Walnut is a fairly unpretentious tree whose fruits strengthen immunity, brain activity, and the nervous system. The plant lives about 300 years, was first imported from Greece, and therefore received this name.
To obtain a fruitful plant, you need to know some rules for planting and caring for this treat.
Seat selection and preparation
Walnut is a big tree. Its total diameter is 20 meters, height is 25, and the length of the roots is 3.5. Therefore, before planting, you need to calculate the place for growing. It should be at some distance from the house, otherwise the roots will damage the foundation. Between seedlings or seeds must be left at least five meters.
It is important to determine the type of planting - using seeds or seedlings. The first method is the most common. It is best to find a variety that can withstand the local climate.
Seed preparation
You can plant in autumn or spring. During spring planting, for 4 months, seeds are stratified. It is necessary for the fetus to hatch. It is necessary to put the seed in a container with wet sawdust or soil upside down, still fill it with one layer, and take it to a room with a temperature of 0 to +5 degrees. Pull out and ventilate the nuts every three weeks, and moisten the sawdust. Do this procedure for 4 months. After that, send the seeds to dry in the sun for 4 days.
Another way of spring planting: put nuts in water, leave at a temperature of +10 degrees for 5 days, then pull out those that fell to the bottom, and get rid of floating on the surface. All remaining, especially those that have sprouted, should be sent to dry sand for drying for 4 days.
With autumn planting, stratification and drying are not needed.
The nuances of planting seeds and seedlings
Landing most often takes place in spring, in April. The fruits are laid in the ground to a depth of 11 centimeters. It is important to stack correctly, with the seam up, otherwise the first fruits will appear 3-4 years later than usual. Before direct planting, the soil is made nutritious, mixing it with humus.
Planting sprouted seedlings is best done in April using 2-year-old plants. Trees are very fragile, so digging and transporting must take place carefully. The root is cut to 40 centimeters, and the cut is smeared with clay. The depth of the hole is 1 m., The diameter is 0.5 m. The root neck should be about 4 cm above the ground.
The first pruning of branches takes place in two years. You can form a tree crown for up to 4 years, after which you only need to trim the weak branches.
How to grow a nut in a pot?
To grow a tree in a pot, you need to prepare fertilized soil, or purchase it in a specialized store. In the first case, you need to add 30 centimeters per third of the pot to the drainage, and then the soil.
Add the processed fruit to a hole with a depth of 8 centimeters, fill it with soil, and then keep it at +28 degrees for about 5 days. After the pot is put in the room and constantly moisten. Once every 4 years, the plant is transplanted into another container, a third of the root system is trimmed.
How to care for a nut?
Plant care, first of all, is a good watering. Each seedling is watered 2 times a month, in hot time - 3 times. One plant takes about 3 buckets of water. Trees higher than 4 meters are watered less often and less abundantly. From the age of ten, you need to stop watering.
You need to fertilize a walnut 2 times a year - in April and October. In spring, substances that contain nitrogen are used.
It should be borne in mind that the complexes of such complementary foods lead to the appearance of pathogenic bacteria, if you overdo it. Autumn requires phosphorus and potassium. It is better to buy granular complexes, since they quickly turn into an assimilable form, in contrast to powdered fertilizers. After the tree begins to bear fruit, during the first two years it is necessary to stop using nitrogen as fertilizer.
It is very important to remove unnecessary branches in time. It is better to do this at the beginning of summer, leaving 5-7 centimeters, and next year cut to the end, smearing them with wood resin. Four-year-old plants need to remove only weak and old branches.
Around the trunk you need to pour any organic matter or compost. In the first time of a seedling's life, this is especially important for preserving moisture in the summer, and in winter, mulching protects the earth from freezing. This should be done only in the first few years, then the tree will be able to harden itself.
The walnut does not have natural enemies, since its smell repels pests, it does not need to be processed.
Mr. Summer resident: vaccination and reproduction in the country
Since the cuttings do not take root, you can get the desired variety only by grafting it to another tree. It is better that the plant was about 2 years old. They are vaccinated if there is a really good variety, for example, Manchurian, or already planted does not live up to expectations and there is a more worthy walnut stalk.
Usually use the method of vaccination "eye budding" - the bark with the kidney is removed in the form of a semi-tube, the same cut is made on the stock (cuttings) and connected to the tree. The place of vaccination must be fixed with a film or tape until complete healing.
Breeding in the country usually occurs from seeds that are planted without treatment in the fall. After about two years, the tree gives the first fruits, and after another eight years - already a significant harvest.
For convenience, below is a table for walnut care:
| Plant care | Years of tree life | |||||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |
| Watering a tree | 2-3 times a month | Reduce watering up to 2 times a month | Stop watering | |||||||
| Pruning branches | Form a crown and trim old branches | Only sanitary pruning of branches | ||||||||
| Fertilizers | Potassium phosphorus only | Phosphorus-potash and nitrogen fertilizers | ||||||||
Walnut is a tree that is easy to plant, adapted to harsh conditions, does not require much watering, but gives very useful fruits. Growing plants in the suburbs is possible.
Useful blitz: so as not to waste time waiting for the first fruits of a nut, plant bushes, for example, raspberries. During the time that it will grow and develop, shrubs will bear fruit for 10 years.
Some interesting facts about walnuts:
- Due to the similarity in appearance with the brain, it is believed that it is a separate form of life, under the shell of which is a "strong family". Hence the point of view that eating a walnut is a murder of life.
- In ancient Greece, he enjoyed special value because of the many nutrients, but ordinary people were forbidden to eat it, because the authorities did not want the people to become wiser.
- In science, it is not a nut at all, but refers to the species "drupes."
- "He loves iron." As it turned out, a nail hammered into the trunk improves the quality of fruiting, and also contributes to the early appearance of the fruit.
- Just 400 grams per day can replace a complete diet. At the same time, they will contain all the necessary elements for the full functioning of the body.
- Statistics: 100 grams of walnut can replace 300 gr. whole grain bread or 700 gr. potatoes.
