Tissue Culture Gillet Chestnut Trees

Tissue culture Gillet Chestnut trees grown to ~30 inches tall and shipped bare root. The trees will be packed for safe shipping and should be removed from the bag and heeled upon arrival and then watered until ready to plant.

The photos are of the trees in the various stages of propagation & growth. Orders can be fulfilled as bare root plants in the winter (most common) or as liners to nursery customers in the spring.

About the Gillet Cultivar

The Gillet chestnut is a hybrid chestnut cultivar that is known as a smaller tree that produces both male pollen and very large nuts. It is a cross between the European chestnut and the Japanese chestnut (Castanea sativa x crenata) and is named after Felix Gillet, a 19th century nurseryman and tree breeder.

As a result of genetic fingerprinting our trees as well as digging up chestnut genetic research done years ago my researchers in the Midwest, it's clear that there are likely a range of genetically diverse trees that go by the name "Gillet" Therefore, we cannot guarantee that these trees are genetically identical to those commonly referred to as Gillet in various parts of the U.S. You can read more about these discoveries and what it means for growers here.

Gillet chestnut trees are vigorous growers and some grafted trees have produced nuts within two years of grafting. They produce large nuts, typically 10-12 per pound. Gillet trees tend to tend drop their nuts a few weeks after Colossal (another of Felix Gillet's cultivars). 

Gillet chestnut trees are cold-hardy and can be grown in USDA zones 5-9. However, we recommend speaking with growers in your area, extension agents, or other advisors to select the best cultivars for your specific growing conditions. We deliver trees to growers across the U.S., so cannot give good region-specific advice.

Recommended Pollinizers:

Gillet is not considered "male pollen sterile" so may be used as a pollinizer for other varieties, especially other European x Japanese chestnut (Castanea sativa x crenata) hybrids such as Colossal and Bouche de Betizac. For more information on pollinizer selection see our Resources Page.

About Tissue Culture Propagation

Chestnuts are notoriously difficult to get into tissue culture. This means growers have had to use other forms of propagation, such as grafting and air layering to plant or expand an orchard. Non-tissue culture forms of propagation are both time intensive and have very high failure rates. For example, it's not uncommon for 50% of crafted chestnuts to die back to the graft within a few years.

Tissue culture chestnuts do not require grafting or air layering. There is no root stock and scion. Each tree is grown from a small piece of juvenile wood and is therefore a single, uniform tree.