AU buck IV updates? anyone?

[ts_13]

I know Yoder has some and wanted to see if he and anyone else has had luck with them? Yoder have your produced yet? I am wondering what the drop times are in more of the mid south.

Thanks guys.

T

 

[yoderjac]

Mine are producing, but it is not a fair assessment. I transplanted mine from the 5" roottrapper bags they came in to 3 gal RB2s when they arrived. I kept them on my deck last summer along with the AU Buck IIIs and intended to plant them all in the field in the fall. They produced a few nuts on my deck. I planned to plant them but they got mixed with my Dunstans accidently. So, I don't know if any grew and made it to the field with the seedlings I just planted. At any rate, I did not get time to plant them last fall. They produced more nuts on my deck this year, so I decided to plant them in the field after collecting nuts this fall. I still have a couple that have not opened.

Just because they are producing nuts on my deck doesn't mean they will in the field. I had this same phenomenon occur with Jujube trees. I took root cuttings from trees growing in the field that were several years old and started new trees in rootmakers. These new trees produced fruit on my deck the same year they sprouted but the parent trees still have not produced fruit. A professor that specializes in Jujube told me that he thought the container system which was root pruning was forcing the tree from a vegetative state to a fruiting state early and that if I planted those trees in the field releasing the root system, they would return to a vegetative state. He was right. He said this could occur with other trees. I suspect this is why the AU Buck III and IV are producing nuts.

I will be planting them at the farm next week, so I'll be able to confirm or refute that theory with the chestnuts next year.

One thing that will be interesting is that they were the only chestnuts to produce catkins on my deck so I know they pollenated each other. I'm going to plant the AU Buck III and IVs together in the field by far enough from my other chestnuts that they will likely continue to pollinate each other. It will be interesting to track the offspring (presuming I don't mix them up this time).

As for drop times (I'm in 7A), I'm not 100% sure. Some of them began to open in mid October. I extracted them with a knife as I did not want the squirrels to get to them. I still have a couple that have not yet begun to split. They are on the AU Buck IV. Given that there is some period between when the husk begins to split and the nuts fall out or the husks fall to the ground, I'd guess the AU Buck IIIs are probably mid to late October and the AU Buck IVs will be late October into November but that is just an estimate.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[ts_13]

Thats kind of what I was wondering. My chinese drop mid Oct, I ordered a few that are supposed to drop late Oct. I was wondering if the auIV would stretch the drop dates any more. I am in 7a so we should be pretty close on those drop dates.

 

[yoderjac]

Glad to help.

 

[Eggman]

I got 4 of these 2 years ago. Most all of my trees I have received from the wildlife group have done great. These Auburn buck IV have not for me.

These are planted in NC.


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[yoderjac]

What is that wrap around the middle of the tree for?

 

[BradB]

Just got back from a week at the farm and took a pic of my 3.5 year old AU Chestnuts. They were very slow to get started but are growing much better this year.They are all out of the tubes and looking pretty good. My main problem
is the darn birds keep landing on my leaders and breaking t hem off.

 

[Jordan Selsor]

Seems like allot of guys are having issues with the grafted chestnuts. I was very interested in them but think I will stick with the mid Oct dropping dunstans and use late drop soft mast to fill the gap

 

[Merle Hawggard]

Both of ours have lived through their first summer, but only grown 4 to 6 inches. We have them caged, matted, and pea graveled. Hope to see a little more growth next year, but glad they have made it thus far.

 

[yoderjac]

Both of ours have lived through their first summer, but only grown 4 to 6 inches. We have them caged, matted, and pea graveled. Hope to see a little more growth next year, but glad they have made it thus far.

Interesting. Mine have not grown much but I assumed it is because they have been in the 3 gal RB2s so long and were forced from vegetative state to fruiting state. Are any of yours producing nuts?

Thanks,

Jack

 

[Merle Hawggard]

Interesting. Mine have not grown much but I assumed it is because they have been in the 3 gal RB2s so long and were forced from vegetative state to fruiting state. Are any of yours producing nuts?

Thanks,

Jack

No Jack,
Chuck got them last year and they were tiny things.
We regretted not putting them in root makers, but we kept them watered in the dry spells and protected.
They have good color so far so it's my hope they used this year to send down roots and we'll see a little more top growth next year.

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[yoderjac]

Mine were small too when I got them. They were nut grafted. I intended to plant mine in the field after the first season but they produced nuts and I wanted to collect them and didn't get a chance to plant them after that. So, they have been in 3 gal RB2s for 2 seasons.

Sounds like yours were nut grafted as well. If you look a few post back, you will see Eggman posted a picture of a tree with an AU Buck IV tag on it, but it almost looks like grafting tape in the middle. I was wondering if they were selling something other than nut grafted trees. Maybe his tree just broke and he used the tape to repair it. I haven't seen a response to that question yet.

Thanks,

jack

 

[ts_13]

I wonder why they are not growing well? I assumed they would shoot up the second year.

 

[yoderjac]

I wonder why they are not growing well? I assumed they would shoot up the second year.

Mine were delivered in 5" roottrapper bags. I've found that to be a fairly small root system for planting in the field without supplemental care. That is why I initially transplanted mine into the 3 gal RB2s. While the root system coming out of a 5" bag is very dense and efficient, it can only extract water and nutrients from the area it can reach. Coming out of a 3 gal RB2 field planted trees without supplemental care take off much better. I've found this to be the case in general with all the kinds of trees I've grown from nut and seed. There may be something unique about these because they are nut grafted, but I would think if they were planted directly from 5" bags it might take a while.

Mine grew pretty well the first summer but very little this year. I think it was because 2 seasons in 3 gals limited the root growth.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[Ouachita]

Eggmans AU Buck IV looks to have been burned?

 

[yoderjac]

I've been home working all week, but I'm heading to the farm today. I'm taking my AU III and IV trees with me to plant in the field along with a couple apples I grafted this spring. I got the last of the nuts from them, so I want to be sure to get them in the ground this year. Two growing seasons in 3 gal was clearly too much.

 

[ts_13]

Good luck with them. If your climate is anything like ours it hasnt rained in 2 months!

 

[yoderjac]

We've had a little bit of spotty rain. Trees are now close to going dormant. I'll soak the containers before I plant them. I'm sure they'll do fine. We are supposed to get some rain tonight. I drove through a bit on the way to the farm, but there is nothing but a light sprinkle here at the farm.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[yoderjac]

Jack,

Why do you think keeping your chestnuts in 3 gallon root trappers was too much? Couldn't you have transplanted them to 5 gallons?

I've tried a number of methods, but the one I like best is this: For the chestnuts I grow from seed where I'm trying to maximize growth, I start in RM Express Tray 18s for 12-16 weeks under lights in the winter. I then transplant them to 1 gal RB2 containers when I take them outside in the spring. In late spring I transplant them to 3 gal RB2 containers and keep them 1 growing season until fall and then plant them. Details with pics are in this thread: http://www.habitat-talk.com/index.p...th-rootmakers-transfered-from-old-forum.5556/ I typically don't keep them for a second growing season. I use a tractor auger when planting them. I'm planting them in heavy clay. The difference in water infiltration between the promix I use in the containers and the heavy clay is problematic. I've developed a technique for planting from rootbuilder II containers in heavy clay that works well. It depends on the auger diameter being very close (slightly larger) than the container. I don't have an auger bit for my tractor the right size for containers larger than 3 gal. The technique also depends on hole depth and I'm not sure my tractor could handle a larger bit at the depths I need.

The AU Buck trees were a special case. I bought them as nut grafted trees from the Wildlife Group. My plan was to transplant them from the 5" roottrapper bags to the 3 gal Rootbuilder II containers when I received them in November, keep them for one growing season, and plant them in the fall. I got a surprise when they produced a few nuts that first summer on my deck. I decided to wait for the nuts to mature and collect them for planting before planting the trees. By the time the nuts fell, it was in the middle of my hunting season I just did not get a chance to plant them. I considered planting them this spring, but again they produced nuts. I could have transplanted them to larger containers, but planting would be more problematic. I also thought that transplanting them to larger containers may cause them to put more energy into vegetative growth and less into nut production. I decided to sacrifice potential growth to ensure the nuts matured. Last year I only got a couple nuts that matured. Most aborted. This year only one aborted and the rest matured.

I've had a few conversations with Dr. Whitcomb. My understanding is that for optimal root development you want to follow the 4" rule. When a root gets pruned most of the root branching occurs within 4" of that prune. So, if you start with large containers, you get less root branching. However, once the roots fill the container, it becomes hard to top-water, and growth slows because of the root ball limitation. This can force a tree from the normal vegetative growth stage it would otherwise be in if young into a fruiting stage. I found this out working with Jujube trees after discussing the fact that parent trees in the field were not producing fruit but trees I started from root cuttings were fruiting on my deck in their first growing season with a professor that specializes in Jujube. He suggested that when I planted them in the field, they would likely stop producing fruit and revert to vegetative growth for a few years.

The reason I believe I kept AU Buck chestnuts in 3 gal RB2 containers too long is that they grew well last season and growth this season was minimal.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[TreeDaddy]

Jack,

Please describe your technique for planting chestnuts in clay/loam,etc. How do you ensure drainage and prevent pooling and "wet feet?"

Are you adding amendments? How do you address glazing?

What size auger? How deep?

thanks,

bill