Persian
walnut (Juglans regia) Hardy English,
as it has to be in most of NY www.geocites.com/nuttreegordon/05SEEDpw.htm
Hardy English Walnut Project article
www.geocites.com/nuttreegordon/05pwADD.htm
Hardy English Walnut add
www.geocites.com/nuttreegordon/05spPR.htm
Press Release DEC Tree Nursery Meeting 23 Apr
www.geocites.com/nuttreegordon/5instPW.htm
Planting instructions Hardy English Walnut Project
Prepping
nuts before seeding:
Seed nuts have been held at high
humidity, but not in moist soil, as is natural. Rejuvenation with aerated water is necessary. Soak the nuts in a cool airy location for
several days, renewing the water each day.
This may work better than early planting in cold spring soil because as
moisture expands the nut, and it opens, soil insects might enter, and in
quantity, could consume the kernel.
Starting
walnut seed in containers:
Plasticized cartons from milk and fruit juices can be reused as
planting containers. Half-gallon
cartons are the best size. The end
flaps are folded out. Containers are
filled with potting soil (or good garden soil), which gets us past the
difficulty with soil pests, and needing a soil test (Walnut trees like garden
soil). Each walnut should be planted
with the suture (nut seam which looks like a closed bird’s beak) vertical, so
that when it opens the root can go strait down, and the stem can go straight up
off the top of the root. Nuts are
seeded 2 inches below the top of the soil, one per container. Unless you have
started containers inside at a south facing window, or have a guard dog
watching the containers, it is best to put a half-inch mesh screen (or smaller)
over the containers as squirrel protection.
The seedlings should emerge in two or three weeks after seeding. Within two months of germination the
containers should be taken to the permanent planting. Set the container in the ground to match ground level in and out
of the container. You could slit the
container for removal, but do not break the soil ball, better to shove the soil
ball out the bottom of the container, leaving it on as a collar. Add soil above the container soil 2 inches
to allow for settling of soil.
Planting
nuts outside in garden soil:
Planting walnut seed in cold soil is
very successful because the seed needs moisturizing, and does not degrade like
garden seeds planted before the soil warms.
The later planting is delayed, the more nut prepping with water is
necessary. Set the nut in a 2-inch deep
furrow on the furrow bottom with the suture (nut seam which looks like a closed
bird’s beak) vertical, so that when it opens the root can go strait down, and
the stem can go straight up off the top of the root. Refill. This gives a soil
cover of about the thickness of the nut, 1 inch above the nut. Space nuts a foot or more apart thinking
that these are to be transplanted.
Figure that 30 feet apart is standard planting distance for seedling
trees (whereas 40 feet apart is used for grafted trees). Squirrels are a problem because they smell
out even covered nuts. Put a half-inch
mesh screen (or smaller) over the row as squirrel protection. It is wise to hide the smell of nuts, with
the sod fertilizer, Milorganite, or Grow Green (Amherst organite) which are
very mild fertilizers (should be put on an inch thick) and have the smell of
sewer sludge which distresses deer, squirrels, and rabbits. Birds cannot smell, and are quick to notice
the young stems as something to pull. A one-inch thick layer of Milorganite
only helps delay this discovery; so many growers go to cutting cans. Remove one end of a can, and cut an X into
the other end. Pull up the tabs just a
little. The seedling will find the
light as long as you press the can into the soil to leave a 1-inch space
between tabs and soil level. Remove
can, or cut the rim at the end of the season.
After transplanting, apply a yearly broadcast 15-15-15 granular
fertilizer away from the tree trunk, mainly falling across the tree’s noon
shadow line, at a rate of two pounds per inch of tree stem diameter. You can use this same rate along the tree
row before transplanting.
Transplanting seedlings means early
spring digging of a hole for setting out the plant. Planting in early spring allows discovery of a nice mound for
planting where water does not puddle around the tree. A one-year-old seedling can be spaded out in a shovel scoop of
dirt, and be set in a slit cut into the ground. At two years, and beyond, a hole the size of a 5-gallon bucket is
tree size, and man size. The replant
hole is 5gallon size, but the tree-digging hole is similar, except once the
earth is broken loose, the tree is pulled.
Roots are cut to sharp points with a single slant cut (where they are
half inch diameter or less) so that they fit in the planting hole. Often long,
thick roots must be stuck into the sides and bottom of the hole to save half
inch cut roots, then pulling or pushing to the proper planting level equal to
the digging level. Bone meal can be mixed
into the replant soil, weed stalks and roots removed, but
nitrogen-potassium-phosphorous (much too strong) garden fertilizer burns
against tree roots so is not mixed in.
If the soil is poor, get fertilizer sticks, which can be poked into the
sides and bottom of the transplant hole.
Sift the replant soil around the roots; using a rod to prod the dirt
between the roots, pulling up the tree to keep it at ground level while earth
is packed in. The amount of water used
to consolidate the soil should be less than what makes the soil into mud. Extra soil should be gathered and hilled
over the roots to allow two inches settling in the coming months to achieve
original soil level. You can dish the
soil to rim around the tree, then fill with water, mainly to test that the soil
is compacted enough to hold water without a cave-in. Fill more soil if settlement is seen.
‘Lake’ nut tapers from its bulbous beak end to its
narrow scar end…very thin shell for a hardy and blight resistant nut. ‘Papple’ nut has a slight beak so suture is hard to see
except at nut ends. ‘ISU 73H-24’nut has a dented, twisted shell at its scar
end ‘Harrison’ nut is the smallest nut. ‘Combe’nut has the largest beak around its suture.
