Project: Growing Chestnuts - better than acorns

[gettin closer]

Good to know. I want to get some seeds started but I want to make sure I do enough research to make sure I do it right. I love the idea of this.

[cwbow]

Following.

[cwbow]

There was a post last year about someone sending their dad after a load of seedings/bareroot. I know it was out of state. I just can't seem to find it. Good information there also. Thanks for sharing.

[LonghornTX]

There was a post last year about someone sending their dad after a load of seedings/bareroot. I know it was out of state. I just can't seem to find it. Good information there also. Thanks for sharing.

I think I remember what you are talking about. I know there have been some threads about it before.

I've been tempted to order seedlings from the state nursery and then plant them with the guards around them. My problem is: how in the world do you water 100+ trees spread out across the pasture every two weeks? Seems like it would take a lot of time.

[catfishryan]

I think I remember what you are talking about. I know there have been some threads about it before.



I've been tempted to order seedlings from the state nursery and then plant them with the guards around them. My problem is: how in the world do you water 100+ trees spread out across the pasture every two weeks? Seems like it would take a lot of time.

i used to try and water. now i plant about 3 times more trees than i expect to live and hope for rain got lucky last couple years

[LonghornTX]

Good idea. I have to stake them with t-posts because of cattle and I wonder if staking additional conduit pipes might help with some delayed watering. Though, I expect the pipes will drain within an hour...right?

[catfishryan]

Good idea. I have to stake them with t-posts because of cattle and I wonder if staking additional conduit pipes might help with some delayed watering. Though, I expect the pipes will drain within an hour...right?

depends on soil type

[unclefish]

Well I have 2 Dunstan Chestnut trees left out of the many dozen I started from seeds. They are a different animal than an oak or any other nut bearing tree I have dealt with from seed.

Here are my survivors.


They are very fickle especially in the root maker trays. You can very easily under/over water them and they will die. Several times some of them would just inexplicably started losing their leaves in the middle of summer..... Usually they would grow them back but they put alot of energy into growing leaves back.

IMO the best thing to do is to do what Rusty (el gato) did and buy them already started as one + year old trees and then transplant them. More expensive but you will probably end up with more trees than seed started. Again just my opinion.

I'm going to transplant these to my place very soon and put tree tubes and a fence around them.

[LonghornTX]

Sorry to hear about your luck with the Dunstans. Do you like the root maker trays otherwise? I'm stratifying a hundred or so oak acorns and have thought about using them. Pros or cons that you've noticed?

[MattN33]

Good thread, Dr. deer swears by these.

[unclefish]

Sorry to hear about your luck with the Dunstans. Do you like the root maker trays otherwise? I'm stratifying a hundred or so oak acorns and have thought about using them. Pros or cons that you've noticed?

I like them but they are so small that I could not use them effectively outside if there is any kind of warm weather. If I was gone for a weekend I would come back home and they would be bone dry. They simply dry up too quick. You have to transfer them to something bigger pretty quickly if you are going out them outside.

Got to watch them like a hawk when it's warm and dry outside with young seedlings.

[catfishryan]

Sorry to hear about your luck with the Dunstans. Do you like the root maker trays otherwise? I'm stratifying a hundred or so oak acorns and have thought about using them. Pros or cons that you've noticed?

what kind of oaks? trees with long tap roots such as burr oak, pecan, persimmon etc are difficult to transplant from regular containers. their tap root will circle around the bottom and they will have a more difficult time establishing once planted. a root pruning container will create a very fibrous root system with thousands of small roots instead of one giant root. the tree will be able to get water and nutrients from the soil better because of this it will establish faster and grow more quickly. tress with more shallow root systems such as live oaks do pretty well in regular containers as long as you regularly upsize the container. but they will still benefit from the root pruning

[LonghornTX]

I have had that problem with burr oaks in the past. All of the tap roots circled and became root bound. This year, I've only put up red oak acorns and will try those some kind of root pruning pots. Just not sure which, yet. Open to suggestions!

Have y'all tried direct seeding into tree tubes with any success? My worry is being able to water hundreds of transplants and bare root trees. Do direct seeding plants need the same amount of watering.

Other than that, I will plant bare root (west texas nursery) sawtooth, burs, and white oaks (the last from the OK state nursery). Pretty much, the red oaks acorns were the only ones I had an opportunity to collect.

Pretty sure I've hijacked your thread, OP. My apologies.

[catfishryan]

i have had very little success direct sewing acorns. however i am in central texas in the blackest of clay soil. if i plant small container trees or bareroot trees and try and water them in the summer the water will make a crack around the tree i have even had them fall down completely into the earth. if you are in sand or loam you should have more luck. i have by far had the most success with growing the tree as big as possible and then planting it
if you are looking for acorn production. i like chinquapin oak and mexican white oak. they are resistant to oak wilt, in the white oak family so they have sweeter acorns that deer prefer(sawtooth oaks are from china and acorns are very bitter) tolerant to any soil in tx, very drought tolerant once established, fairly fast growing, and produce acorns in 10 years.

[LonghornTX]

I'll look into those oaks. We have a bunch of oaks and hickories already providing mast for deer (and hogs), so I want to add upon that as well as have nice looking trees. Burrs, shumards, etc. I think I'm familiar with mexican white oak and may give that a go. Thanks for the ideas!