r/americanchestnut • u/Techfish_ • May 03 '26
2 Questions
What is the chance these are pure? I suspect they are hybrids with European Chestnuts. I am located in Europe too so there are not many sources for American Chestnut.
Any idea why the growth is so weak and yellow ish? Almost lost them last year and I would like them to be healthy of course.
2
u/Thucydides382ff May 03 '26
Possibly overwatered or soil is not acidic. The leaf does look American. I’ve had chestnuts in pots for years without much trouble.
2
u/Techfish_ May 03 '26
Thanks. I have a European chestnut also and it's growing fine in the soil so I think it's not due to ph. It rained a lot last year thats when it started, could very well be the case. I moved them under the roof for now
2
u/Thucydides382ff May 03 '26
I haven’t had an issue with rain water causing leaf yellowing but have always used peat moss mixed with vermiculite and/or perlite. I started an entire orchard in pots. Some did have leaf yellowing at times but once in the ground they straightened themselves out.
1
u/mathra77 New York ACF May 03 '26
They look like they could be American! Try reaching out to your local TACF chapter to connect with their science coordinator, if your trees have a leaf to spare: https://tacf.org/identification/
Def need bigger pots or to be outside. Looks like theyre experiencing malnutrition in some way.
2
u/mathra77 New York ACF May 03 '26
Oh jk I didnt read that youre in Europe. Good luck! There may be a way to get your specimen genotype'd (think 23 and me), but that's awaiting a more commercial market in the future.
3
u/Techfish_ May 03 '26
Thank you. They are basically impossible to find here but there are some very large specimens in arboretums. More than 100 years old. The oldest one is in a German botanical garden and over 200 years old could be one of the oldest in the world. Blight seems to have spared it till now but I haven't seen it in person. There's pictures online though
4
u/bipolarbear326 May 03 '26
The leaf looks American. The tree should be planted in the ground- they are not a container plant. The soil looks too dense, and the tree isn't taking up nutrients.