Hazels from seed

[raymondo]

I've read that hazels need other hazels to produce well, or even at all. If you grew several hazels from seeds they'd all be distinct individuals. Would this be sufficient for them to act as pollinators for each other?

[castanea]

I'm not a hazelnut expert, but my understanding is that you need two that will flower at or near the same time. One that flowers early will not pollinate one that blooms late.

[templeton]

Ray,
I planted a few a couple of years ago, from a friend's trees. Some of his set nuts regularly, some occasionally, some not at all. I'm working on the theory that if they are obligate outcrossers, seeds will have some of the genetic material from each compatible parent, which hopefully should give rise to compatible siblings. I'll be able to confirm this year or next, I hope.
The seedlings did have different foliage, and the plants which are now over a metre tall in a long row, have differing leaf fall characteristics, so my guess is there are some genetic differences in the sibs.
T

[hortusbrambonii]

They are very slow to germinate in my experience.

[Joseph Lofthouse]

I plant hazelnuts in the fall. By the time I remember to look for them in mid-summer they have germinated and are growing fine.

[raymondo]

Did any of you remove the shell?

[Joseph Lofthouse]

I don't remove nut shells before planting. My typical strategy is to bury the whole nut in about 2" to 3" of compost in the fall, in a place that won't have a lot of weeds before summer, and then forget about them.

[mnjrutherford]

Ray, hazels and, in fact, MOST (not all) nuts all require at LEAST 2 COMPATIBLE varieties to produce anything at all. It is RECOMMENDED to have 3 varieties for optimum pollination.

Why? Because each variety releases and receives pollen at different times. Some release pollen first, some receive pollen first, some do their thing early in the season, some late. If you Google "hazelnut pollination chart", you should get a decent number of hits with detailed information regarding many aspects you should pay attention to when choosing cultivars. Many originate in Australia! You know where Australia is I presume? ;o) Yes, being silly there.

Here is a link to a good article that speaks simply on the matter: www.hazelnuts.com.au/planting-growing-hazelnuts.html

My cultivars include: Barcelona, Ennis, Daviana, Hall's Giant, and Butler. I'm being a bit reckless with this selection because of susceptibility to Eastern Hazelnut blight, but I needed to start somewhere and with nothing. This is simply how it goes.

Joseph's method of planting is right on. That's what I would do if I were simply planting nuts. To CHOOSE a variety of nuts blind, select assorted sizes. That's how to best ensure that you will get different cultivars. Each variety produces specific sized nuts. Additionally, I would plant smaller sized nuts in a "wildlife" area and the larger sized nuts in a "people" area. DO; however, plant them within 50' of each other for best pollination.

GOOD LUCK!

[raymondo]

I do in fact have a collection of different cultivars given to me by some friends of my neighbour. They are still in pots and I'll plant them out this winter with any luck. It was my neighbour who was wondering how to get her lone hazel to fruit and I suggested planting a few nuts but then thought I had best check that such a strategy had a good chance of working. Perhaps the best strategy would be to wait until mine start producing pollen. Her hazel is about 30' away so there is a good chance she'll get some nuts then. A few of these nuts would make ideal candidates for sowing material. She has a self-fertile almond which produces nice sweet nuts. I'll plant a few of these in my yard I think.

[templeton]

Ray,
a Hungarian guy Imre Tokolyi bred hazels in the Dandenongs back in the 80's and had his own cultivars. He wrote a great little booklet, that I used to have a copy of.

So, Armidale, slightly alkaline soil, good chill... sounding like the spot for a truffiere.

[raymondo]

May 14, 2013 17:48:32 GMT -5 templeton said:

...
So, Armidale, slightly alkaline soil, good chill... sounding like the spot for a truffiere.

Great minds ...

[mnjrutherford]

That's what most of my current hazels are doing... sprinkled amongst oaks... Hoping for production this Christmas.... It'll be a long shot though.

[Deleted]

May 14, 2013 1:09:13 GMT -5 Joseph Lofthouse said:

I plant hazelnuts in the fall. By the time I remember to look for them in mid-summer they have germinated and are growing fine.

This sounds like what I did, for the first time. Will have high hopes for mid summer, then.

[Deleted]

May 14, 2013 7:33:47 GMT -5 raymondo said:

Did any of you remove the shell?

I did this, to a few, to see what was inside.

Someone had sent me about 10. And, I bought a bag.

Some turned to mush, while others had expanded to fill their shells, just starting to split at the side. If they are all like this, at least half will be viable.

[bertiefox]

We have wild hazels in the hedgerows but most of our 'fruiting stock' has been grown from nuts given us by a friend who had some good trees in her garden. I've never had any trouble growing them, just stick a whole stack of them in a large pot or deep seed tray and leave it out over winter. In the spring, a whole lot started coming up. Nowadays the rodents put so many nuts under ground in the veg. beds that there are always new seedlings coming through in the spring that I pot up to plant wherever I have space, or in the forest nearby.
Interestingly, we bought a proper 'cultivar' about ten years ago before we started doing this, but that has completely died and was never a good cropper. The ones from seed are comparatively prolific and are spreading by suckers and seed all over the place.