At the end I finally realized that blight was not the problem. The idea of using genetic engineering further highlights the narrow minded ideas that end up further delaying the inevitable. To get that is not that hard as the groundwork has already been laid but larger plantings need to be done to produce the seeds from these crosses without the usual name it, clone it and patent it mentality. You really need an outbreeding population with lots of diversity. Your really need self regeneration by the parent trees themselves. To me it is more critical because a grafted or cloned forest for wood productions is pathetic and not sustainable. To make selections of hybrid chestnuts is one thing but to further improve the diversity found in a population of hybrids is another. Nut size is not like the commercial European types. But it is possible some will be heavier bearing than others and could be useful nut producers on their own. The Ecos chestnut hybrids are meant more for timber production with a side benefit of nuts. Images of each selection and the nuts they produce will be also highlighted. Seeds will be kept under refrigeration and stored for maximum germination. As a result it is now possible to offer the seeds and scions of the best selections that show how much vigor they have as well as how strong they are against this very strong disease.ĭifferent varieties will be listed under this product and will be available during the dormant seasons of late fall and winter. Eventually when they began fruiting and then later dying, I began a selection process that continues to this day. It was quite a bit of work growing chestnuts on a sandy hill. I decided to make selections within these populations of plants and soon my hillsides were clothed in chestnuts. Luckily others had established his hybrids in different areas and for a while I was able to raise several thousand seedlings of which I sold to the mega mail order nursery companies. It was just at the end of his life and his wife was still doing some work with the collection before moving to Florida. Everyone warned me but of course I had to try!Įventually I found a seed source called Douglas hybrids developed by Earl Douglas of New York. It just was not a practical tree to grow from seeds. I soon learned this happens to ALL American chestnuts unless super isolated in the far north or western part of the United States outside their range. When those pure American trees died from blight at my farm, just prior to them fruiting, I was shocked at how fast that occurred. Those trees and the few seeds they produced inspired me to grow other chestnuts. I even found a few pure American chestnuts growing in a woodland near a home I was hired to do the landscaping on. Starting in the mid 80's I started growing chestnuts at my farm by purchasing seeds of numerous hybrids and species.
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