has anybody ever grown american chestnut

i got a small question i was wondering if anybody has any experience on growing american chestnut trees ? im askin because i bought 5 6 to 12 inch tall seedlings and another 3 for a neighbor

 

additionally i would like to add that i also bought a couple of pounds of some deer and rabbitt repellant

 

I'm guessing you are talking about one of the new hybrids bread to resist the blight? No experience with them directly but yah, protect the hell out of them. Maybe some chain link fencing for a while...
Good luck & keep us posted on progress.

 

k will do

 

they're supposedly suppose to be 100 percent american chestnut

 

One of the organizations out there is supposedly taking the nuts/seeds from those around the country that have been discovered over the years to be immune to the blight and have grown unaffected, breading them to make stronger, more genetically diverse offspring. But as far as I know, most have been hard at work trying to create a hybrid with the Chinese version, which I'm not fond of as, it won't be what it was ever again. It may never be anyway but they may just breed the true American Chestnut out of existence.

Ordered the saplings from somewhere or got them from somebody that has one of the survivors on their property?

 

Tree tubes. Get some. Otherwise you are wasting your time if you have deer and rabbits around. Jmho.

 

I've never had rabbits eat trees saplings bark but supposedly they do. We don't have a lot of rabbits any more because of the coyotes.
We have deer up the ying-yang though and I use concrete reinforcement screen for those. Also to make tomato cages. Also if the deer pressure is great use the good t-posts to support fence around the trees. I've had the deer push the cheaper U-posts right over to get at my arborvitae.

 

rabble rouser the place i orderd em from is called chief river nursery appearently theyre out of grafton wisconsin

 

What is the purpose of the bags?

Do you find color makes any difference?

 

This is of interest to me. My wife got me a membership to the Ozark Chinquapin Foundation. Chinquapin is also called Ozark Chestnut. As a member I received 4 or 5 germinated nuts to plant in a few months.

The group, mainly one guy and his daughter, have been selectively breeding naturally resistant trees trying to make a a pure lineage of resistant trees. They like Rocky soil and I have that on the Ozark farmstead. Also have plenty of deer that may eat them or debark when new antlers come out of velvet.

 

Thank you. I suspected that was the purpose, but wanted to make sure.

I've cut mylar balloons onto strips and clothes pinned the strips to the top wire for similar effect.

Now to get into the weeds, do you tie the bags in any particular way or height?

 

Neighbor used to tie those aluminum foil pie tins to everything. Didn’t stop the raccoons but kept the deer away.

 

Many years ago my dad had good success hanging small bars of soap from newly planted trees. I don't remember the brand but he bought them by the case. I assume the scent kept them away. It saved a grove of Scotch Pines from an early death.

 

I think we have a couple of the hybrids. Dad planted them years ago and they produce a lot of nuts each year.

 

Mom used Irish Spring slivers, you know, the little pieces toward the end when you can't get much lather.

 

I'm starting a small chestnut orchard (so far about 4 acres, but am planning 15-17 ) and have done a lot of research on them, including American chestnut trees. If you have pure American trees, I think you'll find they will be very susceptible to blight. While there are areas that haven't been affected, generally most areas in the eastern US are at risk. You may want to consider planting some Chinese chestnut trees or an American-Chinese hybrid to hedge the risk. Unfortunately you may not know your pure American trees have blight for ten years or more. I have a few American but mostly European chestnut trees planted and they are at risk for blight also, however I'm hoping the blight won't find them here in Oregon.

I took a photo while on my roof cleaning my chimney last spring with all the tree tubes. As others mentioned, the tree tubes help fend off the deer but do not stop them completely. I've lost several trees to the deer despite the tree tubes. I would put fencing around them if it were only a handful of trees.
I also have a photo I took a few years ago of a couple American chestnut trees still alive which is located out here in Oregon. I think one of them is considered the largest or the oldest American chestnut tree, or something significant like that. The photo doesn't do the tree justice to it's size.