How to Plant Horse Chestnut Trees From Seed

Wear gloves when handling the horse chestnut seed pod.

If you are looking for a large flowering tree (up to 80 feet in height) for the home landscape, consider the horse chestnut tree (Aesculus hippocastanum). A deciduous tree, the horse chestnut grows white blooms in the spring and produces seedpods toward late summer and into fall. When ripe, the seed pods or conkers as they are called, containing one or two seeds, will open and fall from the tree making it convenient for you to collect the seeds. You need to plant horse chestnut seeds immediately after collecting.

Things You'll Need

• Small planting pot
• Potting soil
• Sphagnum peat moss
• Plastic bag

Instructions

1. Fill the planting pot with equal parts of moist potting soil and moist sphagnum peat moss.

2. Use your finger to make a planting hole for the seed, 2 inches in depth.

3. Lay the seed into the hole with the scar (tan-colored spot on one side of the seed) pointing down, and cover it with soil. Place the pot in a plastic bag and then into the refrigerator for three months.

4. Remove the potted horse chestnut seed from the refrigerator and place in an area that remains 70 degrees F and receives light but not direct sunlight. Keep the soil moist. Your seed should germinate within one week.

5. Transplant the horse chestnut seedling into the next-largest sized pot when you notice roots near the drainage holes in the bottom of the pot. Use the same soil/sphagnum peat moss mixture as you did for germination.

6. Plant the horse chestnut tree into its permanent location in the summer.

References

• University of Connecticut: Aesculus hippocastanum
• Tom Clothier's Garden Walk and Talk: Tree and Shrub Seed Germination
• ‭"‬Landscape Management:‭ ‬Planting and Maintenance of Trees,‭ ‬Shrubs and Turfgrass‭;" ‬James R.‭ ‬Feucht and Jack D.‭ ‬Butler‭; ‬1988

Resources

• Read this Article in Portuguese