Alma (A-26) – Ace seed nuts

Ordering 25 nuts or more? Enter code ORCHARD25 in your cart to pay just $1 each.

The variety

Ace is one of the twenty-three families in Greg Miller's cooperative chestnut breeding program, which has put more than 12,500 trees in the ground across fifteen states. Ace itself is a complex hybrid rather than a pure Chinese chestnut, originally from California, and Michael Nave recommends it to eastern growers specifically as seedlings rather than grafted trees.

There is one oddity worth telling. The named Ace cultivar is male sterile — it makes no pollen at all, one of only two cultivars Miller flags that way. Our trees are seedlings of Ace, not clones of it, and in 2026 most of them shed pollen normally. That is what you would expect, since every one of our seedlings had a pollen-bearing father, but as far as we can find nobody has published on it. It is a small reminder that a seedling is its own tree, not a copy.

The tree

Alma is a strong proud tree, great orchard form carrying a heavy crop for 2026.

Form: Orchard

More about Ace →

$1.25 per nut. Limit 10 nuts per mother tree per order for 2026, so more growers get a chance at each tree. Want more? Mix trees. Ordering 25 nuts or more? Enter code ORCHARD25 in your cart to pay just $1 each.

Preorder: shipped orders go out after November 15. Chestnuts are living seed, and holding them until the weather settles into steady cold keeps them from cooking in a warm mailbox or a delivery truck. Your card is charged when you order, and if anything goes wrong on our end, you get a full refund. Local? Choose Pickup at the Ellington Farmers Market at checkout (order by midnight, October 16).

What to expect: seed nuts aren’t planted right away. They need a cold rest first, called stratification, and it’s easy. Keep them in a bag in your refrigerator through the winter, slightly damp, and plant them in spring. That’s how nature does it, without the squirrels. Wrap the nuts in a damp paper towel, or pack them in a little damp peat moss, inside a plastic bag. The towel or peat should be moist but not dripping. A paper towel is the easiest choice for a few nuts. Don’t use potting soil or garden dirt, which can carry mold spores and disease. When you check them each month, re-dampen the towel if it has dried out. Store them in the coldest spot in your fridge that doesn’t freeze, ideally 34–38°F. A little mold on a few nuts is normal. Check them once a month, set aside any moldy ones, and rinse them clean. A nut with some mold is still good to plant as long as it’s firm and not overrun. We commonly get 90–95% germination here, but every refrigerator is different, so expect fewer and plant a few extra. Every order comes with step-by-step instructions. Please don’t plant them outdoors this fall; they’re much safer in your fridge until spring.

New to growing chestnuts? Start here.

*Seedlings may not match their mother tree's form. Why?