Walnut can often be found in summer cottages and household plots. This plant has a spreading crown, in the shade of which you can relax in the summer heat. It brings tasty and healthy fruits, characterized by fast growth and unpretentiousness.

Walnut - Shrub or Tree

Walnut, or Voloshsky, walnut belongs to the family Walnut and the family Walnut. It is a tall, large tree that can reach a height of 25 m. It has a thick trunk covered with strong gray bark. The crown is very wide - reaches a diameter of 20 m.

The plant has a powerful root system. How it looks can be seen in the photo.

Today, undersized bush forms of walnut (Levin, Kocherchenko) have been bred. They do not exceed 5 m in height. Flowering tree occurs in May. It occurs at the very moment when the leaves open.

The tree bears edible stone fruit. They are covered with a green peel with a leathery-fibrous structure. The fruit is a bone in the shape of a sphere with a hard shell and an edible core, with 2–5 septa. The weight of one nut is 5–17 g. The edible part occupies 40–58% of this mass.

The nut propagates by vegetative and seed methods. Plants grown from seeds begin to bear fruit at the age of 10–12 years. They enter full-fledged fruiting at the age of 30–40. Plants that have grown from overgrowth or seedlings can begin to bear fruit from 3-4 years of age.

Full-fledged crops are observed in them from 10-12 years. Walnut trees belong to long-lived plants. They are able to live 300-400 years, while not ceasing to bear fruit.

Did you know? During the competition for the speedy breaking of the walnut shell with his hands, held in China, a resident of this country Li Weijun set a record, breaking 302 fruits in 55 seconds.

Is it possible to grow a walnut at home

There are 2 options for growing walnut seeds:

1. Planting seed directly into the ground.
2. Germinating it at home.

When growing at home, you should prepare a suitable soil mixture and containers. The substrate for seed germination can be purchased at the store or made with your own hands. To do this, mix turf land, peat and humus (in a ratio of 1: 1: 1).

The soil mixture should be poured into a plastic or wooden container with a depth of 25-30 cm, the bottom of which is filled by drainage by a third. For planting, healthy fruits with intact shells are selected. They can be planted in April or in October - November.

Seed cultivation

During spring planting, holes should be made in the ground with a depth of 7-8 cm. The fruits are placed in them with the end part down and sprinkled with a substrate. Complete the landing by watering. It is advisable to organize a mini-greenhouse - for this, the container should be covered with glass or film.

Seedlings are placed in a place where the temperature is maintained +25 ... + 28 ° С and bright lighting.

The soil should be monitored daily. In case of drying of the upper layer, it is moistened from the spray gun. To avoid the development of fungal diseases, it is necessary to ventilate the planting daily.

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Walnut cultivation in Siberia

If everything is done correctly, then the first sprouts should appear after 7-14 days. As soon as they hatch, the glass or film cover must be removed.

During the autumn planting, the seeds are placed face down in the pots. Then the containers are put in a cool place, for example, on a balcony or in a cellar. In February, they are brought into heat and regularly watered.

Seedlings must be expected after 10-14 days. They need to be transplanted into large containers and placed on a light windowsill. In the shade, their development will be slower.

Care Rules

Care of seedlings involves watering, fertilizing, hardening. Regularly it is necessary to control whether the earth is dry. As the top layer dries, watering should be carried out, avoiding stagnation of moisture.

As soon as the weather is stable and stable, you need to start hardening the plants. They need to be taken every day to fresh air, starting from 15 minutes, gradually increasing the time spent on the street. It is important to ensure that the plant is not exposed to drafts.

Seedlings are fed with complex fertilizer, which contains a high level of potassium. Feeding should begin when the tree is actively growing. The recommended frequency of fertilizing is 2 times a month.

A nut planted in this way can be further grown in a container. For this, it is necessary every year before they reach 4 years old to transplant into a larger tank in order to enable the root system to actively develop. Trees older than four years need to be replanted once every 5 years. Each year, it is only necessary to replace the top soil layer with fertile soil.

Landing

The seedling should be transplanted to a permanent place in the open ground when it grows at home throughout the year, and the trunk grows 20 cm in height. It is better to plan a landing in the spring - April - May.

If the option is chosen when the seeds are placed immediately in the soil, then they are planted in the fall, in October, less often - in the spring, in April. In order for the planting to be successful, and the tree to be healthy and enjoy stable crops, you should choose a good place, prepare a planting pit and observe the technology of planting in open ground.

Seat selection

For the normal growth and development of a walnut, it needs warmth, light and a large area. It is important that the area where this tree is planned to be grown is well lit and that no shadow should fall on it. Planting pit should be at least 5-6 m from buildings and other plants.

Before planting, check the level of groundwater. Walnut will not be able to grow if they are at a distance closer than 1.5 m from the surface of the earth. As for the soil, the walnut tree grows well on loamy soils and in chernozems with a neutral or low acidity level.

Important! Near the nut you can plant berry bushes. Before the tree reaches large sizes, they will have time to bring 6–9 berry crops.

Soil preparation

During spring planting, soil preparation and digging of the planting pit are done in the fall. The site is thoroughly cleaned of plant debris, dug on a bayonet shovel.

If the nut is planted in the fall, then preparatory work is started a few weeks before planting. The soil extracted by digging a hole is mixed with manure (1 bucket), superphosphate (1 tbsp.), Wood ash (2 tbsp.).

Landing pit

A pit with a depth of 80-100 cm is prepared for the seedling. For transplantation, the plant is removed from the container, its root system is carefully cleaned of the ground, its condition is checked, and the root root is cut to 1/3.

When landing, you should use the step by step instructions:

1. Lay a high layer of drainage at the bottom of the pit, which is necessary to remove excess moisture.
2. To fill up the fertilized soil on the drainage, forming a hill from it.
3. Set the seedling root system in the center of the hill, distributing it evenly.
4. Fill the voids with the remaining earth. The root neck of the seedling should be 3-4 cm above the soil level.
5. Water the trunk area abundantly.
6. The trunk of the plant is tied to a peg.

If the seeds are immediately placed in open ground, then in the fall, they should be prepared with 30 x 30 cm holes, placing them according to the scheme in the form of a triangle or square with sides of 20–25 cm. In the future, if all seeds germinate, only the most strong ones.

3-4 fruits should be placed in each hole so that the vertical seam is on top. If they are laid in another way, the fruiting of the grown trees will be delayed for 3-4 years. After placing the seeds, the holes must be completely filled with fertilized soil.

Landings need to be covered with a high - 10-20 cm - a layer of mulch. Seedlings should be expected next year, at the end of spring. Germination may be delayed. Then the sprouts will appear only in the fall.

Subtleties of care and ripening

It’s easy to take care of a walnut tree. Active participation of a person in the growth and development of a tree will be required only when it is young. After he reaches the age of 5–6 years, only periodic pruning and inspection of the plant for the presence of health problems will be required. Fruiting occurs in September - October.

Also get acquainted with the features of growing walnuts in central Russia and the Moscow region.

Watering

Water the plant in spring and summer. Humidification should be frequent and plentiful during periods of drought. The recommended watering volume is 3 buckets / m², frequency - 2 times a month. Plants with a trunk above 4 m can be watered less often.

Humidification is stopped in August to enable the tree to prepare for wintering. Each watering must be combined with cultivations. This procedure avoids the formation of a dense crust on the surface of the earth, improves the moisture and air permeability of the soil.

Fertilizer selection and top dressing

The first top dressing should be applied 3 years after planting. In May-June, the tree needs nitrogen, so during this period you can add ammonium nitrate (6 kg per season) or ammonium sulfate (10 kg). The second top dressing should be carried out in the fall. At this time, the plant requires phosphorus and potassium. In the autumn, superphosphate (10 kg per season for one plant) and potassium salt (3 kg) are used.

Did you know? Walnut fruits that have reached milk maturity contain 50 times more vitamin C than citrus fruits, and 8 times higher than currants. As the nuts ripen, the level of ascorbic acid decreases.

Mulching

Mulching is not a mandatory, but very important procedure when growing Voloshsky walnut. It allows you to reduce the number of irrigation and loosening of the soil, to restrain the growth of weeds. Peat, dry foliage, coniferous spruce branches, sawdust are used as mulch. These materials should be laid in a layer 5–8 cm high. In winter, it must be increased to 10–15 cm.

Winter preparations

Adult plants do not need preparation for the winter period. Only young trees need to be prepared for wintering. To protect the ground part, they trim, wrap branches and trunk with burlap or any breathable non-woven material. The root system is insulated by mulching. You can protect the bark of a tree from rodents by wrapping the trunk with a metal mesh.

Pests and diseases

If the owner of the site adheres to the recommendations for planting and caring for the plant, then most likely he will not have to treat the tree for diseases and harmful insects. A strong, well-groomed and regularly fed plant crop has good immunity.

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How to vaccinate a walnut If a mistake is made during agricultural practices, a seedling or seeds are planted in soil unsuitable for the plant or on a site with a close underground water table, a tree suffers a constant lack of light, it is regularly poured.

The owner should understand that any plant culture should be inspected regularly. This will allow you to detect the disease at the initial stage or pests in small quantities and in time to begin to combat them.

Spots of any color and size on leaves, branches, bark should be alert. Preventive measures allow to avoid the development of diseases and pest invasion: spraying, pruning, autumn cleaning and digging the site.

Important! Preventive and therapeutic treatment of walnut should be done on the day when there is no rainfall and wind. It is imperative that personal precautions be followed when protecting eyes with glasses, hands with gloves, nose and mouth with a mask, body with a protective suit.

Of the diseases, walnut trees most often affect the following:

Disease name	Main symptoms	Methods of prevention and treatment
Bacteriosis	dark spots on foliage, branches, flowers, fruits; staining wood in brown; the dying off of young shoots	Double treatment before flowering with a Bordeaux mixture (3%) with an interval of 14 days. The effectiveness of the treatments increases the addition of a urea solution (0.3%).
Bacterial burn	the formation of watery and then black spots on the foliage; the formation of ulcers on the stem; withering shoots; death of the kidneys; fluid excretion from affected organs; the appearance of black spots on the fruit	Spraying with copper-containing preparations: Bordeaux liquid (3%), Tsinebom, KhOM. Trimming and burning of affected organs.
Brown spotting	the formation on the leaves of spots in the form of irregular ovals of brown color; drying and falling of leaves; defeat of flowers	Three-time spraying with Bordeaux liquid (1%) in the following periods: before kidney extension, when foliage appears, 14 days after the second treatment. Removing and burning diseased leaves and shoots.
Root cancer	the appearance of growths on the roots; stunting; cessation of fruiting	Removal of growths. Treatment of the roots with a solution of caustic soda (1%).

Of the pests, the most dangerous for the Voloshsky nut are such insects:

Title	Symptoms of lesion	Destruction methods
American white butterfly	damaged foliage	Burning nests. The use of hunting belts. Spraying with drugs "Bitoxibacillin", "Lepidocide", "Dendrobacillin" or insecticidal action.
Sapwood	gnawed marks on the bark; saphenia	The use of insecticides "Aktara", "Confidor", "Mospilan."
Walnut Wart Mite	small “warts” of dark brown color on the leaves	The use of acaricides allowed in private households, such as Sunmayt.
Moth	eaten cotyledons in fruits	The use of pheromone traps. Destruction of affected fruits.
Aphid	drying, deformation and falling of leaves; weakening of the plant	Spraying at the initial stage with decoctions from insecticidal plants. With a massive defeat processing "Decis", "Karate."

Collection and storage of fruits

Harvesting fruits should begin as soon as they ripen. When fully ripened, their yellowed pericarp is cracked, and the fruits are showered on the ground. Early ripe nuts can be removed already in August, and late ripe nuts in October.

Cleaning should be done with protected gloves. Otherwise, brown spots will appear on the skin that are difficult to wash.

Fallen fruits should be removed on the day of the fall, otherwise they will face mold damage. Those nuts that still hang on the tree can be squeezed onto fabric or oilcloth pre-laid in the near-trunk zone.

After harvesting, fruits that are too dirty must be washed. You should also clean them from the remaining peel. Then it is necessary to place for drying, for example, by spreading them in one layer on a horizontal surface in an illuminated and well-ventilated area.

Did you know? Leonardo da Vinci painted a famous painting entitled “A Lady with an Ermine” in oil on a plank of walnut wood.

You can store peeled and uncleaned kernels. After cleaning, they should be packaged in vacuum bags or cardboard boxes and refrigerated. Such fruits can be consumed throughout the year.

Unpeeled nuts are stored in boxes or nets in rooms with good ventilation, without humidity, where a warm temperature is maintained. With such storage, the product will be suitable for use 1-2 years.

So, a walnut is a plant popular among summer residents and gardeners. It’s easy to plant, it’s easy to care for. With proper agricultural technology, you can enjoy delicious and healthy fruits for several decades.