Growing Nuts at Home

Pulsegleaner

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You could always try for the native nuts. The American Hazel is supposed to be able to tolerate alkaline conditions, as is the beaked hazel (in fact, the beaked hazel PREFERS conditions to be alkaline). At zone 4, you're JUST on the edge for Allegheny chinquapin as well, so that might work.

And Manchurian walnut is even tougher and more cold tolerant than black and can take alkaline soil as well.
 

R2elk

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You could always try for the native nuts. The American Hazel is supposed to be able to tolerate alkaline conditions, as is the beaked hazel (in fact, the beaked hazel PREFERS conditions to be alkaline). At zone 4, you're JUST on the edge for Allegheny chinquapin as well, so that might work.

And Manchurian walnut is even tougher and more cold tolerant than black and can take alkaline soil as well.
Manchurian Walnut

Growers Note:


You’ll need a protected site from the wind for best success and planting in deep rich soil is recommended.
:lol:
The wind blows constantly here and there is no such thing as deep rich soil on a sand dune.

I have tried American Hazelnuts here before and they do not normally survive the first winter. A couple made it through the first winter but none made it through the second winter.

I am sure that the Chinquapin will not grow here. I do have some Bur oaks that are over 25 years old. Some are 12' tall and some are 3' tall. All were planted the same day.

For things to grow here, they really need to be zone 2 or 3 compatible trees that break dormancy late and begin dormancy early.
 
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flowerbug

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Manchurian Walnut

Growers Note:


You’ll need a protected site from the wind for best success and planting in deep rich soil is recommended.
:lol:
The wind blows constantly here and there is no such thing as deep rich soil on a sand dune.

I have tried American Hazelnuts here before and they do not normally survive the first winter. A couple mad it through the first winter but none made it through the second winter.

I am sure that the Chinquapin will not grow here. I do have some Bur oaks that are over 25 years old. Some are 12' tall and some are 3' tall. All were planted the same day.

For things to grow here, they really need to be zone 2 or 3 compatible trees that break dormancy late and begin dormancy early.

sounds like you need some wind break trees and perhaps some fodder trees nearby that you can chop and drop for extra mulch. however, that's all expensive and a lot of work.

around here i can get cheap trees by just turning my back for five minutes and it seems that when i turn back around there's a poplar tree that will grow 40 feet in 3-4 years (and then it will rot and fall over - but that's a different issue entirely :) )...
 

R2elk

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sounds like you need some wind break trees and perhaps some fodder trees nearby that you can chop and drop for extra mulch. however, that's all expensive and a lot of work.

around here i can get cheap trees by just turning my back for five minutes and it seems that when i turn back around there's a poplar tree that will grow 40 feet in 3-4 years (and then it will rot and fall over - but that's a different issue entirely :) )...
I have a substantial windbreak. All I had to do was add water and the Russian Olive seeds from the bird droppings came up.
 

Pulsegleaner

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Manchurian Walnut

Growers Note:


You’ll need a protected site from the wind for best success and planting in deep rich soil is recommended.
:lol:
The wind blows constantly here and there is no such thing as deep rich soil on a sand dune.

I have tried American Hazelnuts here before and they do not normally survive the first winter. A couple made it through the first winter but none made it through the second winter.

I am sure that the Chinquapin will not grow here. I do have some Bur oaks that are over 25 years old. Some are 12' tall and some are 3' tall. All were planted the same day.

For things to grow here, they really need to be zone 2 or 3 compatible trees that break dormancy late and begin dormancy early.
Well then, I don't know what to suggest. There IS such a think as a Siberian Hazel (Corylus heterophylla) but I have no idea how to get that. And even if I did, THAT might not work either.
 

Pulsegleaner

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It probably won't be of any use to you (since it sounds like you regularly go WAY below -20C). But for anyone ELSE who wants odd nuts, Trade Winds Fruits has apparently gotten in a shipment of seeds of the Chinese Hickory (Carya cathayensis), the kind they grow in China for eating. Whether they are as "sweet" as the link makes them out to be I cannot say (if they are the same thing as the "small walnuts" I bought pre-roasted pre cracked (but still in shells) and pre-salted in Chinatown, they actually taste sort of musty woody to me, but maybe those were rancid. I'm also a little concerned about the plant as soon as received part, as that would mean the ones I got from B&T (and paid quite a lot for) are already spoiled (and, as they were totally dry when I got them, spoiled before they were sold to me.) But I have never heard of a hickory whose nuts couldn't be stored, and so that may be a typo or a precautionary piece of boilerplate (like when they tell you to cook country ham slices on the package, even though that is both unnecessary and guaranteed to ruin them.)

https://www.tradewindsfruit.com/carya-cathayensis-chinese-hickory-seeds
 

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