horse chestnut tree (conker)

gumgum1

Hi hope someone can help my son would like me to plant some conkers in the garden. I have no idea how to plant conkers in the hope that they become a tree. So i am asking my fellow boardies to give me a idots step by step guide to planting horsechestnuts.

Thanking you in advance
gumgum

pwurple

Take conker out of shell. Stick in a pot with some damp compost or earth.

Wait.

When it has a leaf or two, transplant into a spot in the garden.

PS, hope you have a BIG garden!

gumgum1

pwurple wrote: »

Take conker out of shell. Stick in a pot with some damp compost or earth.

Wait.

When it has a leaf or two, transplant into a spot in the garden.

PS, hope you have a BIG garden!

Thanks for the reply lots of confusing answers when i googled it like drying the conker out wetting it again planting it a certain way in the pot thanks again sounds simple now

tampopo

Can I repeat, you need a BIG garden. A very big garden.

gumgum1

tampopo wrote: »

Can I repeat, you need a BIG garden. A very big garden.

Thanks yes we have a big garden how fast do they grow

Borzoi

gumgum1 wrote: »

Thanks yes we have a big garden how fast do they grow

About 18inches per year when young. Slowing down with age.

Borzoi

gumgum1 wrote: »

Thanks yes we have a big garden how fast do they grow

About 18inches per year when young. Slowing down with age.

tampopo

your son could have a son before the tree produces fruit.

monkeynuz

You should get conkers in 15 years or so, when the tree is about 8-10 feet tall, not many but some.

prospect

Our horse chestnut tree is now about 15 feet tall and this is the first year it has given any decent conkers.
Last year there was very few and I don't think we had any at all any previous year.

looksee

Just to be clear, when wpurple says take conker out of shell, the shell is the green prickly bit. Plant them soon after they come out of the shell, or it splits.

If you think about it, conker falls off tree in shell and lands in leafmould. Green bit splits and conker may or may not fall out, snuggles down in remains of shell and leafmould, and if not eaten by squirrels etc, sooner or later it germinates. So put the pot outside (a conker is quite big so a biggish pot), cover with a bit of wire net to keep animals out, and wait. Do several but you really will only need one tree!

magicbastarder

one option would be to plant it in an old milk carton, with holes in the bottom for drainage. it sends down a root as it grows, and the carton would be deeper than a lot of other pots, to allow for this.