Dunstan Chestnut Trees

DoubleRidge

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Nov 24, 2019
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9,621
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Middle Tennessee
I just bought 10 at Walmart last Friday. Normally 34.77 on clearance $5 each. My plan is to keep them at home and try to take care of them and then plant them this fall on my land. Hopefully that will work.

That's great!! Keep them watered and planting in the fall sounds like a great plan....I need to check our local Walmart!!
 

13pt

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Joined
May 6, 2018
Messages
332
Location
Cookeville, TN
I have 13 Dunstan's I planted in the fall of 2019. I highly recommend the growth tubes. My tubes are 4 ft tall, and up until this spring made it easy to drop a frost cloth over the trees during early and late frosts and freezes, but now the trees are too tall. I found a really good breathable frost cloth and left them on the growth tubes the entire first winter for extra protection…worked out great! I work hard on weed control and keeping them watered during extended dry periods. They don't recommend adding fertilizer the first year, so this being my second year I've started fertilizing and it's definitely showing. Keep an eye out for those Japanese beetles. Last year they covered up one of my trees and ate all the leaves off that one before I seen them. The tree is doing fine this year, but it definitely stunted the growth last year compared to the others. I now spray them with Seven Dust twice in the spring and that's working great. In the fall last year the deer ate all the leaves off what they could reach above the growth tubes. No damage done but I'd just rather they didn't do that. Well, literally yesterday I was doing my weekly check and now have a new problem. The deer ate one of my trees down all the way to the top of the growth tube…limbs and all 😡. This is not good. I'm looking for an extension I can add to the top of the growth tubes that will add another 12" or so before they damage anymore trees. I know a cage would solve this problem, but the cage keeps me from being able to closely examine the trees and do other things more easily. So, anyone not using cages, just be aware deer will completely chew down an entire tree! At least the growth tube kept the bottom 4 ft intact, and that tree was about 7 ft tall. I mean heck…there's a one acre clover patch right next to my trees. If they don't behave I'll take away their clover patch!
 

DoubleRidge

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Joined
Nov 24, 2019
Messages
9,621
Location
Middle Tennessee
I have 13 Dunstan's I planted in the fall of 2019. I highly recommend the growth tubes. My tubes are 4 ft tall, and up until this spring made it easy to drop a frost cloth over the trees during early and late frosts and freezes, but now the trees are too tall. I found a really good breathable frost cloth and left them on the growth tubes the entire first winter for extra protection…worked out great! I work hard on weed control and keeping them watered during extended dry periods. They don't recommend adding fertilizer the first year, so this being my second year I've started fertilizing and it's definitely showing. Keep an eye out for those Japanese beetles. Last year they covered up one of my trees and ate all the leaves off that one before I seen them. The tree is doing fine this year, but it definitely stunted the growth last year compared to the others. I now spray them with Seven Dust twice in the spring and that's working great. In the fall last year the deer ate all the leaves off what they could reach above the growth tubes. No damage done but I'd just rather they didn't do that. Well, literally yesterday I was doing my weekly check and now have a new problem. The deer ate one of my trees down all the way to the top of the growth tube…limbs and all 😡. This is not good. I'm looking for an extension I can add to the top of the growth tubes that will add another 12" or so before they damage anymore trees. I know a cage would solve this problem, but the cage keeps me from being able to closely examine the trees and do other things more easily. So, anyone not using cages, just be aware deer will completely chew down an entire tree! At least the growth tube kept the bottom 4 ft intact, and that tree was about 7 ft tall. I mean heck…there's a one acre clover patch right next to my trees. If they don't behave I'll take away their clover patch!

If your protective tube is attached to a post or stake could you raise the tube you have 12"? .....this would still prevent bucks from rubbing in the fall but give you some protection now for the tops.......I've worried about Japanese beetles....I'll be getting some seven dust...thanks for the recommendation.
 

13pt

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Joined
May 6, 2018
Messages
332
Location
Cookeville, TN
If your protective tube is attached to a post or stake could you raise the tube you have 12"? .....this would still prevent bucks from rubbing in the fall but give you some protection now for the tops.......I've worried about Japanese beetles....I'll be getting some seven dust...thanks for the recommendation.
That's a very good thought. I'm concerned my stake won't allow for that much adjustment since they are already short of the top several inches…but, definitely worth a try! I'll be giving that a whirl this afternoon. Thanks 😊
 

gladesman60

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Nov 24, 2020
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189
Location
tennessee
I have been growing Chestnuts for about 8 years. Got my first ones from Walmart . I have about 40 on 2 different properties. The biggest threat to mine have been Ambrosia beetles. They will kill your trees in weeks once they get established. Also, Chestnut trees are supposed to produce nuts every year. Believe me that is not the case. They will produce faster than any kind of oak but nut production is sporadic. The late freeze that we had this year wreaked havoc with my trees. Killed all of the new growth and severely retarded the growth of new leaves. About half of my trees are not blooming and several are only blooming on the lower branches. I thought these trees were cold hardy and prolific mast producers but I have not seen those results. I had 20 1 to 2 year old seedlings in pots and half were killed by that late freeze. Never had a problem with watering these trees or rabbits eating the bark. Deer will eat the new leaves and bucks will rub them also but In my case the bucks prefer to rub my fruit trees more than the chestnuts.
 

DoubleRidge

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Nov 24, 2019
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9,621
Location
Middle Tennessee
I have been growing Chestnuts for about 8 years. Got my first ones from Walmart . I have about 40 on 2 different properties. The biggest threat to mine have been Ambrosia beetles. They will kill your trees in weeks once they get established. Also, Chestnut trees are supposed to produce nuts every year. Believe me that is not the case. They will produce faster than any kind of oak but nut production is sporadic. The late freeze that we had this year wreaked havoc with my trees. Killed all of the new growth and severely retarded the growth of new leaves. About half of my trees are not blooming and several are only blooming on the lower branches. I thought these trees were cold hardy and prolific mast producers but I have not seen those results. I had 20 1 to 2 year old seedlings in pots and half were killed by that late freeze. Never had a problem with watering these trees or rabbits eating the bark. Deer will eat the new leaves and bucks will rub them also but In my case the bucks prefer to rub my fruit trees more than the chestnuts.

Will seven dust work for Ambrosia beetles? I need to go check mine.... working at house yesterday I saw a Japanese Beetle and started worrying...now I have another beetle to worry about.....but thanks for heads up
 

13pt

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Joined
May 6, 2018
Messages
332
Location
Cookeville, TN
Will seven dust work for Ambrosia beetles? I need to go check mine.... working at house yesterday I saw a Japanese Beetle and started worrying...now I have another beetle to worry about.....but thanks for heads up
Yes, looked at my label and it states "Bark and Ambrosia Beetle Family" along with a ton of other beetles.
 

gladesman60

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Joined
Nov 24, 2020
Messages
189
Location
tennessee
Will seven dust work for Ambrosia beetles? I need to go check mine.... working at house yesterday I saw a Japanese Beetle and started worrying...now I have another beetle to worry about.....but thanks for heads up
Ambrosia beetles are a problem in early spring. They bore into the trunk and insert a fungus which the newly hatched beetles feed on. If you have them you will know it. You will see what looks like toothpicks sticking out of the the trunk. Next February start spraying the ground and trunk of your trees with spectracide or some other insecticide that kills beetles.. Spray every week especially if you get rain soon after you spray..I have lost young trees and older trees to these beetles. They are hard to control once established.
 

DoubleRidge

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Joined
Nov 24, 2019
Messages
9,621
Location
Middle Tennessee
Ambrosia beetles are a problem in early spring. They bore into the trunk and insert a fungus which the newly hatched beetles feed on. If you have them you will know it. You will see what looks like toothpicks sticking out of the the trunk. Next February start spraying the ground and trunk of your trees with spectracide or some other insecticide that kills beetles.. Spray every week especially if you get rain soon after you spray..I have lost young trees and older trees to these beetles. They are hard to control once established.

Thanks for the information.... appreciate it!
 

Granddaddy

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Aug 18, 2000
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Location
Grantville, GA
I have believed for year it's marketing. Playing on people's spring planting urges. Grass seed commercials tick me off. Fescue late spring sown has very chance to make it without irrigation. But if they convince joe blow homeowner to do just that, he'll be back year after year.
Plants (trees, bushes etc) that are sold in pots can be planted anytime provided you plant with the soil in the pot without much disturbance to the roots. Bare root plants & those sold in burlap generally should be planted in the fall/winter.
 

gladesman60

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Nov 24, 2020
Messages
189
Location
tennessee
Here are 2 of my trees. Both about 10 years old. If you look close you will see one is loaded with blooms. The other is devoid. They are about 40 ft apart. The one with blooms leafed out earlier than the other one so it's vegetation was not affected as badly as the one with newer leaves when that late freeze hit .
 

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BigAl

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Jul 31, 2001
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21,124
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Fayette County, TN US
These were bought from Walmart. The two on left and right were planted last spring. Can't remember when I planted the one in the middle but its less than 10 years old. Notice the rub on the big tree.
 

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Mr. Hawk

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Jul 25, 2003
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765
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Putnam co
I've got 8 Chinese hybrid chestnuts from a local nursery that I planted about 7 years ago as bare root seedlings using tubes. They have grown into probably 15-20ft trees and have busted out of the tree tubes in girth but I have yet to see a chestnut
 

44 mag

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Jul 11, 2019
Messages
880
Location
Dickson
I've got 8 Chinese hybrid chestnuts from a local nursery that I planted about 7 years ago as bare root seedlings using tubes. They have grown into probably 15-20ft trees and have busted out of the tree tubes in girth but I have yet to see a chestnut
How far apart are they? Do you see any "catkins" in the early summer?
 

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