Updated date:

Mar 27, 2021

Horse Chestnut Seeds - Trying to Germinate

Author:: Char Milbrett

My hubby went to a yard sale, and the owner had a horse chestnut tree growing in his yard, and my hubby saw the pods hanging there and questioned if it was a horse chestnut tree or not. The yard owner said it was and offered him a few pods to take home and start his own trees.

He googled how to grow them, and when he got home he described the process to me. Apparently, these seeds need to be stratified, or chilled, before they germinate. Perfect for Minnesota, since they drop in the fall, sit on your yard until the following spring [in a snowdrift, which is very cold] at which time, they wake up and start extending roots and a tree sprout. Hopefully, there is dirt available.

When in dirt, the seed is placed sideways. The tree will grow towards the light source, and the roots will burrow downwards to secure the tree.

This may, or may not work. Time will tell. Must have faith.

A poem

Who plants a seed

Beneath the sod

And waits to see

Believes in God

I do not know who originally wrote this poem, but I heard it was Annie Maas.

Getting Started

I broke open the pods and rescued the seeds. The seeds are called conkers. Each conker contains a tree.

I have some smaller ziplock bags and I placed a conker in each bag, added some potting soil, and some water and sealed the bag. I placed the group of bags into a bowl with a lid and placed it in the refrigerator, in the back. I won't need them until February, when the weather [and ground] starts warming up. At that point, I will take each conker and place in its own pot with potting soil.

I have eleven conkers. There were four pods, and there are three conkers per pod. My hubby misplaced one somewhere. This is okay. Eleven are plenty.

I put my collection of bagged Conker's into a bowl to keep them together

They Are Alive

A couple weeks ago, he was moving pop around in the refrigerator, when he opened the bowl with the prepared bags of seeds.

Roots! They were growing. So. It was time to plant them in pots.

Well. This was to be a temporary solution. We pondered multiple pots, but then, after some intense thought, we decided that a larger, even more temporary arrangement needed to be made.

I bought a 25 quart bag of miracle grow potting soil. We had a storage box that would hold the soil and then a clear box for a terrarium.

Soil. Water. Cover. Light. Warmth. Trees!

Additions to Soil

Miracle Grow potting soil. Jobe's grow sticks. Egg shells. Water.

Time to Repot

Are you asking the question of why I have to repot these trees and not put them in the soil?

This is Why - The Ground is Frozen Solid

Ice Cream Pails and Fresh Potting Soil

Need an ice cream pail for each tree. I bought a 50 quart bag of potting soil, thinking that it wouldn't be enough. Well. I didn't even need all of it. In fact, I had the dirt they were growing on, plus a bit from the bag that was open.

I put a little dirt across the bottom. About 3 cups worth. Then, I took a metal spoon and cut around the first tree. I had the pail very close so I could cut, lift and place in pail in one swoop. Then, I scooped dirt around the root ball and packed it around. I will have to get some water in each. I'm debating about filling up the pots to the top.