Edible chestnut: planting and growing

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Chestnut is a legendary character of folk epics and decorative deciduous culture that adorns gardens and parks of Western European states and southern regions of Russia. This interesting tree has several varieties and names (edible, European, noble), united by one name - sowing chestnut.

We will learn about the characteristics of the plant, its preferences and agricultural cultivation techniques from this publication.

Beech family stranger

Chestnut is an amazing tree with which different nations have different associations. For example, with the onset of autumn in France, the “chestnut season” begins, when fried fruits and other dishes based on them are sold at every intersection. Blooming chestnut is a kind of symbol of Kyiv, whose spring parks with alleys planted with chestnuts amaze the imagination with their generous beauty and excellent decorative effect. And Bulgarian healers appreciate it for its high medicinal qualities, since all above-ground parts of the plant are healing.

Distribution

Southeast Europe and Malaysia are recognized as the birthplace of this representative of temperate and warm latitudes. Sowing chestnut, winter hardiness of which is low,found today in East Asia, distributed in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic coast of America, but the plant does not survive in the northern climatic zones.

This tree is an enviable long-liver. There are several plants in the world that have been living for more than 1000 years, and in the foothills of the Caucasus there are specimens that have crossed the 500-year mark. The average life expectancy of a chestnut is considered to be an impressive period of time - 450-500 years.

View features

All listed types of chestnuts belong to the famous beech family and are tall trees reaching 30-35 meters. This plant is a real giant with a spreading wide crown and a straight, rising trunk, the diameter of which can reach two meters. The dark brown bark covering the trunk of the tree is dotted with cracks, the depth of which increases with age. Extensively spreading branches create a voluminous and dense crown. The chestnut leaves are elongated (up to 25 cm), oblong with noticeable marginal notches, proportionally large. Their beautiful shape is emphasized by a dense structure and a juicy dark green color. Leaves open in early April.

Chestnut is a flowering tree. The spectacle is impressive, and you can see it in June. Small, pale flowers, clustered in spike-shaped inflorescences, cover the crop, attracting glances from passers-by and calling for pollinating insects.

Fruits

The plant begins to bear fruit in October-November, with the beginningfalling leaves. The fruit of an edible chestnut is a real nut with a dense structure of a yellowish or creamy hue. It develops in a protective shell-plus, equipped with hard spines and protecting it from various misfortunes. One or three nuts ripen in each such shell, after which the plush cracks, exposing the fruits.

Nuts such as the edible chestnut are eaten, and their inedible varieties, such as horse chestnuts, are excellent raw materials for use in folk medicine. The fruits are sweet in taste, have a slightly friable structure and a unique composition of nutrients.

Edible chestnut looks different from horse chestnut with a slightly pointed tip of the box containing the cotyledons. After harvesting, nuts are not stored for long, as they quickly dry out, become brittle and lose their consumer properties.

Chestnut seed: useful properties and uses

The composition of chestnut fruits is unique, they contain a balanced set of minerals, vitamins, unsaturated fatty acids, macro- and microelements and their compounds. Unlike other nuts, chestnut contains a minimal amount of fat, which makes it a good product for dietary nutrition. Chestnut fruits are rich in proteins, sugars, natural plant enzymes.

Nuts are valuable as food. They are consumed fresh or subjected to any culinary treatment: fried, baked, boiled, added to bakery and confectionery products. Chopped roasted chestnutsgreat coffee substitute.

In addition to the fruits, the foliage of the tree also has special qualities, the high content of tannins and pectins in which allows you to effectively disinfect and heal wounds, stop bleeding.

Chestnut seed: cultivation

The culture is propagated by seeds or vegetatively - by cuttings. The chestnut tree is pollinated by insects. Fruiting of different species also begins at different times. Some - from the 3rd-6th year of life, others - from the 25th.

It often happens that when planting a sowing chestnut in the garden, the gardener takes care, first of all, of the decorative component of the country interior, and secondly, he provides children and grandchildren with a harvest of nuts, since he does not always succeed in harvesting with his own hands. But experienced gardeners claim that 60-70 kg of nuts are easily harvested from a 40-year-old specimen.

Chestnut seed well takes root in sunny, wind-protected areas with neutral fertile breathable soils. Moisture-loving culture does not tolerate drought, so caring for young plants is very important.

Growing from seeds

As stated above, chestnut comes from warm subtropics and does not tolerate frost, but grows well in greenhouses and winter gardens, as well as in home culture using Japanese bonsai technology.

You can get a full-fledged chestnut tree from seeds that have fully matured and fallen from a branch. For high-quality germination, long-term stratification is necessary,mimicking a natural process. Seeds are placed in a container, sprinkled with dry river sand and placed in a refrigerator or basement. After 5-6 months, chestnut seeds hardened in this way can be planted for germination.

They are placed in a substrate from a mixture of forest soil and leaf humus. Each nut is planted in a separate container with a capacity of 4-5 liters. To facilitate germination before sowing, the seeds are kept in warm water for 5-6 days. Deepen by 10 cm. Stratified, they germinate quickly enough, within 15-20 days. Sprouted seedlings are transplanted in the spring to an open sunny area, the shaded corners of the garden are not suitable for chestnut trees.

The place for planting must be prepared in advance, neutralize the excessive acidity of the soil by adding 500-600 grams of dolomite flour per 1 m2 and dig up the top fertile layer with humus. Before the seedlings are planted, they are hardened by taking them out into fresh air daily for two weeks. Rooted seedlings planted in open ground grow intensively. They will need simple but regular grooming.

How to take care of young plants

For regions with a warm, mild climate, it is not difficult to plant and grow chestnuts, you just need to pay a little attention to the plant, following the usual procedures provided for by the characteristics of the species and agricultural cultivation practices.

Supporting the growth of young seedlings, it is necessary to regularly weed the soil in the trunk circles, loosen it and water the plant asneed. The chestnut does not like the soil to dry out, but over time it develops a powerful tap root system, for which it is no longer difficult to extract water. However, rooted seedlings should not experience water shortages.

Edible chestnuts, the disadvantage of which is low winter hardiness, require winter shelters, even if they grow in ideal conditions of the Crimea. Nutrasil or other non-woven protective materials are used as shelters.

Pruning: sanitary and shaping

In addition to the usual care activities, the chestnut needs pruning, which forms a crown, provides decorativeness and protects against thickening and the occurrence of diseases of various origins. Pruning is carried out in early spring, removing damaged, diseased, weak branches and branches growing inside the crown. The formation of the crown is already carried out on a more mature plant, building it in accordance with one's own preferences and desires. Sowing chestnut, the photo of which is presented in the publication, is a magnificent tree. However, a living specimen of this representative of beech growing in its own garden is a spectacular and desirable plant for gardeners in the southern regions.