Most of the videos I see place chestnut in refrigerator to cold stratification. Since winter is right here, I just wonder if I can just bury some chestnut in garden bed over the winter. Would this too harsh? Or I can cover them with mulch and remove the mulch at spring time.
1 Like
Yes, that’s exactly how it works in nature. The fridge is mimicking this process. However, you’ll likely have a higher success rate in the fridge, if for no other reason than you’re far less likely to have any rodent issues in there. Also, you’ll have better control over germination conditions come spring.
3 Likes
I stratify mine in the fridge and have high germination rates. If you put in a raised bed, I’d use hardware cloth to cover them to keep out rodents. Even then, it might hard to keep them completely secure.
1 Like
Here’s Akiva with Twisted Tree nursery showing how he cold stratifies outside:
2 Likes
We bought some chestnut for eating. The taste is good. I just wonder if I can just plant them, or I need to find better varieties?
1 Like
You can certainly plant them. Their odds of growing well for you would be a good question for @castanea.
I use the bucket method that Akiva uses. Works great, they are ready to go in the spring as soon as they crack and can be planted out then.
I couldn’t find a pic of the chestnuts, but here is a black walnut from this years bucket before planting.
2 Likes
Since I only plant a few seeds, probably inside the fridge is better. I have my 2nd fridge with all my seeds.
Are they European or Chinese or Japanese?
Chinese variety.
Chinese tend to have good quality seedlings.
1 Like
I add some barely moist peat moss to the bags to absorb any condensation
2 Likes
I think I’m going to plant them in bucket. I can plant some some. They are mixed unnamed Chinese varieties. Small nuts. Our friends all say smaller chestnuts taste better than large ones.
For planting media in bucket, I can use peat moss, or aged wood chip compost that I’ve used for container planting. The mix holds well, but very course and drains well. I think the wood chip compost probably has the same quality of saw dust.
I’m going to see if I can find a smaller bucket. 5-gallon buckets is just too large for me. We probably did not even buy that much this time.
Where did you get them?
Some smaller Chinese chestnuts taste better. Some larger chestnuts taste better.
These are very large and they taste better than most small Chinese chestnuts:
3 Likes
We bought them from Route 9 Coop in Ohio. Several years. I never thought about planting them.
I was also gifted two seedlings from a friend that I’m going to plant them soon. They are also part of the landscape trees in front of windbreaker row.
They have good chestnuts
2 Likes
I already get 3 Chinese chestnut seedlings. I’ll start some new ones. Going to plant several. Is 35’ spacing good?
1 Like
It depends on how much room you have. 35’ is good for mature trees but yours won’t get to that size for at least 25 years. In the meantime you’re wasting a lot of space.
1 Like
Just planted about 50 Chinese chestnuts in a 5-gallon nursery pot. Three layers with natural forest compost. Cover it with plastic cover. Cover the hole with pulled tall weeds or straws. Then covered with garden soil. Also put in mothball to for rodent.
So there is a cavity around the pot. Since we get a lot of moisture for rain and winter snow, I figure it is better on the dry side. Water can get through the mulch easily.
I put mine in water for a few hours to determine sinkers. Get rid of the moldy ones, then put in a bag in the fridge for up to 8 weeks. Then I put them in 50/50 perlite/peat and got pretty good germination results.
I wasn’t banking on them germinating, but was hoping, and I just put them in the fridge to store them while I got white truffle and acorns sourced for a hopefully future truffle plantation.
1 Like