Walnut hazelnuts, the cultivation of which we will consider in this article, is very tasty and healthy, and also extremely unpretentious.
The wild form of this tree is hazel
(hazelnut). It grows in a variety of natural conditions, including on arid or marshy soils, on rocky slopes and hills. The cultivated form is just as hardy and prolific.
Hazelnut. Growing and planting
The compact bush reaches a height of three meters, has dark green leaves. Hazelnuts, the cultivation of which in the garden is accessible to any resident of the middle strip, gives nuts much larger and tastier than forest nuts. A powerful root system helps the plant quickly gain a foothold on the most infertile soil and squeeze the maximum out of it. And also quickly start to bring high yields.
Almost all
climatic zones favor the cultivation of hazelnuts. The most adaptive are Crimean varieties. Hazelnuts, the cultivation of which is most appropriate in Ukraine, on
fertile soils gives the most powerful bush and high yield. Variety Trapezund (bred in the Crimea) provides a kernel yield of up to 60%. Before planting, loosen the soil well, you can make several buckets of humus in it before you start digging holes for trees. This will help the plant grow more intensively and begin to bear fruit faster. Land in late autumn - this is the best time. In addition to November, February is also suitable. Regardless of the weather, the seedlings should be well watered (up to 5 buckets of water under each bush and mulched with sawdust). After 5 days, moisten the soil lump again. Besides hazelnuts, hazelnuts, the cultivation of which is not fraught with any difficulties, have no pests and diseases.
Sometimes pruning should be done by removing excess root shoots, broken and crooked shoots. Hazelnuts usually bear fruit in the fifth year, and in the sixth yields a more significant crop. The fruits are harvested in the stage of technical ripeness. The plant is pollinated by the wind and does not require the presence of insects. Flowering occurs from December to March, frosts are not afraid of flowers.
Hazelnut. Cultivation and reproduction
The hardest part is seed propagation. Other methods (dividing the bush, layering, root shoots) are somewhat simpler. Use the largest nuts as seeds, plant them in the fall in fertilized, moist soil. The depth of the hole should be no more than 10 cm. Hazelnuts will not be easy to climb on swampy and heavy soil. Plant several nuts at a distance of about 20 cm at once. Since not all seeds will germinate, this is guaranteed to provide you with seedlings by spring. Before the onset of frost, hazelnuts must be regularly watered, as well as loosen the soil and cover it with peat (sawdust). Seeds under favorable circumstances will appear in April. By next spring, seedlings can already be transplanted to a permanent place. Three-year-old plants can be propagated by root shoots. They should be transplanted with a lump of land and well watered. The hazelnut layers are bent to the ground in early spring and, laying in the prepared grooves, are fixed.