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Walnuts grow wild in northern India and China, Transcaucasia, Asia Minor, Iran, Greece and Ukraine. Relict groves have been preserved in Kyrgyzstan. Although the crop is heat-loving, it can grow with good care even in the Leningrad region. True, it won’t produce annual harvests like in the south. Many gardeners are tempted to feed walnuts in the fall in order to reap a large harvest and make the tree more resistant to frost. But not everyone knows how to do it correctly.
Do I need to feed walnuts?
It would seem, what kind of question is that? All plants need feeding! But in this particular case, there is no need to rush to answer; you must first understand the peculiarities of the culture.
Walnut is a tall tree, up to 25 m, with a powerful root. It goes 4 meters deep and grows to the sides by 20 m. It turns out that the walnut root system covers a huge volume of soil. And if we take into account that this is an allelopathic crop, that is, it oppresses all plants planted nearby, then it turns out that the land developed by the tree is at its complete disposal.
In Ukraine, where every private yard must have at least one walnut tree, the crop is not fed in the garden. At all! Well, when planting, they add humus, they can water the young tree with nitrogen in the spring, and add phosphorus and potassium in the fall, mulch with rotted manure or compost. And often they don’t even do this; the result, frankly speaking, will be little different.
But as soon as the nut begins to bear fruit, everyone stops paying attention to it. Only the fruits are collected in buckets every year in the fall and dry branches are cut off (sometimes). True, industrial plantations are still fed.
But in the Non-Black Earth Region, the walnut not only grows poorly, it is fed, the crown is shaped, but it still bears fruit irregularly. To make it clear why this happens, it’s better to look at everything in detail, point by point:
- On chernozems, where the climate is warm, adult walnuts in private households are not fed. With such a feeding area, and even on fertile soils, he himself will take everything he needs from the soil. Excessive fertilizer can only harm the tree. Nitrogen will cause a strong growth of shoots, which will not have time to ripen before winter, or will develop to the detriment of fruiting. An excess of other elements will also not bring anything good. It is not without reason that experienced gardeners claim that it is better to underfeed any plant than to overfeed it. Of course, we are talking about a healthy tree that actually grows on fertile black soil, and not on construction waste.
- Industrial plantings of walnuts, even on black soil, require fertilizing. The trees there grow densely, and their feeding area is much smaller than in the private sector.If the plantation is not fertilized, walnuts begin to compete for nutrients, winter poorly and bear fruit worse.
- It’s understandable why you need to feed crops on poor soils. If there are few nutrients in the soil, then no matter how powerful the root system is, it cannot pull out of the ground what is not there.
- Even in temperate climates, walnuts grow poorly. Most varieties are not winter-hardy enough already in the Tambov region. In the North-West, even if a walnut can be grown, it will be small, constantly freezes, and bears almost no fruit. And it does not at all resemble the majestic tree that southerners know about the culture. So far, the creation of winter-hardy varieties of satisfactory quality has not been successful, and hybrids with Manchurian nut have failed. It is possible to grow the crop in cool climates, but it requires a lot of effort. The care package includes enhanced fertilizing, especially in the fall, to help the tree survive the winter.
And further. Most walnut varieties are biologically not far removed from the species plant. And it grows in nature without any care, not to mention fertilizing. It is unknown what the varieties and hybrids of the new generation will be.
Features of feeding walnuts
There are no global differences in feeding walnuts and other fruit crops. In the spring they give mainly nitrogen fertilizers, in the autumn they give phosphorus-potassium fertilizers.
It is advisable to feed a walnut seedling in the first years of life on black soil, even if fertilizers were added to the planting hole during planting. In cool regions and poor soils - a must.
The main time for applying fertilizers to walnuts is autumn. They should not be sprinkled on the ground, but should be carefully embedded in the soil.The culture does not like to have its roots disturbed, so the operation should be carried out carefully. It is better to immediately mark a groove surrounding the crown into which fertilizers will be applied from year to year. We need to dwell on this in more detail.
It is better to fertilize fruit trees into the groove that surrounds the tree. Fertilizers are poured there, mixed with soil and watered. The recess should be the same size as the crown of the tree.
Someone might argue that the walnut grows simply huge, and the groove will be a considerable distance from the trunk and cover a large area. To this it can be objected that the crop reaches its maximum size only on black soil, and even in a warm climate. And there they do not fertilize walnuts at all or limit themselves to mulching the tree trunk circle with humus once every few years.
As you move north, the trees grow less and less in height until they become real dwarfs in the Leningrad region. It is in cool climates that special importance should be given to feeding walnuts.
How to feed a walnut tree
Like other crops, walnuts need nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and trace elements. The best effect is achieved by combining mineral and organic fertilizers.
Walnut does not like acidic soils, so finely ground tomato slag can be added to the crop. This waste from metallurgical production will not only saturate the soil with phosphorus, but will also bring the pH back to normal.
Buying some expensive branded fertilizers for walnuts does not make sense, and will not give the expected “magic” effect. He perfectly accepts cheap domestically produced fertilizers.
Fertilizing walnuts in autumn
It is in the fall that the main feeding of walnuts is done. Even on chernozems, before winter, once every four years, it is recommended to mulch the tree trunk circle with humus.
The amount of organic matter is calculated depending on the diameter of the crown (it is not necessary to calculate it down to a centimeter). For each square meter, add from 3 to 6 kg of humus. If this is done in late autumn, the organic matter is left in the form of mulch. The humus introduced before leaf fall is lightly incorporated into the soil.
in spring
Spring feeding is only needed on poor soils, in cold regions, or if the seedling grows poorly. Walnut is a fast-growing crop; it grows longest 2-3 years after planting. In the southern regions on black soil it gives an increase of 1.5 cm per season. If the shoots are less than a meter long, this can be considered a developmental delay and requires correction with nitrogen fertilizers.
In cool climates and on poor soils in the spring, walnuts are fed annually, twice. The first time, on snow that has not yet melted or frozen-thawed soil, any nitrogen fertilizers are scattered under the crown. Their number can be calculated by multiplying the crown projection area in square meters. m for the dosage recommended by the instructions.
The second feeding is done 20-25 days after the first. Then a complete mineral complex is added, which should include 1/3 of the phosphorus and potassium fertilizers needed by the walnut for the year. This is approximately 10-12 g of superphosphate and 6-8 g of potassium salt per 1 square meter. m.
The second fertilizing should not be sprinkled on the ground, but applied into the groove surrounding the tree trunk and mixed with the soil. Then be sure to carry out abundant watering.
In summer
Walnuts need summer feeding only if they have developmental delays. If a gardener wants to do “the best” and carries out unscheduled fertilization of the crop, the ovaries may begin to crumble and shoot growth will increase.
Phosphorus-potassium fertilizing of walnuts carried out at the end of summer is biologically correct to consider as autumn. They are designed to speed up the ripening of shoots and wood, help the crop to better overwinter and lay flower buds for next year. In the southern regions they are usually done in September.
Superphosphate is added into the groove surrounding the walnut at the rate of 20-25 g per meter of crown projection, and 12-16 g of potassium salt. They are mixed with soil and spilled with water.
How to properly feed a plant
To summarize, we can give the following recommendations for feeding walnuts:
- On chernozem, the crop does not need regular fertilizing after the start of fruiting. Once every 4 years, the tree trunk circle is mulched in the fall with humus at the rate of 3-4 kg per square meter of crown projection onto the ground.
- Intensive feeding of walnuts growing on fertile black soil can harm the tree.
- Poor soils require two spring feedings. The first is done before the soil completely thaws with nitrogen fertilizers, the second - after about 3 weeks with a full mineral complex.
- Fertilizers should not be applied over the entire area of the tree trunk circle, but into a pre-dug groove, the diameter of which coincides with the size of the crown, mixed with soil and watered abundantly.
- There is no need to feed walnuts in summer unless absolutely necessary.
- Conducted at the end of summer, and in the south - at the beginning of autumn, fertilizers are classified as autumn. They are made exclusively with phosphorus and potassium (without nitrogen).
- In cool regions and poor soils, late-autumn mulching of the trunk circle with humus can be carried out annually.
Advice from experienced gardeners
The expression “it is better to underfeed than to overfeed” applies to walnuts more than to other fruit trees. What do experienced gardeners advise beginners when it comes to this crop?
- Do not expect high or annual yields from walnuts planted even in temperate climates.
- On thin soils, carefully adhere to the feeding schedule. Failure to comply with them will lead to a lack of harvest and freezing of the tree, an excess will lead to the shedding of nuts and, again, to damage by low temperatures.
- Walnuts growing on black soil should simply be left alone. It will give a good harvest anyway. A tree surrounded by excessive care may die.
Conclusion
You need to feed walnuts correctly in the fall. Only then will it grow well and give a bountiful harvest.
I’m just starting to work with nuts. The situation with fruit trees is more limited, but with nuts, I would like to hear from specialists. How to properly feed seedlings? Caring for seedlings. I would be very grateful for your advice.