a shady sport to a sunnier spot to dry out faster. I think keeping them in the shade during the hottest part of the summer also helps.
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Kabic
Active Member
When I said last year I may have water too much at the beginning and got multiple sprouts, this is what I'm talking about
I over wintered the buckets in my garage. Half of them survived that, but then I believe I should have moved them out of the sun as spring turned to summer. All of the remaining plants died.
This year, I didn't have any of the plants sprout multiple trunks. This year squirrels got into them before half the nuts sprouted...not sure they were going to sprout anyways but I was going to wait them out. Out of 12 trees, only 2 survived the squirrels\moving them to the buckets...part of the reason I think in future attempts I will plant directly to the buckets or maybe try some directly in the ground.
I plan on plant these 2 trees this fall, screen the trucks, cage with hardware mesh and mulch them good to try to insulate from the cold...then clear the mulch in the spring.
I over wintered the buckets in my garage. Half of them survived that, but then I believe I should have moved them out of the sun as spring turned to summer. All of the remaining plants died.
This year, I didn't have any of the plants sprout multiple trunks. This year squirrels got into them before half the nuts sprouted...not sure they were going to sprout anyways but I was going to wait them out. Out of 12 trees, only 2 survived the squirrels\moving them to the buckets...part of the reason I think in future attempts I will plant directly to the buckets or maybe try some directly in the ground.
I plan on plant these 2 trees this fall, screen the trucks, cage with hardware mesh and mulch them good to try to insulate from the cold...then clear the mulch in the spring.
wbpdeer
Well-Known Member
Kabic,
One thing the holes in your buckets provide that is critical - Oxygen to the roots.
Roots need an adequate amount of moisture and they need Oxygen.
Your buckets with the large holes provide excellent Oxygen. We screw up when we pack soil to densely and inhibit oxygen getting to the roots.
Good drainage for chestnuts developing roots is important.
I hate squirrels for the very reason you experienced - they can describe good seedlings in short order.
One thing the holes in your buckets provide that is critical - Oxygen to the roots.
Roots need an adequate amount of moisture and they need Oxygen.
Your buckets with the large holes provide excellent Oxygen. We screw up when we pack soil to densely and inhibit oxygen getting to the roots.
Good drainage for chestnuts developing roots is important.
I hate squirrels for the very reason you experienced - they can describe good seedlings in short order.
