Grafting walnut outdoors on established rootstock should meet these conditions:
Daily high temps at least 70F and night low no less than 45F, higher is better
Abundant water either from rainfall or from irrigation
Bark is freely slipping which makes the graft cuts easy.
Scionwood has been properly stored and was cut at the right time
Rootstock is in active growth with at least 2 inches of new shoots showing
The rest gets down to the type graft and the technique used. I use an inlay side graft on black walnut and very specifically use the large terminal bud if available. I usually graft trees about 2 inches diameter and very important, do NOT cut the top off the rootstock. Cut a 3 inch slice on the scion for a bark graft. Flip the scion and cut an inch of the bark off so the scion forms a wedge. Hold the scion up to the rootstock and use a sharp sheepās foot knife to cut on each side through the bark of the rootstock. Cut a slanting cut across the top of the bark strip and lift it with the point of the knife. Slide the scion into the pocket formed by the lifted bark strip. Cut the bark strip off so it is still long enough to cover the bare area on the scion. Use 2 small thin nails to tack the scion to the rootstock where one nail is through the remaining part of the bark flap and the scion into the rootstock. Wax the scion in place covering all cut surfaces. Wait 10 days and cut the top off the rootstock about 2 feet above the graft. Use the stub to support the growing scion.
I am ion NY in zone 5. I grow filberts (hazelnuts), chestnuts, English walnuts (seedlings) and black walnuts. The black walnuts actually are wild all over the place here. The filberts and chestnuts have been very successful, more so as Iāve learned to pick the best varieties.
My best chestnut was Colossal which, unfortunately succumbed to blight after 20 years. Avoid planting with Chinese varieties or hybrids or you get nut staining. Marigoule is another Japanese hybrid that is very good.
Iāve planted and pulled out lots of hybrid filberts. Most of the blight āresistantā varieties from OSU succumbed to Eastern filter blight, except for Dorris and Yamhill. Iām mostly growing the hybrids are by Tom Molnar at Rutgers now.
Filberts and chestnuts bear their first crops quite quickly. I also grow hickories, which are slow to begin bearing. I havenāt harvested any yet. The shellback hickories have large nuts than the shagbark.
Given that peaches are a major commercial crop here Iām not too worried. The zone certainly shouldnāt be an issue. Iām in 6B and Iām planting Javidās Iranian, which a lot of people have had success with recently in Ontario and New England.
After looking at the future temps it seems to be a cold year and will not really stay in the 70ās till June. Isnāt June a little late? What do you think?
Iāve made successful grafts as late as the 1st week of June. If possible, try to get them done by mid-May. Keep in mind that success rate may be lower if temperatures are cooler, but you will still have a lot of successful grafts. Also, scionwood is better if used less than 3 months after it is collected.
Seems like you sent it to me in February. 3 months would be May. Really weird weather. It should be hovering in the 70ās already, not 2 months later.
Got an eight acre food plot full of native pecan. We have to compete with the deer, hogs, turkey, coons, squirrels, etc. we pick up a couple five gallon buckets most years
In far northern Michigan. Am trialing hazel nuts, buartnuts, black walnuts, carpathian walnuts, chestnuts, and shagbark hickory. Attempted heartnuts, but they went bye-bye very quickly.
I got hazelberts, buartnuts, and a butternut growingā¦ slowly (fertilizer coming this year, and I might water them tooā¦maybe). Got Qing Chestnuts (seedlings) going in a window and will be starting Hinke hicans this weekend. Im at the far north Wisconsinā¦closest Walmart is Ironwood Michigan.
They are slooow to grow here. I have six that are 9 years from seed and they are 4-5 feet tall. Didnāt help that they died to the ground several times due to late freezes and a vole-apocalypse. It seems like they might be finally starting to take off. The ones closest to the woods, and thus most protected from late spring frost, are doing the best. I have about 20 more seedlings I transplanted out last fall. Started them from nuts from Burnt Ridge Nursery. Iāve noticed that if I start more tender trees that are zone pushers by seed here in the ground, they adapt better than ones that were started elsewhere, and then transplanted. I donāt know if there are some epigenetics coming into play, or if itās just the lack of stress from being moved from one climate to another, but the difference is often quite noticeable. Made sure this time they were in a more protected area up by woods, so Iām hoping that they grow a little faster.
