Chinese / Iowa-proven · Seed-family seedling
QingSu Family
Qing quality with an extra push on nut size. One of the best all-around picks in the lineup.
| Species | Castanea mollissima |
|---|---|
| Seed parent origin | Qing crossed with other high-quality Chinese selections. |
| Nut size | Large |
| Ripening window | Mid season |
| Cold hardiness | Zone 5 proven in Iowa |
| Blight resistance | Strong Chinese blight resistance |
| Best for | The best of both worlds pick. |
About this seed family
This family combines the proven Qing parentage with selections chosen for larger, higher-grade nuts.
You get the peelability and sweetness people expect from Qing, on a bigger nut.
If you want one family that satisfies both the hunter and the cook in the household, this is a strong candidate.
For deer hunters. Excellent, with a larger nut per bite.
Straight talk. Still a seedling family, so expect some variation in size between individual trees.
What you are actually buying
This is a seedling grown from a nut produced by a named QingSu 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.
Similar families
Chinese / Iowa-proven
Qing Family
If you only plant one family, plant this one. Qing is the all-around standard: sweet, easy-peeling nuts, dependable production, and genetics that have already proven themselves through Iowa winters.
Chinese / Iowa-proven
Peach Family
Selected for flavor. If you plan to actually eat, roast or sell your crop, this is a family worth putting in the ground.
Chinese / Iowa-proven
Gideon Family
A production-first family. Chosen because the parent tree simply makes a lot of nuts, year after year.