Walnut is a tall, thermophilic plant that can delight gardeners with plentiful harvests for decades. If the tree is properly maintained, it will bear fruit abundantly every year. The nut is grown not only in the southern regions of our country - it also takes root well in a temperate climate, if the method and time of planting are chosen correctly.
You can grow a nut from seeds or through vaccination. The second method, even if it allows you to preserve the best varietal qualities of the "mother" plant, is suitable only for experienced gardeners - this is the highest skill! It is much easier to buy a healthy seedling in the nursery and root it on your site.
What kind of walnut to grow?
If your main goal when growing walnuts is to collect an abundant harvest of delicious fruits from a tree at the end of each season, choose its prolific varieties. Breeders have bred many species of plants that are not afraid of cold weather, resistant to diseases and pests, are famous for the high quality of ripened nuts.
Choosing a walnut variety for planting on its site, consider the following indicators:
• productivity;
• timing of fruit ripening;
• resistance to cold, pests and diseases;
• palatability of fruits.
Denote the most popular varieties of walnuts that take root on the site of an ordinary summer resident:
• Ideal. The most popular variety, well taking root in any climate, even in the north. Since the trees withstand temperatures up to -35 ˚C, they can not be covered for the winter if the thermometer in a specific region does not fall below this mark. The plant begins to bear fruit already for 2-3 years. Adult specimens reach a height of 4-5 m. You can harvest in September. The kernels are very tasty. Propagation of the Ideal variety is possible only by seed.
• Giant. The seedling will bear fruit only for 5-6 years after planting, reaches a height of 5 m. The fruits are very large, round in shape.
• Elegant. Drought-resistant variety resistant to many diseases and pests. It does not tolerate severe frosts, therefore it is more suitable for cultivation in the southern and middle latitudes. The tree bears fruit for 5 years after planting. The kernels ripen in late September.
• Breeder. The tree bears fruit with nuts with a thin shell, resistant to pests and diseases. You can taste the ripened kernels in early September.
• Abundant. The plant extends up to 4 m in height, enters fruiting for 4 years of planting. Walnut is resistant to disease, but does not tolerate cold.
• Dessert. A medium-ripening variety that yields slightly sweet fruits in early September. The tree is drought-resistant, in severe frosts the plant wood can be damaged - you can’t do without winter shelter. Kernels on branches appear 4 years after planting.
• Harvest. Tall, productive variety, bearing fruit for 3-4 years. Nuts are ready for harvest in late September.
• Dawn of the East. An early-ripening variety that many Russian gardeners love for nuts of excellent taste. A plant up to 4 m in height withstands severe frosts. Fruits in 4-5 years.
• Aurora. The tree can grow up to 6 m in height. It begins to give tasty fruits for 4 years of life. Harvesting is carried out at the end of September.
To grow a nut in the northern latitudes, choose winter-hardy precocious varieties. For the middle band, almost any type of plant is suitable.
Where to grow walnuts?
Walnut not only gives delicious fruits, but also decorates the garden. To make the crown of the tree delight with lush foliage, choose a suitable place for the new resident of the garden.
Give preference sunny, well-ventilated areas with well-drained soil. Walnut will not tolerate wetlands. The best place to grow it will be the plot behind the house - so a tall tree will not shade other plantings.
Seedlings will grow rapidly over time, and therefore, plant them at a distance at least 5 m apart. When planting a plant on a slope, you can adhere to a different scheme - 3.5 m between copies. The rows, according to the advice of experienced gardeners, should be directed from north to south - this will give the best angle of illumination of trees in the daytime.
Soil preparation for walnut cultivation
Walnut prefers loose carbonate loam. If the water goes badly off the ground, the tree will stop its growth and will not give a plentiful harvest at the end of the season. If there are poor soils on the site, it is advisable to replace (or at least additionally feed) the top layer of the earth. To do this, enter here manure, ash and superphosphate with subsequent digging of the planting site by 50-80 cm. Such a "replacement" of soil in the future will have to be carried out every year, digging up the earth in a near-stem circle along the width of the tree crown.
To make the tree grow faster and produce abundant crops for several years, before planting it prepare the ground:
• Dig a landing hole with a diameter of 50 cm and a depth of 40 cm.
• A couple of days before the seedlings are planted, put fertilizers on the bottom of the hole - humus, phosphorus and potassium fertilizing.
• Stir the nutrient mixture and pour 40 liters of water.
In the first years of life of a walnut on a site, the "correct" soil composition is very important to him. Therefore, do not ignore the importance of the preparatory phase.
Planting Walnut Seedlings
The easiest option for a beginner gardener is to buy a seedling of a tree 3-4 years old. Take planting material in specialized nurseries or from trusted private sellers. The seedling should have developed shoots without traces of disease and wilting.
Living in the middle or northern regions, land in the spring, when the threat of the return of frost passes. The sapling will withstand autumn planting only under the condition of a warm winter, which is observed only in the southern regions.
Walnut sapling
Before planting, remove the damaged roots and treat them with a special solution that will improve the survival rate of the plant in new conditions. Root the tree in a pre-prepared hole, carefully spreading its roots. Make sure the root collar is at ground level. Tamp the earth a little and water.
If necessary, support can be provided for the nut for the first time.
Walnut Seed Planting
Growing nuts from seeds is a rather laborious way of planting. But its main advantage is that with proper care of the plant, it can surpass the "mother" tree in quality characteristics. The main problem is to buy high-quality seed material. Go to the farmers market for the “right” nuts:
• large
• with an intact shell,
• without traces of rot.
Buy seeds of the previous season. It is impossible to say exactly when exactly they will hatch. It all depends on the particular variety, quality of the material and climatic conditions. Seed preparation begins long before planting.
Be patient and follow the technology:
• Soak the nuts for 2-4 days in warm water. For this, you can use special solutions that accelerate germination. Change the water every day to prevent decay of the cores.
• Stratified seeds sprout better. To do this, they are placed for a couple of months in slightly moistened sand or sawdust. Keep planting material at a temperature of 2-5 ° C.
• After this time, transfer the container with seeds to a warmer place, change the ground in the pot. Here they will sprout. Germinated nuts can be planted in the ground in early May or grown indoors until the autumn planting.
Sprouted Walnut Seeds
• When planting seeds in the ground, put them on their side, to a depth of 5-11 cm. Sprinkle with earth on top and compact a little. In the first years of life, a nut will require careful care. But as practice shows, with good care, the seeds planted in the spring already by the end of autumn give a seedling up to 20 cm high.
A good result is growing a nut in a greenhouse. In a couple of years, you will get a seedling ready for planting in an open area.
Proper Walnut Care
Young landings are especially in need of care. Now they need a lot of light and nutrients for active growth. In the future, when the tree stretches, it must be regularly pruned.
The rules for walnut care are as follows:
• Watering. Plantings are actively watered in the spring-summer period - 2 times a month will be quite enough. Water young trees in hot weather more often. If you choose a drought tolerant walnut variety, the plant can survive for a month without watering. Moisten the earth with the calculation of 3 buckets of water per 1 m2 of land. To protect the soil from drying out, mulch trunks with sawdust
• Top dressing. Walnuts are fertilized 2 times per season. In early spring, before plowing the area under the trees, nitrogen fertilizers are applied. Use such top dressings carefully, as their excess can lead to the spread of disease. In the first few years of fruiting, abstain from the use of nitrogen - this is important for future high yields. In the fall, before the plant hibernates, feed it with potash and phosphorus fertilizers.
• Pruning. Only young seedlings need to form a crown - adult specimens do not need this. Try not to cut dried branches from the tree in early spring - the plant can lose a lot of juices, which will affect its growth and development. Perform all manipulations closer no earlier than June. Do not completely remove the shoot - leave a small knot until the next season.
Walnut pruning
Walnut doesn't like deep loosening - its roots during active fruiting should remain at rest. Even fertilize without intensive digging of trunks.
When to harvest?
You can easily determine the ripening time by the green pericarp. When they begin to crack, you can enjoy delicious nuts. But from the "fresh" fruits, pericarp is poorly cleaned. So, keep the nuts in a dark place for a couple of weeks - the basement will do. The shell softens, you can easily remove it from the fruit.
Pericarp walnut
During cleaning it will not hurt put on gloves, because there is a lot of iodine in the pericarp - the hands will turn black. Rinse the nuts well and dry in the sun.
How to protect a walnut from diseases and pests?
When comparing a walnut with other fruit trees, insects and diseases attack it less often. But certain measures to protect him from "misfortunes" will nevertheless be required.
Trees are ill, as a rule, due to improper care - either the planting does not have enough sunlight, or water stagnates in the area. Dangerous walnut diseases:
• Brown spotting. Fungal disease manifests itself during periods of heavy rains or with excessive watering - the flowers fall off, as a result of which the yield of the plant is significantly reduced. The fungus, if you notice its traces, needs to be destroyed, since spores can overwinter it until the next season, further damaging the plant. To do this, spray plantings with 1% Bordeaux fluid at least 3 times per season.
• Bacteriosis. The disease develops in the spring - when the weather is warm and damp. You will notice it immediately - on the shoots, leaves and flowers dark spots form. The affected plant will produce much less fruit as the ovaries die. To prevent and treat walnut from bacteriosis, spray it with solutions of urea and Bordeaux fluid.
• Root cancer The infected plant completely ceases to grow and bear fruit, as its roots are damaged. You recognize the disease by convex growths on the roots. They need to be removed, treated with caustic soda and water in the places of cuts.
Cancer Walnut Roots
Walnut infesting insects - Walnut warty mite, white butterfly, aphid, codling moth, speckled moth.
The danger is not even the insects themselves, but their larvae - they suck out all the juices necessary for the development of the plant from the tree.
Gardeners fight the invasions of bugs by similar methods - cutting and burning damaged shoots.
The main task is to prevent insect caterpillars from crawling throughout the tree.
It is better not to use toxic chemicals (especially during the flowering period) - biological agents are more suitable.
