How to Grow a Chestnut Tree from a Nut in the Fall: Planting, Care, and Pruning

Knowing how to plant a chestnut tree in the fall will help you decorate your garden plot and create a beautiful and unique landscape composition. This tree has a spreading crown, wide leaves, and incredible greenery. Growing a chestnut tree at home is not difficult. Simply choose the right planting material and follow a few guidelines.

Possibility of growing at home

You can grow chestnut varieties such as the common chestnut, Japanese chestnut, and Japanese chestnut in your garden. It's a fascinating and rewarding activity. These varieties not only serve as ornamental trees but also produce edible fruit. The results of your efforts are based on three criteria:

• correct choice of seed material;
• knowledge of cultivation rules;
• proper care.

Like any fruit-bearing plant, chestnuts should be planted away from sources of environmental pollution, such as highways, factories, and plants. Because the nuts can leach harmful toxic substances into the human body.

The tree doesn't tolerate low temperatures. In winter, a protective screen is built for it.

Criteria for selection of planting material

The smoothest, most beautiful nuts are selected for planting. There shouldn't be any indentations, let alone signs of disease (rot, mold, growths). Not all seeds will germinate, so choose 2-3 times more than you plan to plant. plant in autumnTo avoid having to store the nuts until spring. They don't keep well. If you can't plant them in the fall, place the nuts in a container with sand and keep them in a cool place or outside, right under the snow, until spring.

Preparing for planting

Stratification is carried out. In other words, the plant is hardened off. This ensures that the chestnut tree does not die in the natural conditions of the plot.

The soil is baked in an oven to ensure the high temperature kills bacteria, viral microorganisms, fungal micelles, and spores. This process is especially important with sand, as it often harbors numerous harmful substances. The process is carried out two months before soaking to restore the normal microflora and beneficial single-celled organisms that make up the natural biocenosis of the soil, which serves as a breeding ground.

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The fruits are then placed in the same, moistened sand or soil. The box containing the sand is placed in a cool place. If stratification is being done indoors, it can be placed in the refrigerator, but not in the freezer. The seeds remain in this state for 120-150 days.

When white sprouts appear on the nuts, it's time to plant. Plant one nut per box or halved 350-500 ml bottles with moist soil. Plant at a depth of approximately 4 cm. Planting deeper will cause the soil to dry out, while planting deeper will prevent germination. Seedlings will appear in a few weeks. Transplant outdoors in May.

Planting chestnut trees in open ground

When choosing a location for planting a chestnut tree, keep in mind that a mature tree occupies a large area. The crown beneath it grows rapidly over time, creating such shade that nothing within a few meters can grow. The distance between seedlings should be at least 3 meters, and the site should be well-lit. Soil requirements: black soil, neutral or slightly alkaline pH, and moist.

Preparation is required. The algorithm is as follows:

• dig up the soil;
• watered;
• make holes;
• fill one third with sand with lime, humus and superphosphate mixed with soil;
• The bottom of the hole is lined with crushed stone or pebbles for drainage - the layer width is 10 cm.
• without touching the root, place the seedling in the hole;
• bury;
• watering is carried out;
• fenced in with pegs;
• bandaged for fixation.

How to care properly

Fertilizer composition: 15 g of urea and a kilogram of mullein per 10 liters of water. This solution is used for top dressing every spring. In the fall, 15 g of nitroammophoska per 10 liters of water is used instead.

You also need to regularly:

• water;
• tie up the plant;
• drive in pegs with wire or tape stretched around them;
• trim periodically;
• In winter, screening is essential, as the crop is heat-loving;
• carry out top dressing.

Chestnut diseases: how to combat them

It's important to prevent diseases; it's easier than treating the tree later. Foliar diseases include:

1. Rolling the leaves into a tube.
2. Darkening. Around July, the leaves begin to turn yellow, then brown.
3. Reticulated spotting. It looks like a network of small holes with dark edges. The holes then grow larger, and the entire leaf turns into a sieve.

These problems can be overcome with standard care methods, such as watering and fertilizing. Spray the crown with Bordeaux mixture two weeks before each flowering period.

More severe diseases

A bare tree—if the leaves turn completely black and fall off, water less frequently. Excess water leaches potassium from the soil. It's a good idea to add additional potassium to the soil.

Red spots - when the crown turns purple in midsummer, trim off all affected foliage and treat the foliage. The same applies to dark spots and netted spots.

Powdery mildew appears as a whitish coating caused by a fungal infection. Hot, humid climates favor the development of this fungal disease, as these conditions favor the growth of fungal spores.

Fertilize with potassium and phosphorus, using a solution of ash and soapy water (500 g of ash per 10 liters). Treat with fungicides: Topaz, Fundazol.

Necrosis occurs when a tree has been damaged by prolonged exposure to low or high temperatures or mechanical stress. This damage begins to occur in patches. Necrosis affects the trunk, branches, and root system. Externally, it appears as cracked bark with discolored thickenings. To stop it, the damaged area is cut away with a knife, and the branches are pruned. The wound is treated with disinfectants and sealed with resin.

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As a preventative measure, timely whitewashing of the plant with ordinary lime will help.

Rotting—no amount of treatment will save the tree. However, rot can be prevented by adding lime to the soil, maintaining moisture levels, and treating the crown and trunk with fungicides.

Pests

There are many different pests. The cockchafer eats roots and leaves. Aphids, scale insects, and worms devour flowers and fruits. The leaf beetle, or bark beetle, is self-evident.

The most dangerous of these is the leaf miner, or rather its larvae. They live in the trunk. The first sign of infestation is premature leaf fall.

In general, all prevention comes down to the following points:

• periodic inspection of shoots, leaves, and bark to notice changes in time;
• meticulous care of the young plant and proper fertilization of the soil;
• disinfection, trimming of diseased parts;
• treatment of unhealthy areas with garden pitch;
• regular treatment with necessary solutions (for fungal diseases - fungicides);
• Pay attention to the grass and fallen leaves around the tree to ensure that all pests there are destroyed in a timely manner.

Planting a chestnut tree from a nut tree at home is a doable task. The key is to choose the right seeds and follow the nut germination steps. It's also important to regularly treat the tree for pests and maintain proper care.