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Chestnuts

D

DE2IA

Active Member
I am looking to plant some chestnuts this year. I am considering the Dunstan and the Chinese. Was curious to hear about any experiences you have had. Which grow best in Iowa, what kind of growth rate you got with them, how quick they produce nuts, and any other advice or tips from your experiences with them. Thanks
 
The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The next best time is today. Good luck..this spring would be a great time to plant a tree no matter what type.
 
Not sure if anyone else has this problem, but they can get sunscald when young, so may need trunk protection.


2lc5st4.jpg
 
Read somewhere that even the new blight resistant species have had a newly discovered disease pop up that may threaten tree health...may want to google and try to find recently published article....
 
If you look at my photo bucket on here you can see where I had my start. I'm currently at 30-40 trays of 4 varieties of chestnuts. each tray has maybe 18 or 36 spots, I can't remember. So, probably an over kill but I am raising them in rootmaker trays and they are doing very well. I know some like the American Chestnut and I could be wrong with not going with a more pure variety like that. My thinking was (and I may be wrong)..... get 3-4 varieties that are mainly disease resistant (15/16th's american is one example) and at least some of them should do well. Kinda the shotgun approach. Same with deer preference, some they could like better than others. Though, from my research, I think something like a Dunstan may be over-hyped and marketed and many folks have told me their areas with different kinds - the deer don't care which of the chestnuts. I am including some Dunstan's too and hoping a buddy who frequents this site will send me some seeds if he has a good year! So, right or wrong, I bought several varieties, a few lbs each and growing them in rootmakers, putting in 1-3 gallon rootmaker pots this season and then planting the following with tree tubes. Babying hundreds to get as many to maturity as I can. Good luck and if you need a nut source to purchase from, lemme know. Don't forget your apples, pears, persimmon and dwarf chinkapin trees either!
 
Thanks Skip. Apples are doing great on my place, my persimmons all fizzled out for some reason......chestnuts are this years planting. Think I will take your advice and try a couple of varieties.
 
From my experience - plant 100 cheap persimmons a year for 5 yrs. at the end- if u have 50-100 that make it- u did great and well worth the effort. Buy outta Missouri and hardly costs much anyways. Persimmons r a pain & fussy to survive but worth it.
 
Persimmons can be pretty easy to establish if don't get hit with dry weather and keep them watered, but yes they have more transplant shock than some trees. I want to get some grafted trees from this place: http://nuttrees.net/ like this one:
Deer Magnet - A late ripening cultivar, so named because deer love this variety of Persimmon. It is known that the deer will always eat the best first. During late fall to early winter, this Persimmon tree is a fruit bearing magnet for wild life. It is a great tasting persimmon and is a must for the hunter that has deer in mind for that trophy rack.
Container Grown
 
The persimmons I purchased from MDC always hang till at least into November. This year, they are still hanging and dropping daily. Looks like hogs under those trees, but its just deer tracks.
 
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