I went to check on my Winklers today. There had been a handful of nuts on them. Note: had been. Note to self: pick them earlier next year.
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Don’t feel bad I got my walnuts and hazels stripped this year. I have new defenses for the walnut trees ready to install, but the hazels with their multi trunks are posing some difficulty.
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Our woodpeckers start stealing them as soon as they gain size. There’s nothing inside, yet.
Then there are nutcrackers, and rodents who take only full nuts…
We’ve found that the best way to get a harvest is to plant enough for them and us.
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I just received a shipment of Hazelnut trees from Foggy Bottom Farm. I’m looking for best advice for setting them out. I plan to put them in a row with about 10 to 15 feet between plants.
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I’ve got mine at roughly 10 foot spacing. Don’t think I would go any less than that as they almost form a wall. Though most of the trunks go straight up the outside ones tend to go at an angle outward. As a side note though I don’t prune them.
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I planted mine roughly 15 feet apart, about 5-6 years in, it still seems to be about right. I’ve been messing around with tying down individual trunks to get more of a “vase” shape out of the bush, and still have room in between them to weed/prune/harvest. You could probably go 10 if you wanted to squeeze them in, though
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What varieties did you get?
Raritan, Monmouth, Beast, Somerset, and Grand Traverse. I’m planning to add at least 5 more varieties later this year.
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I planted 3 Oikos Precocious and it took them 6-7 years to bear anything of significance. Now they are bearing but the nuts are all empty or with just a bit of mold. I read that the marmorated stinkbugs could cause that? Anyone else have this problem. I am in E TN.
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I planted Tonda di Giffoni and Yamhill 3-4 feet apart about fifteen years ago. They produce well and appear healthy ( ignore the willow trimmings, had to take it down, more room for peaches!)
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I suspect BMSB and other piercing, sucking bugs as Ive found them in husks. Drought in June, low N and girdling of main cluster stem will also cause the empty husks.
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mine took a few years of doing that before they produced nuts that were full. if it continues that might mean you need a different hybrid hazel to pollinate but seeing where you’re located, you probably have wild American hazels nearby. or like noogy said could be other issues. i havent seen any on mine here in 7 yrs.
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I discovered a couple wepster trees had shed their nuts, picked them up and they all failed the float test.
Perfect looking but empty. No sign of any seed embryo. Looks like an initial trial run for the tree. Pollinators abound so seeing nuts is good.
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I had that happen last summer to my precocious tree. Last summer was really hot and perhaps that killed the embryo. Every nut was a blank where as usually there are few blanks. So if you had significant heat that might account for it. One the other hand precocious is not a variety but a collection of related plants and I have had dramatic differences between the plants. So there could be something particular with your tree that is not shared with mine.
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Mulling over the varieties I have in very hot Texas. Some do better in high heat than others. Probably going to replace my Jefferson and Felix this fall. Not handling the heat well at all. Ecos from Oikos might get replaced too. Since I have a bunch of varieties that are still young still testing them but am going to start the process of increasing my Yamhill, Somerset and Dorris numbers by replacing bad performers. Had one my wild americana pollinizers produce nuts this year. They were the size of bb’s. No matter it is not there for the nuts. I have a different wild americana and it usually produces well but kernals are 0.2 grams so don’t bother with the nuts and don’t make efforts to get it pollinated. This year there were only a few nuts but they were .5g kernels which is big enough to be worth while. Wonder if it is because it had fewer nuts the kernels were larger? Never heard of such a thing with hazelnuts. It is a mature tree too.
This summer in Texas it was not as hot as the surface of the sun like last year thankfully. It was the coolest summer since I have been here. By cool I mean low to mid 90’s. Practically chilly lol. This is a good thing as some varieties catkins get damaged by high heat, Barcelona being an example. Lots of catkins for pollination. Hard to believe it will be a little more than 3 months and I will be out there pollinating again. Time flies. Hope some more of my younger varieties start flowering.
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Adding a Red Leafed Winkler.
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That’s gorgeous! I’d get one, too, but my regular Winklers are struggling here in E TN.
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Well ive wanted a ‘Crimson’ since i saw Stephan’s video… but i cannot get it i dont think. This is close enough for me for now.
If you like Winklers… get some Hazelberts.
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Got my order from Znutty today! I got Somerset(layered), and Photon(grafted was the only option available). Both were packed well, and the graft union has healed up well on Photon, and as a bonus it even has catkins for next spring! Hoping that the catkins hold so I can hand pollinate The Beast in the spring.
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