I planted a Rote Zeller hazelnut many years ago along with several unnamed hazelnut seedlings. I get a few nuts on the Rote Zeller but nothing from the others. Do any of you know what would be a good variety to plant as a pollinator for the Rote Zeller?
2 Likes
hmmm… I am not a hazel nut expert and in fact my tiny hedge of them has only produced one nut so far. That said my understanding of the most important aspects of the pollination process is that you have to have a tree shedding pollen while your tree is flowering. If you can tell when it is flowering you can try to focus on a pollination partner with compatible timing.
The second part is compatibility of the flower with the pollen. According to Mehlenbacher ) https://www.herbertknuppen.de/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Text-S-Allele-Kuhaupt-S-Allele.pdf ) The alleles for Rode Zeller (rote zellernuss) are 6 and 11. I think this means that any pollen with the alleles 6 or 11 will be incompatible with the flowers on your tree. Pollen containing other alleles should be capable of pollenating your tree. A reasonable chart with alleles and pollen shed times (for Oregon) is here. Bloom Stage and Pollen Shed - Growing Hazelnuts
I did manage to find what I believe to be a Czech website that listed the bloom time as Feb-Mar. Corylus 'RODE ZELLERNOOT' - Havlis.cz I haven’t a clue how that would translate to Oregon or to your area.
I would plant seedlings of a different lineage as sibling seedlings may share pollination incompatibilities. RZ’s likely know dominant alleles and bloomtime should allow for locally known cultivar selections.
Thank you
Thank you very much