Updated date:

Sep 19, 2020

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.