Walnuts can grow in a significant part of Russia. It belongs to the most valuable tree species. By the number of positive properties of the nut, there are practically no equal among other representatives of the plant world.
The tree grows quickly, bears fruit generously and for quite a long time. Growing walnuts can improve health and provide the body with a high-quality, high-grade product. It is enough to plant 2-3 trees on your site to get the necessary amount of a very tasty, nutritious and healthy crop. Based on the fruits of nuts, you can cook many different dishes and seasonings, as well as make effective medicines.
Many gardeners are interested in how to grow a walnut so that it is durable and brings joy to its appearance for many generations. In this article we will talk about methods of propagation and cultivation of this tree.
Walnut in the suburbs: cultivation
Walnut is a tall, sprawling tree with very large leaves, light gray bark and world famous fruits.
Today it is very difficult to find a summer cottage, wherever a walnut grows. In the suburbs, the cultivation of this tree has some difficulties. The most winter-hardy and early-growing varieties are planted here. This unpretentious and durable crop grows and bears fruit well on various types of soil and on different terrain. However, in deep sandy and poorly ventilated land it is better not to grow a nut. Groundwater should be located at a depth of at least 1.5 m. In arid areas, watering should be provided.
Walnut propagation
Many are interested in the question of how to grow a walnut. It can be propagated in two ways: by seeds and vegetatively (by vaccination).
Seed propagation
Growing walnuts from seeds is the main method of propagation. Seeds are harvested only from local forms of walnut. Choose a healthy, without significant winter damage, seed tree, which has good growth, has an annual and high yield (at least 20-25 kg of dried nuts). The fruits of the tree should be large. Kernel - Well-made and easy to remove. Seed harvesting time is determined by the appearance and maturity of the pericarp (pericarp). If it has already begun to crack in green or can easily be separated by incision, seeds can be harvested.
The technology for growing walnuts from seeds is as follows: the collected nuts are first of all cleaned from the pericarp and dried for a week in the sun, and then under a canopy on wire racks. Final drying and storage is carried out in a dry room at a temperature of + 19-20 ° C. For planting, only healthy, regular-shaped nuts are selected.
Sow seeds in the fall. The main method of preparation is their stratification, without which the sown nuts germinate for a rather long time. In addition, it is not possible to obtain a lined material for planting.
The duration and mode of stratification depends mainly on the thickness of the nutshell:
- thick-billed seeds - about 90-100 days at an air temperature of 0-7 ° C;
- nuts with medium and thin shells - 35–45 days at a temperature of 16–18 ° .
However, even those nuts that have passed stratification have an uneven germination period - their pecking can stretch for more than 20 days. To speed up the process, proceed as follows.
Before planting, the nuts are kept for some time at a temperature of 15-18 ° C sandy until they bite. Then they are sorted into sprouted and not sprouted and sown separately.
If the number of seeds is small, the best results are achieved when diving seedlings. Stratification is performed from March 10 to March 15 at a temperature of 14-18 ° C.
Germination of nuts begins in late April. For planting, seedlings with 2 leaves are used. Dive is carried out in three terms. Before planting, the end of the root root is nipped at each plant.
For sowing seeds and picking seedlings using well-prepared fertile soil, heated to 10 ° C. The distance in rows is about 10-15 cm.
Large nuts are planted to a depth of 10 cm, while small and medium ones are 7-9 cm. To make seedlings shoots straight, straighten the nut into the prepared hole sideways, on the edge.
During the first years in open ground seedlings grow quite slowly. To grow stock, it will take up to 3 years, and the cultivation of walnut seedlings suitable for planting in the garden may take 5-7 pet.
Therefore, growing seedlings in a film greenhouse is considered a more effective way. In this case, after a year, the yield of standard stocks reaches 55-60%, and with 2-year cultivation, approximately 90% of the seedlings become suitable for planting in a garden at a constant place.
Seedlings begin to bear fruit in about 8-12 years.
Grafted walnut cultivation
One of the main methods of vegetative propagation of walnuts is outdoor budding. The term for budding is determined by the sum of the average daily temperatures (it should be above 10 ° C). The optimal duration for budding is 12-16 days, the survival rate of the eyes is 60-90%.
Growing walnuts in this way of propagation is necessary to preserve the positive qualities of the fruits of the mother tree.
Since the walnut has rather large buds, when performing budding, they take an enlarged flap of the cortex, which during the period of engraftment of the eye will provide it with the necessary amount of water and nutrients. Vaccination sites are tied with polyethylene or polyvinyl chloride film.
However, even in not very cold winters, approximately 90% of the eyes acclimated to fall due to their insufficient winter hardiness die. Therefore, in the autumn, after the leaves have fallen, the seedlings are dug up and stored until spring in a basement or other storage at a temperature of about 0 ° C.
In spring, after warming the soil to 10 ° C, oculants are planted directly in the nursery. By the end of the first year, annuals grow to 102-168 cm. Now they are suitable for planting in the garden.
Winter vaccination can be carried out in the greenhouse. To do this, stocks in the autumn are dug up and stored at zero temperature dug in the basement or any ground storage.
Walnut cuttings harvested in the fall are also stored in the same way. In mid-March, about 15 days before vaccination, the stocks are planted in cylindrical plastic bags (their diameter is 10-15 cm, height 20-25 cm), filled with fertile soil, and transferred to the greenhouse, where the temperature is 24-25 ° C.
Cuttings a few days before vaccination are also aged in a greenhouse in steamed and moist sawdust.
When the growth of the scion begins, the plants harden, thereby accustoming them to the outside cold and drier air. After the spring frosts are planted directly in the nursery.
For planting in a permanent place, seedlings become suitable after 2 years. The grafted plants begin to bear fruit already in the 3-4th year after their planting.
Space for wood
Before you start growing walnuts, you need to decide how much space will be allocated in the future. It must be remembered that a tree will produce a high yield only in good light, so you may even have to sacrifice some nearby trees. A 25-30-year-old nut has a crown diameter of 8-12 m (which depends on the type of tree and soil fertility).
Planting and growing
If you decide to plant a walnut in the garden , planting, growing and forming young trees should be carried out as follows:
- Choosing a place that is optimal for landing.
- A hole is dug approximately 1 m deep.
- The land remaining after digging is mixed with rotted humus in the amount of 8-10 kg and special mineral fertilizers. This is done to better nutrition of the tree.
- Seeds are laid to a depth of 15 cm. It should be ensured that the fruit lies not with the sharp side, but with the seam up. Otherwise, the tree will not bear fruit for a long time.
The plant should be planted so that the root neck is covered by the earth no more than 4-5 cm.
How young trees are formed
3 types of crown are acceptable:
- levelless
- improved tier.
- cupped.
It is important to bookmark the skeletal branches in the first tier, and in the future the tree will be able to perfectly shape itself. With an improved-tier type of crown, after planting a seedling, the tree trunk is slightly shortened at a height of 130-140 cm. In the future, young shoots near the stem (at a height of 90-100 cm) must be broken off. 3 or 4 lateral branches are left in the crown zone, which grow in different directions, and the central conductor (next spring it is shortened by 70-100 cm to form the second tier).
Further pruning is carried out only by removing growing inside the crown and damaged branches. It is usually done in the spring.
Watering
Growing walnuts involves watering young trees in the spring and summer, when they need a fairly large amount of water. Each tree will require about 3 buckets of water per 1 sq. Km. meter of soil. Water the tree 2 times a month. Trees above 4 m in height are watered less intensely.
Feeding
Trees need to be fertilized 2 times a year - in autumn and spring. In the spring, nitrogen fertilizers are applied, and in the fall - special potash and phosphorus fertilizers. An adult tree needs 7-8 kg of ammonium nitrate, 8-9 kg of superphosphate and 2 kg of potassium salt.
Fruit picking
We have already examined what features a walnut has. We have also described the cultivation and care of trees. Now let's talk about harvesting.
The period of collecting nuts is determined by the green pericarp. When they begin to crack, you can start assembling. After the harvest is harvested, it is recommended that the fruits be kept for a week in the basement. After that, they will be easier to clean from blackened and softened pericarp.
To avoid getting your hands dirty while cleaning nuts, you need to wear rubber gloves. The fruits contain a lot of iodine, so the hands will turn black. After cleaning, the nuts should be washed with water and dried in the sun.