The nutty flavor is difficult to confuse. In fruits and leaves, it has a delicate, slightly bitter smell, while in peeled kernels and oil it has a sweetish note. Walnut is an extremely useful and nutritious product, in addition, the plant itself looks very beautiful. It is not surprising that many gardeners plant it in their summer cottage. The tree is propagated by seeds and seedlings. We will tell you how to grow it from a nut in this article.
What does a walnut tree look like?
This tree is known for its monumentality. Southern varieties grow up to 30 meters tall. The crown is spreading, extensive, capable of occupying 0.3 acres. Considering that other crops do not always grow under it (due to the dense foliage of the walnut tree or the phytoncides released by it), this plant is not suitable for a small summer cottage.
General view of a walnut tree.
How the walnut tree blooms - in the photo below:
Flowers: on the left - male, on the right - female.
Readers ask us what an adult flowering walnut tree looks like, is there a photo? It is much more convenient to watch the flowering of a large tree in the video below:
Photo of walnut leaves.
Photo of fruits.
Variety "Ideal"
This famous variety overturned the standard view of the walnut as a purely southern plant. A relatively short tree (up to 5 m versus 30 meters of classic southern nuts), lives not 400 years, but 50 years, but the fruitful qualities are unique. It blooms twice a season, the fruits are collected in a brush, quite frost-resistant (in the Urals, shelter for young plants will be needed - that's all), bears fruit unusually early - at 2-3 years of age. A short summer in the middle lane is enough for the harvest to ripen qualitatively. Experienced walnut growers say that the Ideal variety has shown itself to be excellent in the Moscow region, near St. Petersburg, in Vyazma.
Unfortunately, no one shared a photo of an adult tree, it is impossible to find a photo on the network with at least an approximate appearance of this wonderful variety in adult form. However, you can see the tree in the video in the blog "My Garden".
Time and technology
Walnut is a mountain culture, so low temperatures are not scary for it. This plant is characterized by a lush and beautiful crown, which is formed under the constant influence of sunlight. Despite its unpretentiousness, this tree does not like swampy and compacted soil (like the Peanut).
The most suitable option for planting is moist loamy soil, which contains a small amount of groundwater.
The site for planting a walnut must also be chosen carefully. If you plan to plant more than one, several plants at once, then a distance of at least 5 m must be observed between them. The exception is planting trees on a slope. Then the fit can be tighter to each other. After all, Walnut, like the Manchurian nut, is a photophilous plant.
On the selected plot of land, there must be soil that is well cultivated and prepared. When the fertile layer is shallow, it is necessary to apply the required fertilizer. In this case, it is necessary to use a large amount of manure combined with ash and an auxiliary superphosphate additive. The prepared becoming must be brought into the prepared hole to a depth of 80 cm.If the further growth of the plant is favorable, then it is worth carrying out such feeding every year. How to graft fruit trees can be found in the article.
On the video - walnut, cultivation and care:
Make a 40x40 cm depression in the prepared soil. To further stimulate the growth of lateral roots, put a plastic wrap on the bottom of the hole. When planting, it is worth very carefully and neatly to lay out the lateral roots horizontally, and on top, crush them with crumbly and fertile soil. This should be done slowly, starting from the lower roots, gradually moving up the roots. What tool is needed for grafting trees can be found in the article.
Not "Ideal" alone
Despite the fact that "Ideal" is so good, its cultivation, for example, in Siberia, is nevertheless fraught with a number of difficulties - the plant will require shelter, attention, feeding, and formation. Perhaps, citizens who are keen on walnut farming will like other species of the Walnut genus - they are more stable in nature, and, although they will also require efforts to grow, they may turn out to be easier to breed in Siberia or the Urals. These are nuts:
- The black.
- Rocky.
- Siebold (ailantholus).
- Grey.
- Manchurian.
- Cordate.
Growing trees from seeds
That is, from the fruit. Seeds sprout in one year. Choose a quality nut, preferably one that has just fallen from a tree. Better yet, pick a ripe, beautiful fruit and pick it yourself.
Inspect the nut, if there is damage on the shell, it is better not to take it.
Is it possible to grow a walnut from a store nut?
There is a small chance, however, the freshness and germination of these nuts is more than doubtful, it is hardly worth wasting time. Having familiarized yourself with the procedure for preparing seeds for planting, you will understand that nuts on the market could have lost their germination at any of these stages (for example, the drying stage).
Do nuts need to be peeled from the outer fleshy layer (pericarp)?
Desirable. This will sprout the nuts much faster. Cleaning should be done carefully without damaging the inner shell. The procedure is carried out with gloves, the juice has strong coloring properties, stains can be removed.
After cleaning
Peeled nuts are dipped in a bucket of water, drowned ones are quality nuts that are more likely to sprout, choose them for planting.
The next step is drying. Peeled and calibrated nuts are laid out in the sun in one layer, dried for 1 day, then dried in the shade. Dry only in the fresh air; it is highly not recommended to dry nuts intended for planting near heating devices. You can skip this stage if you plan to plant a nut before winter and get seedlings in May.
What to put in?
Prepared nuts are planted in open ground, as described below, but you can also at home in plastic containers of half a liter. The containers are filled with garden soil, the nuts are planted to a depth of 5 cm. They are watered, then placed in a cool place: a balcony or a basement. At the beginning of February, they are rearranged into a house, in a bright place, after 2-3 weeks young plants appear, after a month they reach a height of 10 cm, now they need a larger container, they should be transplanted into pots or cut plastic bottles with a volume of 1.5-2 liters.
The condition of the soil should be monitored, it should always be moderately moist, in April (or later, at a temperature of about 15 C, the plants begin to gradually accustom them to fresh air, they are taken out to the balcony. They are planted in open ground when the threat of frost has completely passed.
Landing in open ground, choosing a place
The walnut tree is characterized by spreading - this is taken into account when choosing a place. Powerful root system, so it is not planted next to buildings. Fruiting in 6-9 years.
The fruits are planted before winter, it is advisable to plant them immediately in a permanent place, the tree has a powerful central taproot, which means that it does not like transplants. The pit for planting is up to 1 meter both in height and in width, before planting, dig up the soil from the pit with humus. The depth of the planting of nuts is 15-20 cm. At least 3-4 nuts are planted in one pit, so that later one can choose the strongest one.
The nut should be laid up with a seam, if put with a tip, it will also germinate, but it will develop more slowly. Nuts planted in open ground germinate a little later than those planted in cups, around May. Although there is also the opposite experience: in the open field, the nuts sprouted faster than after stratification in the refrigerator.
Yes, there is also the option to plant the nuts outdoors in the spring. For this, the prepared nuts are stored in a cool, but not damp place. Somewhere 3-4 months before planting in open ground (approximately in January-February), they need to be stratified: nuts are buried in moistened sand, placed in the general compartment of the refrigerator (a temperature of 5-7 degrees is needed). Withstand the due date. Planted in May in open ground, seedlings should be expected in ten days.
How walnuts germinate:
Germination of walnut "Ideal".
Selection of containers
Before growing a nut, you need to choose the right container. To do this, you can take any deep pot that has good drainage. The first container should have a diameter and depth of about 25-30 cm. It is these parameters that will ensure the freedom of the developing root system.
When grown in a pot, the crop is limited in growth. Therefore, seedlings 1-3 years old should be constantly replanted. It is recommended to do this once a year. In this case, it is recommended to choose a pot 8-9 cm larger than the previous one.
Walnut in the Moscow region
Contrary to all beliefs, walnuts can really grow in the Moscow region. Planting is possible both in autumn and in spring after stratification. True, nuts for planting must be bought from trusted walnut growers who grow nuts in the Middle Lane. As for the seedlings, then, of course, it is necessary to plant only zoned young plants grown from nuts obtained from a tree, which feel comfortable in the conditions of the Moscow region, imported southern trees are too tender. We have already talked about the Ideal variety above - yes, it is perfect for growing in a dacha near Moscow.
First fruits
With proper care of the tree, it will begin to bear fruit, the closest is in seven years. If the rules for planting or caring for a tree have been violated, it may be susceptible to disease - such a plant will bear fruit only after 10 to 15 years.
Ripe fruits begin to be harvested in the fall as soon as the first cracks appear on the green peel of the fruit.
If you use these tips on how to germinate a nut at home, then you will have the opportunity after 7 to 10 years to have your whole family grown nuts that are indispensable for the human body.
Growing walnuts in the Urals
Such attempts have indeed been, and are almost successful. The Ideal variety grows well in the Urals in the open field in summer, giving powerful shoots, but all ground parts freeze out in winter. That does not prevent the trees from resuming attempts to sprout with the arrival of heat. Usually, such plants die, gradually exhausting all their strength to fight inappropriate conditions. The network contains information about the gardener Vera Viktorovna Telnova (Chelyabinsk), who successfully grows walnuts in the Urals and receives a harvest from them. It looks like this:
- Seedlings of the "Ideal" variety were planted on a plot well sheltered from the winds.
- The tree is formed low, up to 1.2 m. But spreading, the crown of one plant can occupy 8 square meters.
- The young seedling was specially planted a little inclined to make it easier to bend it to the ground.
- For the first three years, the trunk of the seedling for the winter was wrapped in 2-3 layers of covering material, in the future the procedure is simplified, you can simply throw a covering material on the tree, attach something heavy from above (pipes, bricks, boards).
- To avoid gnawing mice under the shelter, you should lay out mouse baits.
- Natural snow cover is sufficient.
- Shelter should be removed late enough - at the beginning of May.
- The yield of such a tree depends on the quality of the soil, the more fertile the land, the higher the yield. In the summer, high-quality watering will also be required. Such a nut can bear fruit in the 3rd year of life (the Ideal variety, as you know, is early ripening).
Further care
In the future, care will include watering in the summer, loosening the soil, mulching young trees and pruning adults.
The first watering is carried out in May. It should be done twice a month. It will take about 4 liters per plant. In August, humidification is stopped so that the tree can normally endure the winter and frosts.
Trees with a stem height of 4 m can be watered less frequently.
Plants up to two years of age mulch for the winter. In the spring, in the first weeks of March, starting from the second year of life, formative pruning is performed, and subsequently - once or twice a year - sanitary pruning.
Check out the features of tree pruning in spring, autumn, summer.
Branches are cut that grow at an acute angle, the so-called "tops", as well as those that are too close to each other, dry and weak.
Top dressing is carried out twice a year - with nitrogen fertilizers in the spring and phosphorus-potassium fertilizers in the fall.
Important! Before the tree has not begun to bear fruit, it is not worth feeding it with mineral fertilizers. This is fraught with the development of bacteriosis.
