There is research on that? That would seem to suggest genetic incompatibility, but I’d love to see the research.
It is mentioned in this article. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264881636_Graft_Compatibility_among_Chestnut_Castanea_Species
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He’s the first person to ever mention that to me and I remembered it. He’s wicked smart.
What are cambial peroxidase isozyme patterns?
Are the AU Buck III, IV & Gobbler packages sold by The Wildlife Group good for eating? Or mostly for animals?
I’m planning on getting some seedlings and nuts to plant from Route 9 when available as well.
I currently have 9 Collosal seedlings.
Where are you growing your trees?
The AU Buck and Gobbler trees have very tasty nuts. Both are very productive. The Buck trees produce larger nuts and the Gobbler trees produce smaller nuts.
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Southeast LA. An hour north of New Orleans.
Thanks for the response. I want to continue to add chestnuts, but would prefer they taste good enough for me not just the deer and wild hogs. 
The Colossal trees will be dying sooner or later. It is far too humid for them and they are subject to chestnut blight and other diseases.
The AU Buck trees and AU Super would be good options for you. Many people sell AU Super nuts in the Fall.
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Ok I now have 16 AU Buck IV, 4 Buck III, 3 Gobbler. Also have 10 more seedlings of some sort from Kentucky area (purchased from Peaceful Heritage).
Not sure what I should do with the 9 Colossal.
Planning to plant this week. What about spacing? 20x20, 30?
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Do you have the actual AU cultivars or seedlings of them?
I would get rid of the Colossal. They will waste your time and serve as reservoirs for chestnut blight. Nut quality will also be lousy.
Spacing depends on how you want to handle them. You can plant seedlings 10 x 10 and get rid of the poorer quality ones later. Or you can plant them 40 x 40 and never have to get rid of anything.
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They are all seedlings, not grafted. I think they said they quit grafting due to high fail rate.
Seems I read about chestnut graft failure here a while back too…that the recommendation now was seedlings from quality trees and like you mentioned cull the bums.
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If we culled all the bums around here, there would be very few people left. 
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I am looking into starting a small chestnut orchard. I would use some for wildlife but mainly for human consumption. With all the factors that go into choosing a tree - good producer, good health, and taste - what would be recommended for my area? I am in central west Georgia zone 8A I believe. If anyone has any sources for (good parent) trees nuts, I would be interested in getting some to stratify on my own. Some I have been previously advised to look into are the AU Buck trees, but I can’t find anyone that has nuts I can buy. Any info or recommendations would be helpful thank you in advance.
The Wildlife Group in Alabama is currently selling seedlings of AU Buck III and Buck IV that would be ideal for you. I just can’t figure out exactly how they are selling them or the price because their website needs some serious work.
Perfect Circe Farm also has many seedlings that would work well for you, especially Payne and Super.
Buzz is selling chestnut seeds right now but it looks like he’s out of the most popular Chinese chestnut varieties already. Route 9 sound like they won’t have seeds available this year due to a light crop. Cliff England might have seeds from named parents available for sale, you’ll have to call or email him to ask. An Oklahoma Chestnut might still have seed nuts available, you’d have to go through Facebook to message them.
Z’s Nutty Ridge has 1 year old Peach/Qing/Kohr seedlings that should have a pretty good.
But since you’re thinking of growing an orchard, Canopy Farm Management probably offers the best option. They have quite a few named parents and farm selected seedlings available. The bareroot plants can be shipped and are fairly inexpensive, I ordered from them this spring and the seedlings were a nice size with big root systems. The ones I planted are all 5’ tall now.
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I just got the 2023-2024 booklet from The Wildlife Group. See below about AU Buck Chestnuts from there.
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I hope that they are really selling them. Their printed materials rarely match their website, which rarely matches the information they provide on the phone.
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Call Allen (I’m fairly sure thats his name but its been a few years). He is very helpful. My suggestion is to not take late deliveries in the Spring (late March/early April). My trees were on the smaller side and came leafed out since they are down south.
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Allen is a very nice guy and can be very helpful but unfortunately he is not focused on his chestnut trees this year and hasn’t been for the last couple of years.
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