Hazelnuts: cultivation and care in the open field, variety selection and reproduction

Nut lovers can be offered the cultivation of hazelnuts, the care of which is easy in the garden. You can immediately get an ornamental hazel tree, and harvest fruits that are good for human he alth. Walnut kernels contain a lot of fat, enough protein to quickly get enough. Hazelnuts are used in the form of infusions of leaves, decoctions of the bark, which help with many diseases.

Popular varieties of hazelnuts

You should not be afraid to grow hazel in the country. In addition to the fact that the plant is unpretentious, frost-resistant, it bears fruit regularly in the 3-5th year after planting. You can choose those types of walnut that will take root in a particular region.

Common hazel

In an ordinary type of hazel, the height of the shrub reaches 4-5 meters. At the hazel:

large jagged green leaves, turning red by autumn;
brown stem bark with transverse stripes;
flowering occurs before the leaves bloom with earrings;
nuts ripen at the end of summer.

You have to wait a long time for the fruit of the tree, sometimes up to 6 years, but then it will produce nuts for a long time.Many of them reach the age of 50 years or more.

Tree or bearnut

The plant is called bearnut because it is resistant to drought and frost. The culture grows in the Far East, as well as in the western regions of Russia.

The tree has a thick powerful trunk with light brown bark, young shoots are covered with gray bark, slightly pubescent.

Hazel has round leaves of bright green color, but in autumn the whole tree is in yellow, red, orange foliage. The earrings of the hazelnut variety are bisexual, so there are no problems with pollination. Pea-like nuts are a feature of the tree hazel.

Manchu

Strongly branched walnut shrub reaches a height of 3-4 meters. Hazel is famous for its leaves 7-10 centimeters long and up to 12 centimeters wide. They are dark green above, smooth, and softly pubescent below.

The wood of the hazel is reddish-white, elastic, used for the manufacture of bent furniture, canes, rods. As a fruit, the plant has oblong-shaped nuts.

Various

For the regions of Siberia, the Urals, this type of hazel is suitable. The shrub is very decorative due to the constant change in leaf color. They are only green in summer, and red in spring, and yellow in autumn.This is one of those varieties of hazelnuts that begins to bear fruit earlier, is not afraid of winter cold.

Red leaf

Shrub with red round leaves on spreading branches will decorate the site. Walnut is good for making hedges. Earrings of female and male type appear in early spring. Hazelnuts ripen at the end of summer. Its ripeness is determined by the dark brown color of the shell.

Large or Lombard nut

A more delicate type of hazel does not tolerate cold, which is why a large variety of hazel is found in the southern regions. The shrub itself reaches a height of 8 meters, and its fruits are large and tasty. This variety needs pollinators to set nuts.

Other varieties

There are other popular varieties of hazel:

The almond is valued for the unusual flavor of its seeds. Nuts of medium size, up to 1.6 grams each, are harvested from bushes with moderate growth strength. Oily kernels are used in confectionery production, consumed dry and fresh.
Cosford bears fruit early. The bushes are strong with dark green leaves in summer and red in autumn. Nuts are collected in brushes of 2-3 pieces, they are bronze in color with large kernels inside. The tree has medium frost resistance and grows best in warm climates.
Ivanteevsky red hazelnuts can be grown in Siberia. A very productive nut variety with oblong fruits. The palatability of the nut is estimated at 4 points.

Breeders have created a large number of cultivated hazelnut species.

How a tree reproduces

There are several ways to propagate hazelnuts. This is both seeds and vegetatively. But the first is the most difficult and does not always lead to a positive result. After all, it is difficult to find high-quality seed material. It is easier and more reliable to plant a shrub with layering or offspring.

Layers

Choose a he althy side shoot of hazelnuts, laying it in a groove, sprinkle with earth. You can pin the branch with special tools, such as wooden hooks, to the surface of the soil. The remaining upper part of the hazelnut layer is lifted vertically and tied to a peg. It should be 10-15 centimeters long. The upper part of the hazel layer must be cut at the height of the 5th-6th bud.

When the hazel buds begin to germinate, forming young twigs, spud the shoot. After rooting, you need to wait another year for the young branch to get stronger. It is looked after, watered, covered for the winter. Then separated from the mother hazel bush. The disadvantage of this method is that it is very difficult to germinate a hazelnut shoot.

Offspring

Already in the 3rd year after planting hazel, he althy offspring can be separated from the root. Using a hatchet or a shovel, carefully detach the shoots from the rhizome so that they have roots.Hazelnut cuttings can plant several holes, distributing 3 shoots into each. Not all of them can germinate, so this planting will allow some of the root offspring to take root. When they start to please with green twigs, then the reproduction of the nut was successful.

Inoculation

With this method of propagating hazelnuts, both cuttings and buds with a strip of bark are used. Use the grafting of the nut in the butt, split and in the bark. It is better to take root cuttings from the upper part of the hazel shoots, which have well-developed eyes. Harvesting of cuttings is carried out in November, when they are going to plant hazel in the spring. Organize the proper storage of the material under the snow or in the cellar in a plastic bag. The best survival will be in that part of the material that is grafted over the bark in the spring.

When budding hazel in summer, cuttings can be prepared the day before the grafting procedure. Eyes are taken from the lignified part of the shrub. The stock can be common hazel or multi-leaved, Manchurian.

Dividing the bush

This hazelnut propagation method will help thin out a thickened walnut plantation. After digging up the bush, the hazels carefully divide the roots into several parts. Each should have a stump with roots up to 15-20 centimeters long.

Seeds

The material is selected independently from the best hazel bushes. Seeds are deepened by 4 centimeters in October to the selected area. The soil is prepared loose, nutritious by mixing humus or compost. Spring planting of hazelnuts requires seed stratification. Nuts placed in peat with sawdust are covered with moistened soil, covered with polyethylene film and placed in a warm place with an air temperature above 22 degrees. After 2 weeks, containers with walnut seeds are placed in a room with a low air temperature, up to 1-3 degrees above zero. Hazelnut seedlings are planted in open ground in May.

Planting a hazelnut at home

When growing any garden tree or hazelnut shrub, they try to plant it correctly. Further growth and development of culture depends on this procedure. You need to know where to plant hazel, what kind of soil he likes.

Seedling selection

Purchase hazelnut seedlings in specialized stores. 2 year old seedlings are best suited. You can prepare planting material yourself from root offspring or cuttings. Some dig up a hazel tree in the forest. Before planting, young hazel shoots are examined for damage, rot. Examining the roots, pay attention to their condition. They must be moist, without breaking the outer shell.

It is important that there are no dry areas in the hazelnut root system. When dry, the seedling is urgently placed in water. You can do a little pruning of the roots. It is necessary that they have enough strength to grow further, so they cannot be cut too much.

Optimal timing

It is believed that it is better to plant hazel in mid-autumn, October-November, depending on the climate. It is necessary that the plant has enough time to adapt to new conditions before winter. If they do not have time to plant on time, then the seedling is kept in a cool place until spring. It is only necessary to control the retention of moisture in the hazel roots. Therefore, you can place the seedlings in the ground or a plastic bag with mandatory ventilation. Spring planting of hazelnuts is also expected, from April to May. But preference for planting hazel is given to the autumn procedure.

Choosing a landing site

A feature of the hazel is that it loves places in the open field:

lit by the sun;
protected from cold winds;
with neutral acid soil;
where the soil is fertile.

Hazelnuts grow best in the garden on the northwestern and northeastern slopes. He needs space, so he does not need to be planted where trees with a spreading, lush crown grow on the site. In the shade, the walnut will bear fruit worse.

You can plant hazel in the country where you need to strengthen the slope. But it shouldn't be a swampy place.

Hazelnuts need a soil with neutral acidity, therefore, on acidic soils, slaked lime or fluff is added after digging.

Fitting technology

Preparation of landing pits begins a month before planting. When planting hazelnuts in the spring, they dig holes in the fall. The width and depth of the hole should be 50-80 centimeters. When digging, the fertile layer, taken from above, is laid near, and the depleted layer with useful substances is scattered around the site.The distance between plants is up to 4 meters.

First fill the hole with a mixture of humus, mineral fertilizers and fertile garden soil. It is useful to add a handful of mycorrhiza. Then a peg is driven into the center of the 2-quarter-filled hole, and a walnut seedling is placed next to it. When planting, the root neck is deepened by 4 centimeters, but not covered with soil. The soil around the hazelnut bush is tamped, then moistened. When planting a walnut in the fall, a layer of mulch is applied to help retain moisture in the ground.

Further care and cultivation

The survival rate of hazel will increase if planted correctly. The selected location must meet the hazelnut growth requirements. If a tree or shrub self-pollinates, then it will be comfortable for him alone. Some varieties of hazel require pollinators to be planted nearby.

In the future, you need to take care of the walnut seedling according to the rules of agricultural technology of culture.Then the work will not be in vain. After a few years, fruits will begin to form on the plant, the quality of which depends on the type of hazelnut. It is better to plant cultivated hazel varieties that bear large nuts.

Irrigation and fertilization

Hazel belongs to moisture-loving plants. It needs to be watered often depending on the weather. Usually 2 to 3 times a month is sufficient. It is impossible for the soil near the shrub to dry out, otherwise it will die. In the summer, the soil near the hazel is checked several times for dryness. When the soil is dry at a depth of 20-30 centimeters, it is dangerous for the roots of the plant.

One hazel tree in adulthood requires up to 30-50 liters of water. For irrigation, grooves are cut through, into which fertilizer is also applied.

Their role can be humus used as mulch. In the spring, the root circle is dug up, embedding a nutritious mulch into the ground. Hazel is fed with both organic and mineral fertilizers.

Better to determine than to fertilize the plant beforehand. In the spring, hazel requires nitrogen to build up green mass. It is obtained by a shrub from a solution of mullein in a ratio of 1:5 or bird droppings - 1:12. During the fruiting period, hazelnuts need potassium and phosphorus. Feed with superphosphate and potassium s alt. After harvesting the nuts, a solution of wood ash is suitable for the tree as top dressing.

Weeding and mulching

You can't ignore the soil around the walnut bush. It is necessary to ensure that the site is not overgrown with weeds, as they will not allow the culture to develop properly. It is necessary to clean the place of growth of hazelnuts regularly from weeds, to loosen the soil. At the same time, make sure that the depth of loosening does not exceed 5-7 centimeters. Perform the procedure up to 4-5 times per season, excluding the fruiting period.

Mulch for hazel is prepared from peat or humus, you can use dry straw or sawdust.The layer is 7-8 centimeters thick. They try to ensure that the mulch does not lie close to the trunk of the tree. Every year the old layer is removed and replaced with a new one. In humid summers, hazelnut mulching can be avoided.

Cutting

The growth of shrubs leads to a thickening of the hazel crown, and, as a result, the occurrence of diseases. Yes, and the harvest of nuts is getting worse. Therefore, a bush is formed annually with the destruction of old shoots. Fruits are usually tied on annual branches. In autumn, pruning is carried out to remove both weak and thin branches. In the spring, sanitary pruning of frost-damaged offspring, dry, sick, is needed. For abundant fruiting, you need to leave up to 8 strong shoots on the bush.

The hazel pruning scheme is as follows: rejuvenate a tree or shrub in spring, and thin out in autumn.

Shelter of a young hazelnut for the winter

Many varieties of hazel are frost-resistant, so adult specimens can not be covered for the winter. But young bushes need protection from the cold. In the first 3 years of life, while the root system of the hazel is strengthening, in the fall they cover the bushes with spanbond.

First, branches are bent to the ground, then spruce branches or branches are applied from above. Then into 2 layers of non-woven fabric. It is necessary to carry out shelter for the winter at a time when the daytime air temperature drops to minus 1-2 degrees.

Tree transplant

The hazel is transplanted to a new place only if:

he got sick;
soil contaminated with pathogens;
need to re-plan the site.

Hazel lives for a long time and grows well in one area, so it's not worth transplanting. But if the procedure is necessary, then it is better to carry out propagation by cuttings, layering or offspring.It will not be possible to transplant the entire adult bush. And even a 3-4-year-old tree will be difficult to take root after transplantation.

It is better to prepare cuttings in advance, place them in water or soil for rooting, and then transplant the nut into open ground after 2-3 years.

Forest tree yield

Before buying a seedling, you need to find out for which year the selected hazel variety bears fruit. There are such types of hazel that will give the first harvest after 4 years. And some may bear fruit after 8 years. Therefore, you should not worry that there are no nuts on hazelnut branches for a long time. When the bush begins to bear fruit, the nuts are green at first, and then the shell begins to grow stronger in them.

Their ripeness can be determined by the color of the nut. It should be dark brown and crumble when the tree branches are shaken.

You can't eat the harvest right away.Nuts should dry out. They are placed in a dry and well-ventilated area. Constantly you need to mix the fruits so that they dry on all sides. After how much you can feast on delicious nucleoli, it is determined by the state of the hazelnut shell. It should be firm and dark in color. Use hazelnuts, its oily pulp for the preparation of confectionery. Walnut oil is used in cosmetology.

How to protect hazelnuts from diseases and pests

Although hazel rarely gets sick and is attacked by parasites, but you need to try to protect it from negative influences. Usually, pathologies arise due to the fact that the soil is infected with fungi and bacteria, or a hazel seedling has become sick. It is better to carry out all preventive measures as early as possible. Therefore, whether it is possible to prevent problems in the development of hazel is thought about in advance.

Diseases of hazel

Of the pathologies, hazelnuts suffer more often from fungal infections. These diseases are associated with wet and cool weather. It is at this time that pathogenic microorganisms are especially active. It provokes the development of hazel diseases and improper plant care.

Powdery mildew

You can identify the disease by a white coating on the leaves of hazel. It looks like flour was sprinkled on them. Over time, the blackening of the sheet plate begins. The spores of the fungus spread along the stems of the bush.

To cope with the parasite, you need to cut off damaged leaves, cut off diseased branches. And the plant is sprayed with a solution of Bordeaux liquid or copper sulfate.

Rust

Orange and yellowish spots on hazelnut leaves are a sign of rust disease. At first, the spots are small with a dark border, but then they grow and lead to the drying of the foliage.The danger of the fungus is that it does not allow the culture to develop normally, and the nut crop will be small. The treatment of hazel with fungicides will help.

White rot

This disease spreads from leaves to stems, nuts. Hazelnut tissues become necrotic over time, and dried leaves fall off. Measures must be taken in time so as not to lose the harvest of hazelnuts. To save the tree, the affected leaves, stems, and fruits are disposed of. Spray the hazel crown with Bordeaux liquid in advance.

Bacterial burn

The disease often affects hazel and is expressed as small yellow-green spots on the leaves. Over time, the affected areas darken, but a bright spot remains in the middle. When the shoots are damaged, red-brown areas are visible on them, which dry out. This leads to breaking of the stems. Due to bacterial damage, the pulp of the nuts will not form.

You can fight hazelnut burns by treating with a solution of Bordeaux mixture. The first time is sprayed with the drug when the buds open, and then during the formation of the ovaries.

Halnut pests

Most of the parasites that damage hazel are sucking insects or leaf-eating insects. Some feed on the inside of the nut by making moves inside the shell.

Bud mites

This miniature insect is difficult to see, but it causes significant damage to hazelnuts. The buds of the walnut are damaged by the tick, which leads to the absence of flowering, ovaries on the hazel. You can notice the pest in early spring, when it leaves the wintering grounds and settles on a tree.

Aphid

The main vector of diseases, aphid, also infects the walnut tree.The colonies of sucking parasites are easy to spot on the underside of the leaves. You can see the results of the parasite's activity by the deformation and twisting of hazel leaves. To combat aphids, they use insecticide treatment, tobacco infusion.

Nut Weevil

The beetle with a brown body and 1 centimeter long can be seen by the way holes appear on the fruits. Weevil larvae need to get to the tasty sweet pulp, so they make moves in the nut shell and ruin the crop. To prevent the spread of weevil, fallen rotten fruits are collected and disposed of. And insecticides will help in the fight against insects.

Halnut barbel

If a black bug with yellow paws and a long mustache appears on hazelnut leaves, then soon all the foliage will be in holes. These insects feed on green mass, stems, leaving the bushes bare during a massive invasion of the hazel.

Nut leaf beetle

This leaf-eating insect is dangerous for the hazel plantation. Adults, together with green larvae, damage the tree. When a parasite attacks a bush, it soon remains naked. The yield loss of hazelnuts from an insect is up to 50%.