This year has been a good year for conkers, as well as most other fruits and nuts, when we visited our local Horse Chestnut trees in October there was an abundance of spikey green shells hanging on tightly in the chilly north easterly wind, we collected about thirty beautiful, shiny brown nuggets that had fallen on the ground, enough for Thomas to play conkers with and some to plant as well.
The first record of the game of conkers is from the Isle of Wight in 1848, they originally played with snail shells! Click here to learn how to play the game of conkers.
Horse Chestnut trees were introduced from the Balkans in the late 16th Century, in the UK we have over two million trees, even though this year has been a good year for conkers the Horse Chestnut tree is under threat.
Nearly a million of our trees are infected by the tiny invasive moth larvae, known as the horse chestnut leaf miner, they burrow in the leaves which then turn brown, reducing the amount of food that the tree can absorb through photosynthesis, as well as the threat from the leaf minor another serious disease called bleeding canker is spreading too and can cause the death of the tree.
The Horse Chestnut Tree is spectacular throughout the year and one of our national treasures, if you want to help maintain the poulation why not plant some of your spare conkers.
How to grow your Horse Chestnut trees
- Place your conkers in a container of water, discard the ones that float these have dried out.
- Using only the conkers that sink, plant them about 2cm deep individually in pots of soil/compost, between now and the end of November.
- Water well and place in a sheltered spot outside.
- Protect the pots from predators i.e. squirrels, mice etc. and from hard frosts, a cold frame is ideal, keep checking them to see if they need watering, but don’t overwater.
- The conkers will need to go through a period of cold temperatures to encourage them to germinate in the spring.
- Keep your young trees watered and re-pot as they grow bigger.
- Ask the landowners permission before you plant your new trees into the big wide world, they can grow very large.
We already have two healthy young trees waiting for a new home.
Happy planting
Gill
My horse chestnuts have all germinated during the winter. Are they ok to leave outside in the freezing weather now they are a inch or two high?
If they have been outside throughout the winter they should be fine
This is a great site. I work with a group of adults with learning difficulties who love gardening. Pleased to say that the conkers we planted have sprouted!
I’ve planted many of these but recently not. Can’t remember to plant the conker with it’s “eye” up or down? which way do you plant yours?
When they drop from the tree they could land any way up, so I plant some eye up, eye down and on their side Gill
Hi
I planted 20 conkers last year from a conker tree my my Great Grandfather planted
I planted them September 2015
Leaves and a stem May 2016 approx 2 leaves per plant 20cm high
Leaves fell off October 2016
Now April 2017 the leaves are starting to come back
However i am worried they are growing to slow and i am doing something wrong,
They have been outside sincr i planted them in pots
Hi Miles
It sound like you are doing o.k., they are not fast growing, if you are growing them in pots check that they have not outgrown their pots by carefully removing the pot if you see a lot of roots they will need potting on into a larger pot, they will also need some plant food during the summer as there will not be many nutrients in the compost for them.
Gill
How quickly do they grow? How old is the tree in the bottom picture? I’ve had four germinate this spring and the biggest is already 20cm!
Hi Fay
It sound like they are doing really well, they are quite slow growing, keep potting them on into larger pots when the roots begin to appear through the bottom of their pots. I am not sure how old the tree in the picture is it was taken quite a long time ago
Gill
Hi, can anyone tell me at what age they start to produce conkers ?
Keith
Hi Keith
Horse Chestnut trees start to flower around their seventh year, successfully producing conkers will depend on good pollination and the flowers not being damaged by frost
Gill
We found little shooting conkers on the ground during a spring walk 7 years ago now. We planted them and gave a few away as they grew. We have two left. Every couple of years we have given them a bigger pot, but one has always had a smaller pot. They are now around 4 and 6 feet tall and appear to be thriving. They need a lot of watering though, especially in the summer. Obviously giving them bigger pots has helped them grow substantially, I wonder how much longer they will last as patio plants!
Dear Julia
It sounds like you are looking after them well, they do have lovely leaves and make a nice feature on the patio you can keep re-potting them, although when the pots become too big it might be time to plant them into the ground somewhere suitable.
My conker tree is about 9/10 years old ! I’m not sure if it’s healthy, how should it look by now ? It’s already in the ground and has been for many years !
Hi Mia
Horse Chestnut trees can be susceptible to fungal diseases and pests such as the horse chestnut leaf miner and chestnut scale insect, if the leaves start to look unhealthy there are are pictures and information on the internet should help you
Gill
I have 3 confer trees in pots in my garden from 1 foot high to 3 foot high what is the best time of the year to put them in the ground thank you
Ideally the best time to plant trees October-April when the ground is not frozen or waterlogged, if they are in pots they can be planted any time of the year they will need regulary watering especially if planted when the weather is warm and dry.
Thank you so much for your help l am going to plant them with my mam and my nephew her grandson once again thank you