I just ordered these three filberts from Raintree. Jefferson, York, and Theta. Also ordered 25 lbs of surround from 7Springs ($59.21 with shipping added). Out of space but heck it makes life interesting.
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I am going to try and graft filberts this year. It’s difficult and that’s why I want to try it. Thought I would get wood from Grinnell nursery if they sell it because I have read good things about them for a long time Re: [nafex] Grafting filberts/hazels & http://www.extension.umn.edu/food/small-farms/crops/commercial-hazelnuts-in-minnesota/
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Based on others comments they are hard to graft. All three of my selections are supposed to be disease resistant but Jefferson has the largest nut size so my plans are to graft it onto the other two but leave enough of the original to cross pollinate.
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Just a little shout out for the quick service from 7Springs. I looked out the window and the Fed X guy was wagging my 25 lb box of surround to the porch today.
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Clark, Didn’t know Grinnell was still in business… but I’ve not looked at hazels/filberts in a while.
One of Cecil Farris’ selections - G-22, IIRC - was performing well at Cecil’s daughter’s property at Franklin, TN (south of Nashville) - but the last report I saw on it was probably 15-20 years ago. We’re not noted for hazels here in the Southeast… but I’d toyed with trying a few.
There are some natives here on the farm; low productivity, and as they’re about as far from the house as you can get, the critters get them all, most years.
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My filbert looks a little wimpy but it is now about 5.5’ high. These are interesting looking trees and are supposed to be blight resistant hybrids.
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Bill, are you spaying that hazelnut for insects? My European hazelnuts always look very ratty by this time of year – Japanese beetles seem to especially like them – even though the American hazelnuts I purchased and planted several years before stay mostly untouched.
To respond to Lucky’s earlier comment, my American hazelnuts are very productive. I just wish I could find some selections with relatively larger nut size. I also recently realized that I have beaked hazelnuts growing wild. They’re mostly not in the best locations, but I still get the impression that they wouldn’t be very productive under any conditions.
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This is their first season and I haven’t sprayed with anything. I have been watering with fish type liquid fertilizer. As of now they have had very little pest issues. Hope it continues.
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These three are suppose to be blight resistant hybrids between filberts and hazelnuts and are complimentary pollinators.
Jefferson: Large
York: Medium
Theta: Small/Medium
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I personally don’t trust the blight resistance of any of those northwest cultivars. They keep finding cultivars thought to be resistant showing up with EFB (eastern filbert blight). The only ones I trust for the east coast are coming out of all these breeding programs in the midwest. The nuts are smaller, but the bushes are really productive. I got myself a dave-bilt nut cracker so its easy to shell lots of them at once. Roasted up, the smaller nuts taste great, and the bushes thrive here in upstate NY.
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I don’t have any personal knowledge about the disease resistance of these three so I will have wait and see. I really like the taste of filberts so being able to grow a good supply of these nuts would be great. Many new suggested plant just don’t hold up for the long run.
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Filberts should begin bearing 2-3 years after planting and one tree can produce over 10 pounds of nuts.
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How are your filberts doing? Any fruit yet? Any disease problems?
I am thinking of trying to grow these just north of you in Huntsville.
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I’m interested as well, double bump!
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Update. My three original hazel are finishing up their 4th growing season and they are growing well at about 10-18’ high. No disease observed and no nuts yet. They are full of catkins and I assume nuts will be produced in 2021. Original varieties are Theta, Jefferson, and York. I also grafted in a couple of limbs of Yamhill which are growing well. Added one graft of American mostly for interest. After a couple of years of watering they are mostly trouble free now. Hope this helps.
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Theta on left, Jefferson on right.
With a Dave-Built cracker, not much difference in effort…but still Jefferson nuts still not size of store-bought!
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Thanks for posting the pictures. What are your opinions of the taste of these?
Yamhill, Jefferson, and Theta are all doing great for me after nine years. No diseases so far. I took out Santiam last year, it grew fine but around half the nuts rotted. I feel like it is reasonably safe to conclude that these new western varieties are also resistant in eastern conditions.
This year the squirrel rampage got all the nuts though.
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Once they are dried and roasted, hard for me to tell difference in taste! Large ones are definitely more satisfying to crunch. I have Barcelona, Jefferson, Theta, Yamhill, Wepster, Delta, Eta, and Sacajawea - trying to cover all pollination issues- from Burnt Ridge Nursery in Washington. Barcelona (maybe not sold anymore because blight susceptible) is a forty-year-old tree that has the largest nuts, followed closely by 10-year-old Jefferson.The rest have nuts 1/2 that size.
Major pressure is squirrels. If you pick nuts from husk while on tree, you can get quite a harvest… but some varieties do not release cleanly from husk. Aside from trapping, my only other squirrel solution is wrapping trunk with stacked aluminum dryer vent tubes. But sometimes squirrels can leap from ground to avoid tubes! My trees branch at 6 feet due to deer pressure. Maybe growing as a netted hedge and letting nuts drop naturally would be more practical.
The other unavoidable issue is blank nuts, even if you have enough pollination. The % of blank nuts varies by variety. Not very satisfying if you are cracking by hand. Hand cranker is way more fun.
Once established, trees can handle wet ground in winter and drought in summer. No pest issues. Summer temps here rarely exceed 85 degrees, so drought tolerance may vary by zone.
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Thanks