# Chinese Chestnut (Castanea mollissima)

> Blight-resistant chestnuts for the home orchard: large sweet nuts on a spreading, drought-tolerant tree.

Category: Chestnuts & Chinquapins. Not native to North America, grown for its nuts. Grown from seed by Blue Whale Trees. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/chinese-chestnut/

![Chinese chestnut (Castanea mollissima) leaves and long pale catkins in early summer](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/plants/chinese-chestnut-h1610-800.jpg)
*Photo: Zhangzhugang, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped · [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Castanea_mollissima,_Hangzhou_Botanical_Garden_2018.06.03_15-39-04.jpg)*

## Facts

- Type: Medium tree
- Mature height: 40 to 60 ft
- USDA hardiness zones: 4 to 9
- Grows wild in: Rich moist slopes and dry uplands in China and Korea; it is not native here
- Sun: Full
- Soil moisture: Average, Dry
- Growth rate: Medium
- Flowers: June to July
- Fruit: Nuts, September to October
- First crop: 4 to 7 years
- Mature spread: 60 ft
- Traits: Edible, Wildlife value, Drought tolerant
- Sold as: Saplings, Nuts

Heights and zones are typical ranges for the species in cultivation; local conditions and seed source shift them.

## Availability

Saplings ship [bare-root](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/planting-bare-root-trees-on-arrival/index.html.md) or [in a pot](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/a-sapling-in-a-pot/index.html.md), [usually 12 to 18 inches tall](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/small-sapling-or-big-transplant/index.html.md), in the dormant season, and their [height and age](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/reading-a-nursery-listing/index.html.md) are stated with the price, once available. Live plants ship February to May and October to November. Not priced yet: leave an email on the web page for one email when it is priced, with a code for 10% off the plants in that order, not shipping or tax, or write to captain@bluewhaletrees.com.

## Notes

Until blight-resistant American chestnuts are widely available, Chinese chestnut is the reliable way to grow chestnuts in the East. Seedlings bear in four to seven years, need a second tree for pollination, and want full sun and well-drained soil. Not native, so we offer it for food, not restoration. Plant it in pairs, as a backyard nut orchard or a wildlife food plot.

## Size, growth and what to expect

Chinese chestnut seedlings commonly bear in four to seven years, and grafted trees often within two. Missouri's chestnut growers look for 18 to 24 inches of new shoot a year on a young tree, and 12 to 15 once it bears. That is close to the foot and a half a year our growth estimator assumes for a medium tree. It makes a spreading tree 40 to 60 feet tall and as wide, with a crown that settles at 35 to 40 feet in an orchard.

The burs open from mid or late September through October, usually with 2 or 3 nuts apiece. Each nut is about an inch across, 30 to 50 to the pound. Nearly every chestnut rejects its own pollen, so plant a second seedling within 200 feet. It flowers in June, and into early July as far north as Boston.

It is native to China and Korea, not to this continent, and it is the most blight-resistant of the north temperate chestnuts.

## How to grow Chinese Chestnut

Chinese chestnut needs full sun and soil that drains, average to dry, ideally sandy loam on the acid side. Trees grow as wide as they are tall, so set them 35 feet apart and as far from the house.

Plant while dormant. Saplings arrive bare-root or potted. Dig a wide hole no deeper than the root mass, set the flare at grade, refill with the soil you dug, and mulch a ring that stops short of the trunk. Nuts must never dry out, so keep them cool and damp until you sow, plant them an inch deep, and pin hardware cloth over the row against mice and squirrels.

Water through the first two summers, but never leave the ground soggy. Voles and rabbits chew the bark, so guard the lower trunk each winter until the bark thickens, and cage against deer. Take off low branches in late winter as the crown rises.

A chestnut will not pollinate itself, and a lone tree drops empty burs. Plant each tree where water never stands, because heavy, poorly drained soil or ground that stays saturated in wet seasons promotes Phytophthora root rot, a devastating disease of chestnuts. Blight resistance is good but not absolute, so cut out sunken cankers when you find them.

## Sources

- [University of Missouri Extension, AF1007 Growing Chinese Chestnuts in Missouri](https://extension.missouri.edu/media/wysiwyg/Extensiondata/Pub/pdf/agguides/agroforestry/af1007.pdf)
- [Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University: Castanea mollissima, a Chinese chestnut for the Northeast](https://arboretum.harvard.edu/stories/castanea-mollissima-a-chinese-chestnut-for-the-northeast)
- [NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox: Castanea mollissima](https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/castanea-mollissima/)
- [USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: Castanea mollissima](https://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile/CAMO83)
- [USDA Forest Service, Woody Plant Seed Manual (2008), Castanea chapter](https://rngr.net/publications/wpsm/genera/c/at_download/file)
- [Virginia Tech Dendrology: Chinese chestnut, Castanea mollissima](https://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=23)
- [The Morton Arboretum: Chinese chestnut](https://mortonarb.org/plant-and-protect/trees-and-plants/chinese-chestnut/)
- [Trees and Shrubs Online, International Dendrology Society: Castanea mollissima](https://www.treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/castanea/castanea-mollissima/)
- [Flora of China, vol. 4: Castanea mollissima](http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200006226)

## Read before planting

- [Ten planting mistakes that quietly kill trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/ten-planting-mistakes/index.html.md)
- [Transplanting young trees: timing, water and protection](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/transplanting-young-trees/index.html.md)
- [Protecting young trees from voles, rabbits, deer and squirrels](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/protecting-trees-from-animals/index.html.md)
- [Chinese chestnut: size, growth rate, bark, and how it differs from the American chestnut](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/chinese-chestnut/index.html.md)
- [Chinquapin or chestnut: telling the four we grow apart](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/chinquapin-or-chestnut/index.html.md)
- [Will it come true from seed? Store-bought nuts, grafted fruit, cultivars, and the seedlings they make](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/will-it-come-true-from-seed/index.html.md)

## Related

- Other chestnuts and chinquapins (Castanea) we grow: [Allegheny Chinquapin](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/allegheny-chinquapin/index.html.md), [American Chestnut](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-chestnut/index.html.md), [Ozark Chinquapin](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/ozark-chinquapin/index.html.md)
- Plants that share its sun and soil: [Slippery Elm](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/slippery-elm/index.html.md), [Shingle Oak](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/shingle-oak/index.html.md), [Sweet Birch (Black Birch)](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/sweet-birch/index.html.md) and [Sassafras](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/sassafras/index.html.md)
- Under its canopy: [Mapleleaf Viburnum](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/mapleleaf-viburnum/index.html.md), [Alabama Azalea](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/alabama-azalea/index.html.md) and [Flame Azalea](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/flame-azalea/index.html.md)
- Same size, similar character: [Chinquapin Oak](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/chinquapin-oak/index.html.md), [Pond Cypress](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/pond-cypress/index.html.md), [Swamp White Oak](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/swamp-white-oak/index.html.md) and [Cabbage Palmetto](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/cabbage-palmetto/index.html.md)
- [Planting-site check](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md): for a thrive, struggle or fail verdict on Chinese Chestnut, add ?species=chinese-chestnut with zone (2 to 10), sun (full, part, shade) and moisture (dry, average, wet) to that address; for example, the verdict for zone 4, part sun and average soil as Markdown is at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md?species=chinese-chestnut&zone=4&sun=part&moisture=average
- [Companion species for Chinese Chestnut](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=chinese-chestnut): the natives that share its ground and the plants that pair with it in a yard.
- [Transplant planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/transplant/index.html.md?species=chinese-chestnut): whether Chinese Chestnut can be moved and what the move takes, the root ball, its weight, who can move it and the months, as Markdown at that address (add caliper= or height=, month= 1 to 12 and soil= sandy, loam or clay)
- [Tree growth estimator](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md): how the height and trunk projections are made; the estimate for Chinese Chestnut as Markdown is at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md?species=chinese-chestnut (add height=, years= and site= poor, average or good)
- [Seed sowing planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md): how Chinese Chestnut is sown, in the chart for every species (treatment, cold days, depth, timing); the dated plan for it as Markdown is at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md?species=chinese-chestnut (add state= and zone= for your own frost dates, method=fridge for the refrigerator route)
- [Pollination planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md): what Chinese Chestnut needs for a crop and how many to plant, in the table for every species; the verdict for 2 of them as Markdown is at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md?plants=chinese-chestnut:2
- [Planting-window tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md): when to plant Chinese Chestnut where you live, as a fall and a spring window from the local frost dates; the windows as Markdown are at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md?species=chinese-chestnut&state=MO&zone=6 with your own state and zone in place of those
- [Planting-distance tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md): how far Chinese Chestnut goes from a house, a septic field, a walk, wires, a property line and the next tree; the distances as Markdown are at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md?species=chinese-chestnut&near=house,septic,pavement,wires,boundary,tree
- [Bloom and fruit calendar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md): the months Chinese Chestnut flowers and fruits, in the grid for every species; its own row and the gaps of a planting with it as Markdown at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=chinese-chestnut