How to grow walnut trees : growing walnut trees is a must for us Italians, despite the sharp decrease in walnut production recorded in the last 30 years.Just think that in the 1970s alone, more than 80,000 tons of walnuts were produced , while today only approximately 15,000 tons are produced.
The main walnut -producing region in Italy remains Campania, although recently there has been a strong change in trend in favor of Emilia Romagna: it is in this region that walnut orchards cultivated with cutting-edge agronomic techniques are spreading.
How to Grow Walnut Tree
For the needs of the walnut tree and possible diseases we refer you to the article How to grow walnuts , while today we will focus on the planting and care to be given to the walnut grove.
The walnut tree must be planted in shallow holes, in fact 12 – 15 cm of soil above the roots will be enough. When choosing the place to plant the walnut , keep in mind that this plant can grow up to 25-30 meters in height with an expanded and globular shape.
From the first year of cultivation it will be necessary to carry out two green pruning operations : the first will be carried out when the shoots have reached 20-25 cm (you will have to choose the one destined to constitute the extension of the trunk, eliminating the suckers and shortening all the others to 1-2 leaves on the central ace), the second operation must be carried out in summer, in the month of July or in any case during the second vegetative recovery. The second pruning operation of the walnut tree is also carried out to favor the central shoot.
To grow the walnut tree , in the early stages, you will need to plan a 2.5 – 3 metre wooden stake to tie to the main shoot.
The walnut pruning operations just described must be repeated in the second year, until the tree has reached the height where the scaffolding can be formed, about 2.5 meters from the ground. From the third year of cultivation , pruning operations must be more limited, in fact you must limit yourself to removing the nettles, dry branches and badly inserted branches.
Attention! To grow the walnut tree you will have to be very careful when choosing the variety. The so-called cold requirement is very important for the vegetation of the tree : if the walnut tree does not receive enough hours of cold it may not produce kernels due to an anomalous vegetative awakening. To choose the variety of walnut that best suits your climate zone we refer you to the article Walnuts, varieties .
