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Chestnut planting

Daver

PMA Member
I just received my shipment of chestnut trees yesterday and I am going to plant them this weekend. What advice can anyone offer in terms of spacing, best locations to plant, etc? I have an area in mind that has some slope to it, but it is well positioned in the middle of my farm. I think I only have 10 of these for now and my thoughts are to plant them in the same area'ish. TIA.
 
30' apart
They do not like heavy clay.
Try for some loamy well drained soil, I have had very good luck on forest like soil.
Protecting them is a must.

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Thank you, I will protect them. But...pretty much all of my soil is clay based. Should I add something to mute the clay at time of planting? Like good black dirt from elsewhere, etc? Other volunteer trees are growing there now and appear healthy.
 
Clay comes in different forms of let's say how tight a clay it is .
Every farmer that has clay says he has the hardest clay around.
If you have other trees growing that a good sign, it's just that the chestnuts will do better and grow faster in a loamy soil.
Putting other soil with it probably in the long run won't help much.
One of chestnuts Best friends is drainage.

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Chestnuts r very fickle, you will loose some.
Once you find the correct soil location they will grow fast.
Maybe take half your trees and put on 2 different locations.


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Tube them & I personally would do 2 posts so critters can’t move tube. I’d run cage around so deer don’t rub them too. I know it’s a pain but I’ve learned to do it right 1st time or deer or critters destroy hard work.

Agree on good loose soil. Well drained. Mine are planted on clay since I can’t avoid it but it’s for sure better quality black dirt on top. Which they do just fine. Letemgrow gave me some advice long ago…. “Plant in areas that u notice red oaks grow well” & I would say that’s been great info.

This is mine that I planted spring 2021. Popped out a month ago.
ECB42652-3731-48CB-95E4-7F210087305C.jpeg
 
Whitetail Hill Chestnuts. Does anyone know where I can get 10 tree tubes by Friday? I was going to cage them, but hadn't planned on tubing them too, but I will.
 
Whitetail Hill Chestnuts. Does anyone know where I can get 10 tree tubes by Friday? I was going to cage them, but hadn't planned on tubing them too, but I will.
They can sit without tubes for a while.
Here’s where I get mine. Regular miracle tube. I take a drill & vent the lower portion a bit more - about where leaves on trees start.

Timber Management, LLC
Mike Hamilton, Owner
385 Northhaven Drive
Robins, IA 52328
phone: (319) 573-0615
Email: [email protected]
www.treeproshelters.com
 
I started all of mine with tubes. Did a great job on protecting them. But year 3 I noticed the leaves inside the tubes were wet and browning. Tubes clearly didn’t have enough air holes. I ditched the tubes and caged them. I put window screen around each tree base to protect from mice and rabbits.
Once I fid this, they exploded with growth. I only have 6 though, so cages were doable.
 
Mine are all in heavy clay and seem to be doing just fine. I think the clay has actually helped them get through some dry stretches. The trees I caged seemed to do better than the ones I've tubed. If you tube, definitely add lots of extra holes to the tubes, they will overheat easily. Mulch and weed control.
 
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