When Will Chestnut Trees Bear Fruit?
While American chestnut trees are rare, many homeowners have Chinese or Japanese chestnut trees on their properties. These nuts are difficult to pick, but gardeners who know when to harvest them can enjoy a sweet, nutty reward. Does this Spark an idea?
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Fruit Production
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Like many other nut trees, chestnuts cannot self-pollinate. They require the presence of another variety of chestnut tree to cross-pollinate. Single trees of any type do not produce nuts.
Ripening
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Chestnuts do not mature all at once, even on a single tree. Instead, they ripen over the course of 10 days to a month, usually beginning in late August. Ripening times may vary, depending on local climate and weather. The Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation recommends picking when the burrs are just beginning to split.
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Picking
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Since chestnuts are enclosed in prickly burrs, they can be difficult to harvest by hand. Avoid shaking the tree or knocking down nuts, however. According to the University of California Davis, this can damage or remove immature nuts along with ripe ones. Instead, pick by hand while wearing leather gloves or pick using tongs.
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References
- Photo Credit Michael Blann/Photodisc/Getty Images
