{"id":1830,"date":"2019-09-19T00:43:14","date_gmt":"2019-09-19T00:43:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/?p=1830"},"modified":"2019-10-10T02:11:52","modified_gmt":"2019-10-10T02:11:52","slug":"walnut-persian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/2019\/09\/19\/walnut-persian\/","title":{"rendered":"Walnut, Persian"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Juglans regia<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Introduction<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nWalnut is a big impressive forest tree, that not only produces highly\nnutritious and tasty nuts, but also very valuable wood (this is prized for\ncabinetmaking and gun stocks). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nutrients:\nThe nuts are delicious as\nwell as high in protein, fat (especially omega 3 fatty acids) and minerals\n(notably calcium).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About\nWalnut<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hours of winter chill:\n500-1000 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Size \u2013 up to 60 feet x 50ft\nwide<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zone: 5-9 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blooming period: Mid summer <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fruiting period: September –\nOctober<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Life expectancy: 100 years <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bearing age: 2-3 years grafted<\/p>\n\n\n\n

              6 years seedling (15 years to get a good crop.)     <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yield: 100lb<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Days to harvest: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spacing: Standard tree\n40-60ft apart<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ease of growing: Walnuts are\npretty easy to grow if you give them the right conditions. Those in my garden\nessentially grow themselves without any input from me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Climate: Walnuts need full sun for best nut production, though they\ndon\u2019t like very hot climates. Many varieties need a considerable amount of\nwinter chill, though there are low chill varieties that will grow in mild\nwinter areas. Early flowering varieties are potentially vulnerable to late\nfrosts however.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soil<\/p>\n\n\n\n

pH\n5.5 – 7.0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Walnuts\ndo best in a deep, fertile, slightly acid soil that is well drained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Site:\nIf your soil isn\u2019t very well drained you\nmight consider planting on a hillside, or on a mound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Planting:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In mild climates walnuts can\nbe planted at any time from late fall to early spring. In colder climates they\nare usually planted in spring. As with most other plants a small tree\ntransplants better than a large tree and will do better in the long run. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you get your plants home\nit is a good idea to get them in the ground as soon as possible, but if this\nisn\u2019t possible you should heel them in, which means placing them in a trench\n(this trench has one vertical side and one at 45 degrees, the trees being laid\nin at 45 degrees and soil is firmed over them to fill the trench). If you buy\nplants mail order you should unwrap them immediately and soak the roots in\nwater overnight before planting or heeling in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How: Dig the planting hole 2\u20113 times as wide as the root\nball, to give the roots plenty of loose soil to grow into. You want the hole to\nbe the same depth as the root ball (or roots if bare root), so it can be set\ninto the ground at the same depth it was growing in the nursery. This is most\neasily measured by laying a stick across the hole to get the right height. The\ngraft union should be 3-6\u201d above the soil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Start planting by throwing a\ncouple of shovels of soil (possibly mixed with some organic matter if the soil\nis poor \u2013 to help it hold moisture) into the bottom of the hole. Make this into\na slight mound and then spread the roots out evenly over it. You then put some\nsoil in the hole to anchor the tree in place and firm it down. Then re-fill the\nhole with the rest of the soil (make sure the tree remains vertical). You may\nalso want to add some rock phosphate to the soil as you go. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you have finished\nplanting the tree should be on a slight mound, so as the soil settles it\nbecomes flat. If it starts out flat it may end up as a slight depression where\nwater can collect (which can be a problem on poorly drained soils).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You then water the tree\nthoroughly, not only to supply water to the plant, but also to settle the soil\nand establish contact between roots and soil. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The final step is to spread\nout a mulch to conserve water, and keep down weed competition (keep this six\ninches away from the trunk). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also a very good idea\nto put a permanent label on the tree saying the variety and rootstock (and\nwrite it down in your garden journal).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Support: Newly planted trees were once routinely supplied\nwith a stake to support them, but it is now thought that trees become stronger\nmore rapidly if not staked. Staking is only usually necessary on very windy\nsites (especially for dwarf trees which grow on weak rootstocks).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Protection: If gophers live in your area you will have to plant\nyour trees in gopher wire baskets (I make my own to whatever size I need). If\nother rodents are a problem (they may chew on the bark, stunting or even\nkilling the tree) you may have to use various kinds of metal or plastic mouse\nguards. These should go several inches into the ground and should have gravel\naround them to deter digging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maintenance: In my experience established trees don\u2019t usually need much attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fertilizing: Heavily bearing trees should be given additional nitrogen in spring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watering; Walnuts need consistent moisture for best growth and\nproduction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pruning: The trees can be allowed to assume their natural\nshape, or they may be trained to a central leader. They are terminal bearing,\nwhich means they produce fruit at the end of new growth and so they don\u2019t\nreally require pruning. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Propagation: Walnuts are easily grown from seed, but the resulting\ntrees take longer to bear and may be more variable. Improved cultivars are\noften grafted onto seedlings of native Black Walnut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pollination: Walnuts are self fertile and monoecious, which means\nthey produce separate male and female flowers on the same tree. However the\nflowers may not open at exactly the same time, so bigger yields are obtained\nwhen there is more than one tree. They are wind pollinated, so pollinating\ninsects aren\u2019t required.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mulch: A mulch of compost is useful to keep the ground\nmoist and add nutrients. Keep it away from the trunk though, otherwise there is\na danger of crown rot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pests:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Squirrels:\nThese are a big problem in my garden, taking the nuts as soon as they are ripe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Codling\nmoth<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Walnut\nblight <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Birds<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aphids\nBe aware that they commonly harbor aphids\nthat secrete honeydew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Walnut\nhusk maggot<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Problems: Walnuts are notorious\namong gardeners for secreting allelopathic substances that inhibit the growth\nof some neighboring plants (most affected are alfalfa, blueberry, apple, tomato\nfamily, bean family and others). They may also be home to aphids that secrete\nhoneydew onto anything beneath them. Bigger list<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harvest: As the nut ripens the green husk splits and falls to\nthe ground with the nut inside. The nuts must be picked up fairly promptly\nbefore squirrels do. Remove the husks under foot as you gather the nuts, then\nrinse (to remove tannin) and dry in the sun. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Storage: The nuts are dried in the shell for long term\nstorage. A dry kernel snaps easily and will keep for months. Don\u2019t shell them\nbefore you want to eat them, as they deteriorate once shelled. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Landscape\nuses: Walnuts make great big stately\nshade trees, though of course they take a long time to become big enough to be\nuseful for this. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unusual\ngrowing ideas: Can <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other\nuses: Walnut\ntrees are prized for both their edible nuts and their beautiful wood. It used\nto be said that farmers should plant walnuts as an investment for their\ngrandchildren\u2019s college fund. Unfortunately this isn\u2019t for their nuts, but for\ntheir valuable wood. Grow a nice straight Walnut and it could be very valuable\none day (though you probably won\u2019t live to see it).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Varieties<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are quite a few\nimproved cultivars that are later flowering, more precocious (they bear at a\nyounger age), more disease resistant, or have thinner shells (they aren\u2019t\nnecessarily easy to find though).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Related\nspecies:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Persian Walnut can only be\ngrown easily in certain favored areas, fortunately there are other options if\nyou live elsewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Black\nWalnut (J. nigra<\/em>) – The nuts are harder to shell and smaller than the\nWalnut, but have very good flavor. The trees are also more allelopathic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Butternut (J. cinerea<\/em>) This species is hardier than Walnut, but the nuts are usually somewhat inferior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heartnut (J.\nailanthifolia<\/em>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This Asian species is\nsmaller than most other Walnuts and shorter lived. The nuts are similar though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Food\nuses  \n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Juglans regia Introduction The Walnut is a big impressive forest tree, that not only produces highly nutritious and tasty nuts, but also very valuable wood (this is prized for cabinetmaking … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1831,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nuts","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/walnut.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1830"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1830\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2189,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1830\/revisions\/2189"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}