Among horticultural crops, hazelnuts are considered the king. He received the honorary title for high productivity. Hazelnut as a cultivated plant began to be grown since ancient times. This is evidenced by the findings of archaeologists.
Hazelnuts are called large-fruited hazel (Lombard), a typical inhabitant of broad-leaved and mixed forests. The birthplace of hazelnuts is the eastern part of the Black Sea coast. This culture has become widespread in Europe and America.
Currently, hazelnuts occupy a leading place among the crops of this species. The unpretentiousness of cultivation, ease of propagation, the nutritional value of the fruit and the use of depleted land have made the walnut affordable for farmers and summer residents.
What is a hazelnut?
This is a shrub that looks like a hazel. Hazelnut is a wind-pollinated multi-stemmed large plant, the height of which ranges from three to eight meters. The leaves are dark green in color, serrated at the edges, have a rounded or oval shape. The flowers of the plant are of two types: male, in the form of earrings, and female - buds with bright red brush-stigmas inside.
If weather conditions allow, the walnut blossoms from the beginning of winter andtill March. Begins to bear fruit in the 4-5th year after planting. A hazelnut bush with lace earrings in winter and bright yellow leaves in autumn attracts the eye of a person with its beauty. This is a shade-tolerant plant, which allows it to be planted on the northern slopes. In sunny and sheltered places, hazelnuts bear fruit better. Thanks to a powerful root system, the shrub strengthens the soil, so walnut plantings can be placed on slopes and in lowlands.
Very beautiful during the entire growing season, starting with bud break and ending with leaf fall, hazelnuts. Landing and care provide for a range of activities. The crown of the shrub is especially pleasing to the eye, covered with large velvety raspberry-colored leaves interspersed with large nuts of a round or oblong shape. Hazelnuts, planting which does not require much effort, are valued both for their fruits and for their decorative effect. Therefore, this shrub is loved by gardeners and is happy to grow it in gardens.
Soil preparation
Hazelnut is a fairly unpretentious plant, for the growth of which any soil is suitable, except for dry sandy, s alty and swampy. Acidic soils are limed per 1 sq. m. half a kilogram of lime. However, hazelnuts planted in fertile and moist soil give higher yields.
To begin with, on the site selected for planting, you need to determine the rows and loosen them with the addition of fertilizers with potassium and phosphorus to the soil, if necessary. Followed byplow the ground to a depth of 30-40 cm and mark places for planting. Such deep plowing is done in order to provide air access to the roots and retain moisture in the soil. For good fruiting, hazelnuts need a lot of nutrients that they take from the ground. Therefore, it must be fertilized with manure or compost at the rate of 2-3 centners per one hundred square meters of land.
Pick up time
The walnut shrub is planted in spring and autumn, depending on the region. Planting hazelnuts in autumn is preferable in the eastern and southern regions, where it is carried out 2-3 weeks before frost. This allows the plant to take root, gain strength, and in the spring quickly grow. In other areas, hazelnuts can be planted at any planting season.
Choosing a hazelnut planting site
The walnut grows better on the eastern, northeastern and northern slopes, where there are less daily temperature fluctuations and the danger of freezing plants and getting burns can be avoided. Hazelnut prefers sunny, wind-protected places. It should be planted at a distance of 4-5 meters from other plants with a large crown to provide a large area for feeding.
In household plots, hazelnuts, which are planted on the slopes of ravines or near the boundary, will grow in their natural form. And if you give the tree a certain shape, it will decorate your garden. Such a bush can be planted in a more honorable place.
Landing
After choosing a site and preparing the soil, a hazelnut tree is selected. Planting it in a holehalf a meter deep is carried out in spring or autumn. To do this, the topsoil is mixed with potassium s alt (50 g), superphosphate (150 g) and 2-3 buckets of humus. Fertilizers are evenly distributed in the hole.
Planting hazelnuts in autumn and spring is carried out like this. They put a peg in the center and plant a seedling, having previously dipped it in the solution. And don't forget to put some hazelnut soil in the hole. The root neck is not covered with earth, but deepened by 2-3 cm to stimulate the growth of roots and their branching. The aerial part of the plant immediately after planting is cut off at the level of the 5-6th bud. The seedling is shortened by 15-20 cm above the soil surface.
The planted shrub is well watered with 3-5 buckets of water in one hole and mulched. To do this, you can use needles, sawdust, humus, manure - what will be at hand. This will keep the moisture in better. So that the bark of the seedling does not decay, the mulch should not touch the trunk. After a week, you need to repeat the watering. An unpretentious culture is hazelnut. Landing and care will not require much effort.
Formation of a nut bush
If someone does not like the shape of the plant in its natural form, you can form a future bush. To do this, in the fall, after the second vegetative period, 8-10 strong shoots are planned. They will be the future main trunks. Within 2-3 years, removing the shoots and cutting out excess shoots, you can form a bush at your discretion.
Pruning a plant is a must for a high yield. Form a bush within 4-5years before fruiting. In the future, so that there is no thickening, barren branches are removed. And by the eleventh year of growth, rejuvenation is carried out, for which three old trunks are cut down every year. Root shoots are being prepared to replace them.
Water and fertilize
Hazelnut horticultural crop is unpretentious in cultivation. Landing and care are not difficult. In order to get a high yield of nuts, it is necessary to water the bush several times a season. Hazelnuts especially need watering in the summer season, when the fruits grow intensively.
Increase yield and fertilize the soil. The most common type of top dressing is compost and manure, which are applied in 2-3 years once at the rate of 10 kg per square meter. Mineral fertilizers can be applied every year, especially when the fruits are set. To do this, use urea. Don't add nitrogen. It causes rapid growth of the bush itself, while the yield drops.
Very tasty and he althy fruit gives hazelnuts. Planting a nut, subject to all requirements, will not take much time. But you will enjoy the taste of fruits and the beauty of the formed bushes for a long time.
Reproduction
The walnut propagates by seed and vegetative methods. When using seed propagation, the crop variety is not preserved. Planting hazelnuts from walnuts is used for mass cultivation and breeding of new varieties. To grow hazelnut seedlings, they take not overdried, well-ripened nuts. They are sown in spring or autumn in fertile soil to a depth of 6-8 cm.
With vegetative propagation, the traits and properties of the variety are preserved, fixed and transmitted. It is carried out by layering, rhizomes, dividing the bush and grafting. Reproduction of hazelnuts by layering is carried out by rooting young shoots without separating them from the bush. If rhizomes are taken as a basis, 2-3-year-old root shoots are separated from the bush and planted. When propagating by dividing the bush during the thinning of hazelnut plantations, some bushes are uprooted. They are cut so that each part has a root, and planted in a new place. When propagated by grafting, it is made to cuttings in the spring. This method of reproduction is used to refine the bushes.
Useful properties
Hazelnuts contain many nutrients: fats, proteins, carbohydrates and vitamins. The kernels are used in the food and confectionery industry, oil - in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. The calorie content of hazelnuts is higher than that of bread, milk and meat. Even the pollen of inflorescences is used. It is the first food for bees after winter.
Nut is a dietary product for anemia and prostate enlargement, varicose veins and thrombophlebitis, trophic ulcers and hemorrhoids. This product is recommended for people with diseases of the cardiovascular system. Hazelnuts are believed to bring he alth and happiness.
