I hadn’t checked back to this topic for a while. Forestfarm, I found your discussion of chestnuts interesting. I fell for the hype of the Dunstans 20 odd years ago.
They said up here in what is now a Z6 wasn’t warm enough for their grafted varieties but I bought a few anyway. They did fine and one of them I kept on my land is now about 30 ft. tall even though I’ve actually been pruning it to be more compact. Nice nuts- very sweet that come clean from the shell, but not as big as advertised.
On another thread on this topic someone said they used seeds from Dunstons that produced excellent trees that are very productive of large nuts. They provided photos so it was no lie.
I think the reason my grafted trees might have done will is I didn’t allow them to bear nuts until they were well established. The grafted trees may be too precocious for their own good- putting too much energy into nuts and not enough into hardening off when they are young. Or maybe I was just lucky.
Very interesting. Dunstans have some great characteristics for my application, but they were so overhyped to hunters that they were selling for up to $25 for a seedling. I decided that with a little up front investment I could grow them from seed for a few dollars per tree. It has been working out pretty well so far.
Since these are not grafted, they are not completely Dunstan, but chestnuts are fairly true to seed compared to some trees. I’ve purchased nuts from grafted trees but there seems to be quite a variety in nut size. My oldest trees are starting their third growing season. The largest are about 8’ tall. So far, there is no sign of nuts.
I am planting mine about 6 yards apart. I know this is too close for the long run, but I’m trying to maximize nut production as soon as possible. I figure I can always thin them when the crowns begin to interfere. Since they are wind pollenated, this should help with early production.
The advantage of grafted trees are that they nut very early. Mine started flowering the second or third year.
Seedlings you grow should be as good as the ones the Dunston nursery sells- I forget their name now. The gentleman I mentioned suggested he got similar results as with grafted trees- just takes a bit longer. I planted some of their seedlings at a few sites but never check out the trees to see how they are bearing. I didn’t even keep track of what’s what at the sites where I still manage other fruit trees and could have learned something. My business is fruit trees so I focus on them.
Even though they say they are wind pollinated, my carpenter bees and others are all over them.
Squirrels love the nuts so much that the trees often need to be very large before there is more than they can handle and they are available for human harvest (first thing in the morning). You can dig holes near the trees and fill them with leaves and the squirrels will likely store some nuts in them that you can easily take.
By around the fifth year after planting chestnuts tend to take off like rockets here if conditions are right.
Yes, when scions are taken from fruit/nut producing mature trees, I think it changes something in chemical balance of the tree and it thinks it is more mature than it is and changes from a vegetative state to a fruiting state much faster. I’m sure this applies to Dunstans as well. I think the name of the nursery is Chestnut Hill. It is good to hear that insects may help with pollination.
You are right about squirrels. When I take my containerized trees outside for the first time, I remove the nuts. This doesn’t seem to stop the squirrels from trying. This year I lost a bunch of nice seedlings to squirrels digging in the container, probably getting frustrated because the could not find a nut, and bighting off the stem. This pagan behavior required a forced conversion. It was a very short ceremony yesterday morning. The service was cut short when the applicant expired during the baptism.
For those prone to “chicken little” syndrome, please note that I have found a direct correlation between the chemical compound H2O and sudden death in rodents. Please be careful spraying this stuff on plants. Who know what effect it might have on humans.
By the way, I’m sure if I made this post on the other forum it would have been deleted. It sure is nice to have a place where political correctness doesn’t drive censorship.
Back to chestnuts. I had a friend send my some Chinese chestnuts this winter (VNS) so I gave them a shot. It will be interesting to see how the perform compared to the hybrid Dunstans. One final note for folks interested in Chestnuts. I also played around this year with some inverted radicle grafting and nut grafting. So far I’ve had zero success but it was my first time and I only tried a few. I hope to try some more next winter.
I got 2 bags of pine bark from Walmart yesterday, They are the smallest they have but you still find some bigger pieces and wood in it, It is actually similar to what I use last year. Maybe I did not use enough which led to insufficient drainage and some of my containerise trees to die? here is a picture of what I got yesterday.
It is impossible to get a truck load of pine bark mulch around here, let alone “pine bark fines.” The best I can do is buy 2-3 cu. ft. bags of pine bark mulch and sift it. I got 2 bags form Walmart (~$2.30 each) early on before any garden shops were open. The stuff was disappointing. It was very wet so I had to let it dry before sifting, and then almost half of it didn’t go through my half inch screen. I thought about running it through the chipper shredder, but I found few stones so that was a no-go. When Home Depot got their pine bark mulch in stock I bought a couple bags ($3.25 each). It is drier and at least 3/4 or more went through the screen. Strangely, Walmart raised their price a dollar after the garden shop opened for spring. The local farm supply had decent stuff, but it was more expensive. I only saw colored stuff at Lowes. Both of our big box stores are on the smaller side.
@AJfromElmiraNY I called into Home Depot and they said they do not and will not have fine pine bark I guess it will have to be the ones Walmart which I think was $2.99.
The stuff I got at HD was Timberline regular pine bark mulch in 2 cu.ft. purple/black bag for $3.25. Most of it sifted through the 1/2 inch hardware cloth.
@AJfromElmiraNY the one I got from Walmart is TImberline too. I think we got the same. you may want to check out wallys. I think I paid $2.99 can;t remember for sure. I will have to find my sieve and sieve like you do
The nasty stuff I got from Walmart was in orange/white bag. I can’t remember the name, but it wasn’t Timberline. It was at least a month ago. I can check again next time I’m there.
@AJfromElmiraNY TheTimberline from Wally’s bag is black and purple. It may have been $2.79 (cant remember) I did not look at the brand from HD. They were shredded and rather big pieces
I checked walmart again and they only have the Garden Pro stuff I already mentioned. HD has Timberline. Apparently chain stores carry different brands at different locations.
Fruitnut, I was thinking about something similar to allow my potted berries to seek additional water during the summer. But I have a question.
In the past I’ve drilled drain holes in the bottom of my pots. Then put landscaping fabric between the drian holes and the potting soil to minimize soil loss. If instead of the bottom, I put the holes at the bottom of the sides to let the roots out, won’t I lose soil through the holes? Or if I cover those holes with landscaping fabric to minimize soil loss,but then the roots would also be contained and that would defeat the purpose. So how do you allow the roots to grow out without losing soil out the same holes?
I don’t lose much media even from fairly large holes. I used to cover the holes but don’t anymore. My media tends to be pretty course so that limits loss. Covering the holes with medium to course bark is a good option. Roots will grow right out thru that.
It’s been awhile since I made that comment. I remember it, though. I really did spend a few days going through thread after thread of people telling others to to search for “Al’s Gritty Mix”. It was frustrating at the time. Once I read the Container Soils Yada Yada thread, I understood the concept and reasoning, and realized that the reason that no one was just reciting the ingredients was because the specific ingredients, and even proportions, vary with local availability and application. It was the concept that was important, not the specifics.
Speaking of my post that you were replying to, I hadn’t realized how long it actually had been since I was active there. Yesterday I came across an email that had been enclosed in a shipment of bananas and plumeria that came from Puerto Rico in exchange for rooted tea olives. It was dated 2004. That sounds like so long ago; yet, it feels like just a couple of years have passed.
You’re right! It does come up immediately when googled. I also see that people sell it now, too. I was just using the forum search before. I probably didn’t even think about googling for it.
I guess it will have to be the ones Walmart which I think was $2.99.
I was just using the forum search before. I probably didn’t even think about googling for it.