DH did grunt work for one of their research plots in Central KY when we were in college. We fell in love with the idea of such incredible trees and planted three seedling from Oikos on our property last year. They’ve doubled in size.
I read one author who blames the chestnuts blight for the current state of the Appalachian economy.
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holy toledo cast! how do the monsters taste like?
These are very good, sweet and flavorful, and they also peel well.
A Chestnut that would produce in zone 10b. I think Matt covered it pretty well.
I dunno, with all the beautiful and exotic fruit you grow, it’s only fair for the cold weather people to grow something you can’t!
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I didn’t see Matt’s discussion of zone 10b.
If you want chestnuts that will produce in zone 10b, they are, in the following order from most likely to produce to least likely to produce- Chinese, Japanese, European and American. Americans need the most chilling hours and Chinese the least. European and American trees do not naturally grow in zone 10. Chinese do.
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Apparently Allegheny Chinkapin is native in southern FL, the lower Rio Grande Valley in TX, and across the border in NE Mexico. In terms of chill hours, this would place it in zone 10a. That gives me some hope. Does anyone know if individuals of the species (Castenea pumila) are self fertile?
Let me jump in with a chestnut question for the other extreme, what varieties (if any) would succeed in a dry and windy zone 5a. I don’t think the cold is the issue but our winters can be quite dry and windy with significant sun. And to make matters worse, our soil tends to be rather thin and alkaline.
I’d be willing to amend the soil, but it is hard to change the pH in any sort of permanent way for long here. And I can provide some protection from the wind and sun, but again those efforts will likely not be 100%.
What do the chestnut experts think, any varieties that might thrive here?
C. pumila is not generally self fertile. But there are at least 4 different wild populations of C. pumila. Some are extremely cold hardy and only found in WV and northwards. The Florida population is the smallest in terms of number of trees and often difficult to find either in nature or in nurseries. The Florida chinkapin is often a tree rather than a bush but it still has the small nuts typical of chinkapins. It is only found in zones 8a, 8b, 9a and infrequently in 9b around Tampa. It has not been found naturally growing in zone 10. Basically it’s only found in the northern part of Florida. The nuts are extremely tiny and difficult to peel simply because of their tiny size. When they are ripe, the burs open but the nuts do not fall immediately to the ground like most chestnuts. Instead they stay attached to the bur for a few days to give birds a chance to grab them.
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The size of peas?
Almonds have a similar behavior.
Basically the size of green peas or a little larger. I had 4 or 5 of the bush form for about 10 years and eventually got rid of them. The birds got most of the nuts and even when I got some they were very difficult to peel and for not much reward. Here’s a size comparison - chinkapins on top, American chestnuts next and some small Chinese chestnuts at the bottom-
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I have several clones of the “Golden” cultivar of Allegheny chinkapin. This one came from Georgia by way of Kentucky. I got mine from the Ayton state nursery which only serves Maryland landowners. “Golden” might also be available from the USDA Appalachian Plant Center in West Virginia.
Chinkapins can cross-pollinate with other Castanea, but the closest chestnut orchard is two miles from my plot-- pollination by them was possible but not likely. Nevertheless my chinkapins set fruit for the first time this year. I think they self-pollinated.
There are other selections I wish to obtain, including “Copper,” which might be available from the USDA Big Flats Plant Center in New York (I’ve been meaning to call them). “Rush” and “Fuller” are two more cultivars listed in the literature I can’t seem to track down.
There is another subspecies called the Ozark chinkapin. Its status is threatened, and it is harder to come by.
Castanea plantings east of the Rockies still get attacked by chestnut blight.
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I think Akiva Silver at Twisted Tree Farm in NY may know where to get Copper.
http://www.twisted-tree.net/
There are lots of pumila crosses with other castanea species including the cultivars Silverleaf and Linden.
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So for a single chinkapin plant, is the fertility issue due to pollen scarcity, A/B flowering, dioecity, or something else?
The literature admits that chinkapins are small but delicious.
Hard to peel is annoying but not a dealbreaker for me. I “score” chestnuts by cutting a cross shape into the peel, and then roast them on a cookie sheet in the oven. This causes the peels to curl away, affording easy opening. Ever try that with your chinkapins? Stab them and roast them?
Here’s some American chestnuts I scored, roasted, and ate some years back:
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All castanea plants have male and female organs but are self incompatible.
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I wonder if my chinkapin burrs will have hollow unpollinated nuts inside. I should find out soon.
This is what is sometimes called A/B Flowering in the pollination literature:
“Chestnut is self-compatible, but still requires cross-pollination because the male and female flowers do not bloom at the same time on an individual tree.”
ehh… i thought i found a chestnut tree and here i look it up and it’s horse chestnut… Good stuff but God awful bitter and toxic.
They are self incompatible. That site is simply wrong. The male and female flowers frequently flower at the same time. I have trees with male and female flowers blooming at the same time right now.
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