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lunchesandbentos t1_j29apkg wrote

Reply to comment by casualdadeqms in Biotech chestnut tree poised to restore lost ecosystems and biodiversity — But it needs your help by Spiffydude98

I really want to grow chestnuts but most are too big for my suburban food forest.Have been looking at the dwarf ones but not sure how resistant they are to blight. Can the normally larger ones be pruned small and kept small? (Less than 20ft?)

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casualdadeqms t1_j29tfmc wrote

I honestly don't know about pruning and am not familiar with dwarf chestnuts. It's something I can ask about the next time we've team on-site, which should be late April-ish. We've simply planted and let grow in our operation with space constraints being of no concern. It's seasonal interaction and largely passive at this point in time.

For what it's worth, when our contract was established there were an estimated 2900-3200 American Chestnut trees. We are told our contract was the largest private one at the time, with an ~1100 tree contract in a Northern US/CAN region being the closest comparable- clearly dwarfing our own.

The pictured trees have since been deemed "obsolete", as they were a run sharing the genetics of a Japanese hardwood, but we still expect 30-40% to survive into maturity and continue to study, monitor, and maintain.

If I understood things correctly, borrowed traits from wheat and strawberries have yielded the outcomes we've all been hoping for.

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lunchesandbentos t1_j29zfxo wrote

For a lot of gardeners, space constraints are a huge thing when it comes to whether or not we’d add them… I wonder if genetically modified dwarf ones would incentivize people to add them to their backyards. Either way, thank you for the info and it’s exciting stuff you guys are doing!!!

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casualdadeqms t1_j2a55sd wrote

I completely understand the concerns around space and area efficiency in farming (and gardening!!) and it's a conversation that should definitely continue as we strive to achieve our best! As far as dwarf chestnuts go, I would be curious to investigate that as well. We will definitely make it a point to pick the brains of the smart people, as we're just simple farmers with the land to provide some opportunity!

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