Chinese / Iowa-proven · Seed-family seedling
Mossbarger Family
An old, well-documented selection with a reputation for exceptional flavor and heavy annual crops.
| Species | Castanea mollissima |
|---|---|
| Seed parent origin | Long-known Chinese chestnut selection out of Kentucky. |
| Nut size | Medium |
| Ripening window | Mid season |
| Cold hardiness | Zone 5 |
| Blight resistance | Strong Chinese blight resistance |
| Best for | Flavor-focused growers and heavy wildlife drop. |
About this seed family
Mossbarger has been passed around the chestnut world for decades because it produces reliably and the nuts taste excellent.
Nuts run medium sized, which is a fair trade for the volume and the flavor.
Mature trees tend toward a spreading habit, so give them room in an orchard layout.
For deer hunters. Heavy annual production. Deer notice the volume.
Straight talk. Medium nut size. Plan for a wide-spreading mature tree.
What you are actually buying
This is a seedling grown from a nut produced by a named Mossbarger Family parent tree. It is not a grafted clone and we will never sell it as one. It inherits roughly half its genetics from that known mother tree and half from whatever pollinated her, which means you get a real head start on quality plus the seedling advantages of a natural taproot, lower cost and genetic diversity across your planting.
Every tree is started in our insulated shed under grow lights and grown in a 4 inch by 12 inch deep tree pot, so you receive a well-rooted young tree with a developing taproot rather than a root-bound plug.
Plant more than one. Chestnuts need cross pollination from another chestnut nearby to set nuts. Plant at least two, ideally five or more, within a couple hundred feet of each other. Mixing seed families also staggers your drop window across the fall instead of dumping the whole crop in two weeks.
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