Which Chestnut Variety is Right for You?

Your Thriving Resource for Choosing the Best Chestnut Trees for Your Land

Chestnut trees are an incredible addition to any Midwest homestead, garden, or even your yard. They can be used for edible nuts for your family, and for deer and wildlife.

Story time

I bought local chestnuts at the store and roasted them at home. I liked the taste and thought that they would be a good staple food to add to my homestead.

I planted chestnuts from the usual places – from Michigan, the Northeast, or the Pacific Northwest. I even bought a couple of 3 gallon pots of Dunstans at Walmart.

My “Seeds Have a Memory” Principle

Seeds and trees have “memory”. They thrived and reproduced in a certain climate. The trees I bought from elsewhere all struggled in the Kansas climate and most of them died. Chestnut trees from those areas don’t grow well in Kansas.

My friend told me that he planted two chestnut trees at the local rural school, with the intent to share with the kids roasted chestnuts (like the song) at Christmas time. The principal put a damper on those plans. Years went by and the chestnuts are dumping bucket loads of chestnuts and hardly anyone is picking them up. I collected gallons of them in the Fall and saved them in buckets of sand to plant out into seed.

Now I had chestnut seedlings adapted to my crazy climate, that thrived on my land. And you can too.

What the heck is a Qing chestnut tree?

Walk into any nursery (or search online), and you’ll quickly find yourself overwhelmed by variety names: American x Chinese, Qing, Empire Elite, Revival, Chinese, American, European, hybrid. What does it all mean, and which one is right for YOUR property?

Here’s the truth most nurseries won’t tell you: There’s no single “best” chestnut variety. The right choice depends on your goals, your land, and your climate.

Are you choosing chestnuts for food for your family, chestnuts to sell commercially, seed to start a tree nursery, or as a deer or wildlife food plot? Figure out your Why first.

Don’t know where to start and need help? I am a Chestnut Orchard Consultant and I can help you plan and design your orchard with the best varieties and layout to fit your needs and goals – schedule your Chestnut Orchard Planning Call.

I put together this guide to cut through the confusion and help you make the right decision for your specific situation in Midwest Zones 5 – 7.

My Recommended Varieties for Midwest Zones 5-7

Note: Plant several different varieties for diversity and the best pollination.

Let’s take a deep dive on each variety.

Empire Elite

(Genetically diverse parents, a farm mix with Chinese, European parent trees)

Key Traits:

Late leafing (avoids late frosts)
Heavy producer, medium to large size nuts
Drops nuts mid to late season
Blight resistant and cold hardy to Zone 5b
Market quality nuts with sweet flavor
Diverse parents
My Empire Elite seedlings are grown in Kansas from seed from Route 9 Cooperative in Ohio.

Best for: Diversity, good cold and blight resistance. Empire Elite seedlings have done very well on my Kansas property (although they are not old enough to bear nuts yet).

Buy Empire Elite Chestnut Seedlings

I will have more Empire Elite chestnut seedlings later in the Fall. Until then, buy from our partner:

Buy Empire Elite Chestnut Seedlings from our partner (use coupon code thrivingthefuture10 for a 10% discount).

Chinese Hybrid chestnut (farm mix)

chinese chestnut — Chinese hybrid chestnut at year 4

Good diversity

Key Traits:

Medium nuts. I foraged mine from NE Kansas trees that were originally planted from seed from Charlie’s Chestnuts in Lawrence, KS.
My Chinese hybrids have a farm mix of Qing and other Chinese varieties, including Peach.,
Easy to peel nuts
Cold hardy to Zone 5b
Drops nuts early to mid-season
May bear nuts at a younger age

Best for:

Homesteaders who want consistent quality and production. Add to deer food plots to mix these early dropping nuts with the later dropping nut varieties.

Buy Chinese Hybrid Chestnut seedlings

American x Chinese Hybrid

dunstan chestnut — Hybrid American x Chinese chestnut

Key Traits:

Larger nuts than pure Chinese
Better tree form (more upright) and may be a larger tree
Darker nuts that drop later
Cold hardy to Zone 6, although they may do OK in Zone 5b.
My hybrid seedlings are a farm mix of chestnuts with American genetics mixed with Peach, Qing, and other unnamed Chinese chestnuts. They are grown in Kansas from seed gathered from Charlie’s Chestnuts in Lawrence, KS

Best for: Homesteaders and landowners wanting a mix of production and those with slightly more space.

Recommend spacing these trees 30 feet apart and 30 feet between rows.

Also good for deer plots because they drop nuts later.

If selling nuts or seedlings, your customer will lean more toward these American hybrids than Chinese hybrids.

Buy American x Chinese Hybrid Chestnut seedlings

Revival (American x Chinese Hybrid)

My Premium Choice

**Revival chestnut – the largest chestnut I have ever seen!**

Key Traits:

Very large nuts (the largest chestnut I have ever seen!)
Exceptional chestnut flavor
Larger, upright tree (the seedlings grew taller in the first year)
Good blight resistance
Cold hardy to Zone 6
Drops nuts later
My Revival seedlings are grown in Kansas from seed gathered from Charlie’s Chestnuts in Lawrence, KS.

Best for:

Homesteaders seeking unique, very large nuts (these nuts sell themselves).

Make sure to space these trees 30 feet apart and 25-30 feet between rows.

Downsides:

Revival is not as easy to get.

Warning: Buy Revival seedlings only, not grafted trees. Revival has a tendency to have graft failure after 10 years if grafted.

Buy Revival Chestnut seedlings

Peach (Chinese Half-sib)

Key Traits:

Large to Extra Large nuts, lighter color, sometimes slightly fuzzy (hence the name)
Easy to peel nuts
Cold hardy to Zone 5b
Good genetics
Drops nuts mid-season

Downside:

May bear nuts later than other trees, or peak later for commercial production

Best for:

High yield with flavorful, easy to peel nuts.

I will have Peach chestnut seedlings later in the Fall. Until then, buy from our partner:

Buy Peach Chestnut seedlings (use coupon code thrivingthefuture10 for a 10% discount).

Qing (Chinese Half-sib) – pronounced Ching

Key Traits:

Late leafing (avoids late frosts)

Heavy producer, medium to large size nuts
Industry standard for commercial nut quality
Excellent cold tolerance
Easy to peel
Sweet flavor
Drops nuts mid to late season
Cold hardy to Zone 5a
May bear nuts at a younger age
One of the most sought after chestnuts for commercial planting when turning corn/soy into a chestnut orchard or mixed regenerative crop planting.

Best for:

Commercial growers in Zone 5 – 6.

Anyone prioritizing reliability, homesteaders wanting high yield and proven production.

Warning: Make sure to buy Qing seedlings, not grafted trees. Qing has a tendency to have graft failure after 10 years if grafted.

I will have Qing chestnut seedlings later in the Fall. Until then, buy from our partner:

Buy Qing Chestnut seedlings (use coupon code thrivingthefuture10 for a 10% discount).

Gideon (Chinese Half-sib)

Key Traits:

Vigorous growth

Heavy producer of large size nuts
Good choice as a pollinator, especially when planted with Qing
Drops nuts mid season
Cold hardy to Zone 5a

Best for:

Adding diversity to your chestnut orchard. Pairs well as a pollinator with Qing.

Buy Gideon from our partner:

Buy Gideon Chestnut seedlings (use coupon code thrivingthefuture10 for a 10% discount).

What about Chinese Chestnuts?

Chinese chestnuts get a bad rap. If you are selling seedlings, your customers will ask for American chestnuts and will become less interested if you are selling Chinese chestnuts.

The Truth: Unless you are buying European hybrid chestnuts from the North (Michigan), all hybrids have Chinese heritage to make sure that they do not develop blight. Yes, even the famous Dunstan – American x Chinese hybrids may mostly include Chinese heritage.

Chinese Chestnut Half-Sibs

Qing, Peach, Gideon chestnuts are Half-sibs. This means that there is a known mother tree (that is the named tree, like Qing) which was pollinated by any of the surrounding trees (mixed for good pollination).

Farm Mix Chinese Chestnuts

Empire Elite is a Farm mix, with the mother tree dating back to the 1960’s, surrounded by grafted high producing trees with Chinese/European, and other heritage. Besides my local Chinese hybrids grown from seed, Empire Elite is the most successful on my Kansas homestead.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Cross-Pollination: You can’t plant just one. Chestnuts are NOT self-fertile. You need at least 2-3 different varieties (or seedlings from different parent trees) to get nut production.
Buying trees from the wrong climate – Southeast-grown Dunstans, or European chestnuts grown in Michigan or the Pacific Northwest rarely thrive in Kansas.
Avoid pollen sterile chestnut trees like Colossal. They have extra-large nuts but need a pollinator. Use Revival instead.
Planting only one tree – You need cross-pollination

Ignoring drainage – Waterlogged soil = dead chestnuts
Spacing – American x Chinese hybrids and Revival trees need to be spacing 30 feet apart and 25-30 feet between rows.
Do not buy grafted Revival or Qing trees – The graft failure rate is too high; always choose seedlings instead.
I do not sell, or recommend, any European or Japanese chestnut varieties (Colossal, Marrisard, etc.) because they are mostly grown in Michigan or the Pacific Northwest and they do not do well in Kansas. Plus several of them, like Colossal, are pollen sterile. I am experimenting with growing Sleeping Giant from seed, which is a Chinese x American x Japanese hybrid that the University of Missouri recommends, but I have mixed results with the seedlings grown from seed so far.

Conclusion

Choosing chestnut varieties for the Midwest doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Start with proven, Midwest-adapted genetics (I like Empire Elite as the best all-around tree), ensure proper site preparation, plant multiple varieties for cross-pollination, and give your trees time.

In 5-7 years, you’ll be harvesting pounds of sweet, nutritious chestnuts from trees that will feed your family—and your grandchildren’s families—for generations.

The links above are to my chestnut nursery, Grow Nut Trees.