Chestnut sowing edible: planting and rearing

Chestnut is the legendary character of folk epic tales and decorative deciduous culture that adorns the 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 - chestnut sowing. We learn about the features of the plant, its preferences and the cultivation of agrotechnics from this publication.

A stranger from the beech family

Chestnut sown is an amazing tree, with which various associations are associated with different peoples. For example, with the onset of autumn in France, the "chestnut season" begins, when at each crossroads they sell fried fruits and other dishes based on them. Blossoming chestnut - a kind of symbol of Kiev, whose spring parks with chestnut-lined avenues impress the imagination with generous beauty and excellent decorative. And Bulgarian healers appreciate it for high medicinal qualities, since all the above-ground parts of the plant are curative.

Spread

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

This tree is an enviable long-liver. In the world there are several plants that live more than 1000 years, and in the foothills of the Caucasus are known specimens that crossed the 500-year boundary. The average life expectancy of a chestnut is an impressive period of time - 450-500 years.

Species Features

All these types of chestnuts belong to the famous beech family and represent tall trees reaching 30-35 meters. This plant - a real giant with a spreading wide crown and a straight, upward stem, the diameter of which can reach up to two-meter values. The dark brown bark covering the tree trunk is covered with cracks, the depth of which increases with age. Vastly sprawling branches create a thick and dense crown. Chestnut leaves are elongated (up to 25 cm), oblong with noticeable marginal chisels, proportionately large. Their beautiful form is emphasized by a dense structure and a juicy dark green color. The foliage dissolves in early April.

Chestnut is a flowering tree. The spectacle is impressive, and you can see it in June. Small light flowers collected in spicate inflorescences cover the culture, attracting the looks of passers-by and invoking insect pollinators.

Fruit

Fruit-bearing plant begins in October-November, with the beginning of the fall foliage. The fruit of the edible chestnut is a real nutlet of a dense structure of a yellowish or cream shade. It develops in a protective shell-plush, equipped with hard thorns and protecting it from various misfortunes. In each such shell one or three nuts ripen, after which the plum crackles, revealing the fruits.

Nuts of this kind, like edible chestnut, are eaten, and their inedible varieties, such as horse chestnut fruits , serve as excellent raw materials for use in folk medicine. The fruits are sweet to taste, have a slightly loose structure and a unique composition of nutrients.

The edible chestnut is outwardly different from the horse's slightly tapered tip of the box, in which the cotyledon is. After harvesting, the nuts are not stored for long, as they quickly dry up, become brittle and lose their consumer properties.

Chestnut seed: useful properties and application

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

Nuts are valuable as a food product. They are consumed fresh or subjected to any culinary processing: fry, bake, boil, add to bakery and confectionery. Grinded roasted chestnuts are an excellent substitute for coffee.

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

Chestnut sown: cultivation

Propagation of the culture with seeds or vegetatively - cuttings. Chestnut is pollinated by insects. Fruiting of different species also begins at different times. Some - from the 3rd to 6th year of life, others - from the 25th. It often happens that planting a sowing chestnut in the garden, the gardener cares first of all about the decorative component of the dacha interior, and the second - ensures the harvest of the nuts of children and grandchildren, since he can not always harvest the harvest himself. But seasoned gardeners claim that from the 40-year-old specimen they easily collect 60-70 kg of nuts.

Chestnut sowing is well established on sunny, sheltered from the wind areas with neutral fertile air-permeable soils. Moisture-loving culture does not tolerate drought, so caring for young plants is very important.

Cultivation from seeds

As indicated above, the chestnut tree comes from warm subtropics and can not tolerate frosts, but it grows well in greenhouses and winter gardens, as well as in domestic culture using Japanese bonsai technology.

You can get a full chestnut tree from seeds that have completely ripened and fallen from the branch. For a qualitative germination, a long stratification is needed, imitating a natural, natural process. Seeds are placed in a container, poured over with dry river sand and placed in a refrigerator or basement. After 5-6 months, so hardened chestnut seeds can be planted for germination.

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

The place for planting should be prepared in advance, neutralizing the excessive acidity of the soil, adding 500-600 grams of dolomite flour per m ² and digging up the top fertile layer with humus. Before the seedlings are planted, they are quenched, taking them to fresh air daily for two weeks. Planted in the open ground, rooting seedlings grow intensively. They will need a simple but regular care.

How to take care of young plants

For regions with a warm mild climate, the chestnut sowing plant is easy to plant and grow, it is only necessary to give the plant a little attention, performing the usual procedures provided by the features of the species and the agrotechnics of cultivation.

Supporting the growth of young seedlings, it is necessary to regularly weed the soil in the trunks, loosen it and water the plant as needed. Chestnut does not like the drying of the soil, but over time it develops a powerful core root system, it is no longer difficult to extract water for it. Nevertheless, rooting seedlings should not be short of water.

Edible chestnuts, the lack of which is low winter hardiness, require winter shelters, even if they grow in the ideal conditions of the Crimea. As shelters use nitrasil or other non-woven protective materials.

Pruning: Sanitary and Forming

In addition to the usual grooming activities, the chestnut needs pruning, forming the crown, providing decorative and protecting against thickening and the occurrence of diseases of various origins. Carry pruning in early spring, removing the damaged, sick, weak and growing branches inside the crown. Formation of the crown is carried out already on a more mature plant, building it in accordance with their own preferences and desires. Chestnut sown, a photo of which is presented in the publication, is a magnificent tree. However, a live specimen of this beech, growing in its own garden, is a spectacular and desirable plant for gardeners in the southern regions.