The first nuts to fall this year are Luvall’s Monster. These are not very large but they can get much larger. LM is frequently one of the first chestnuts to fall.
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Cool. Are they pure Chinese or American hybrids?
LM is an American/Japanese x Chinese hybrid.
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Neat-oh. Do you eat them fresh or cooked?
Both. These are sweet enough that the can be eaten fresh.
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Very nice. I’m looking to plant a couple of chestnuts at a relatives in northern Georgia. I’m thinking Dunstan hybrids. Anyone growing them in the south? Would fall/pot planting be best or bare root in spring? Anyone know a good source for them?
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If you are planting for wildlife, Dunstan hybrids would be fine. If you are planning on someone eating the nuts, there are much better choices. Most chestnuts are hard to find in pots for Fall planting so by default most trees are planted in the Spring. Red Fern Farm in Iowa sells some very nice seedlings from good parent trees.
http://www.redfernfarm.com/index.php/product-category/chestnuts/
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How big is your giant chestnut tree reach before making nuts. I am thinking of planting a couple of CN trees.
Tony
beautiful. Which zone do you live in? This early in September is quite early for chestnuts. They tend to mature at the same time as Concord grapes (around Sept. 20 here).
Different trees start producing nuts at different ages and different sizes. It’s hard to predict when a new tree will produce nuts.
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I’m in zone 9. Last year they started dropping in Mid-August but September 1 is more normal. I have lots of different varieties and some will not start dropping until mid-October.
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Nice looking chestnuts, thanks for sharing!
I purchased some LM chestnuts from Red Fern Farm and planted them out, now have some nice saplings for my nut hedgerow. How long does it usually take for these to start bearing for you?
It can take anywhere from 3 years to 13 years. For me the average is about 5 years.
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This year I have the first-ever fruit set on my Golden Allegheny chinkapins. I am very excited. I hope to get my first taste of chinkapin nuts in the coming weeks…
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Nice looking chestnuts.
Last winter, I planted bare root seedling from Marissard, a bare root grafted Maravale, and a bare root grafted Marigoule. The first two were about 2 feet tall, and now are over 6 foot tall. The 3rd was about 1 foot tall, and grew about 4 inches. I was very impressed with the growth from those first two.
I think this winter I will order a grafted Precose Migoule to replace the Marigoule, since it had such minimal growth and I would enjoy seeing them produce in my lifetime. I realize the seedling from Marissard was a mistake, since seedlings can take longer to bear and that one may not make pollen for the others. I’ve researched more since then. Maybe I should try grafting onto that one.
for my two chinese hybrids, one took two years to first nuts, the other took 6 or 7. They came in 3 gallon pots. The first then had a very long ramp up, and by year 10 they were equally productive.
Just graft onto that Marissard seedling.
I would not order a grafted Precoce Migoule. It has crappy nuts. It is primarily used as a pollinator variety in Europe. The Marigoule may have been putting down more roots and may put on more growth now. Marigoule nuts are a lot better than either Maraval or Marissard. If you want large easy peeling nuts, you can also get Gillet, Bergantz, Schlarbaum and Szego trees from Washington Chestnuts.
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What kind of hybrid?