How to Grow and Care for Manchurian walnut? Juglans Mandshurica

The magnificent Manchurian walnut tree is primarily grown in the country’s northern parts. This plant looks a lot like a walnut from the outside, but it differs from it in terms of the fruit’s shape and the length of the leaf plates. You must be familiar with its needs if you want to cultivate a Manchurian walnut on your property.

Features of the Manchurian walnut

Manchurian walnuts are rarely grown in residential gardens. Therefore, most novice gardeners are unaware of their appearance. However, both seasoned gardeners and novices will be able to grow this tree with the proper strategy.

This tree belongs to the walnut family and is known as Juglans Mandshurica, Ussuri Hazel, Amur Walnut, or Chinese Walnut. The Manchurian walnut is known scientifically as Juglans mandshurica in Latin.

This plant typically grows to a height of 30 m and has a lifespan of 200 years. The crown rarely qualifies as sprawling; its diameter hardly ever rises above 100 cm.

The culture is quickly expanding. A seedling grows rapidly for several years after planting, with an average yearly growth of roughly 200 cm. The plant’s stems are brown, while the trunk is covered in light gray bark. The leaf plates range in length from 0.5 to 1 meter, making them comparatively enormous. The foliage is painted a deep green tone in the summer, and as autumn approaches, its hue transforms to gold.

At 10 to 12 years old, the Manchurian walnut forms its first fruits. The fruit of the tree ripens in late summer or early autumn, while the tree flowers in April. The fruits are oval-shaped nuts with a variety of external characteristics.

High frost resistance is a trait of this tree. Even newly planted seedlings in open ground are not killed by severe frosts; they can withstand temperatures as low as minus 35 degrees. Due to the root system’s deep soil penetration, the plant is unafraid of both severe gusts of wind and a hurricane.

A monoecious plant, the Manchurian walnut. Male and female flowers are generated separately into inflorescences. Female flowers have small-flowered, little racemes. Long inflorescences in the shape of catkins contain black male flowers. Please be aware that the plant won’t be able to produce fruits if the blossoms freeze.

Distribution Features

The “king of nuts” is regarded as the Manchurian nut. Because of the fruits’ great nutritional value, travelers frequently consume them on long journeys. This type of tree has grown widely over Northern China, the Far Eastern Federal District, and the Korean Peninsula.

Such a plant is typically found in maple-oak woodlands on Russian Federation territory. Additionally, this tree prefers to be planted close to coniferous trees like pines and larches.

In Russia, areas like Vologda, Moscow, and Leningrad have the greatest concentration of wild walnut trees. It is grown concurrently in nearly all of the Russian Federation’s regions.

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Landing and care

In addition to producing valuable fruits, Manchurian walnuts also have a stunning appearance. Any gardener can grow a tree on their own property; they need to know a few specifics.

Seedling selection

You can plant a seedling you bought or one you grew yourself. While a seedling is difficult to develop, you can be confident that it will be of the highest quality and health.

Selecting a high-quality seedling is important if you want the tree to grow into a magnificent fruit-bearing tree and be strong and healthy when planted. You must first assess its outside appearance. The seedling must be at least one year old and 100 cm tall. Please note that a clod of the earth must surround the root system.

Landing area

The best location for planting Amur nuts should be close to crops that can tolerate some shadow. Such a tree’s massive crown can cast a large shadow that is detrimental to light-loving plants.

The surrounding soil ought to be neutral or hardly alkaline. It’s also important to remember that young trees respond very poorly to wet soil and too strong sunshine when choosing a location.

Landing Features

Before embarkation, or more precisely, 4 to 8 weeks beforehand, the planting hole needs to be ready. The pit should be 60 by 80 cm in size. Maintaining space between each seedling while planting multiple on a plot should be done at a distance of 500–600 cm.

When the hole is prepared, a drainage layer is built up at the bottom; brick or rubble fragments work well for this. A peg supporting the tree is set in the center of a mound of hummus that has been pre-mixed with mineral fertilizers and is used to cover the drainage layer. The pit is then filled with 20 liters of water.

Examine the seedling; any evidence of illness or degradation should draw your attention. Shake the earth clod on the roots after removing all the damaged rhizome sections. After positioning the tree next to the support, the hole is carefully filled with earth. After compacting the near-stem circle’s surface, watering should be done. Then a layer of mulch—used as peat—is applied to its surface.

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Manchurian Walnut Care

While the Manchurian walnut is young, it requires special attention and care. At the same time, an adult tree does not cause much trouble; rodents, frosts, or strong winds are afraid of it.

Seedlings that have just been planted in open ground need the following care:

1. For 1 year after planting, the plant is provided with regular watering, which is carried out 1 time in 2 weeks. During the hot dry period, it is watered more often.
2. Do not forget to free the near-trunk circle from weeds and loosen it systematically. This is necessary to saturate the soil with oxygen.
3. Feed the seedling in the summer in June. In the trunk circle, you need to add a nutrient mixture consisting of wood ash and superphosphate.
4. The trunk needs protection from the scorching sun; it is treated with a composition consisting of lime and clay.

In November, you need to start preparing the tree for wintering. First, you must collect all the flying leaves and destroy them with fire. So you can destroy the pests that live on the foliage. Then the nut is inspected for blisters. Often, under the bark of a seedling, pests arrange nests for themselves. They are cut with a very sharp knife.

The tree does not need additional shelter for the winter. But it should be noted that with the onset of the spring period, its foliage can be burned by the sun’s scorching rays, and the plant itself can suffer from rodents. To prevent this, during the preparation of the nut for winter, it is recommended to cover it with burlap. From above, the burlap should be wrapped with a net, while its ends should be dug next to the trunk.

Propagation methods

To propagate the Manchurian walnut, gardeners use the seed method or cuttings.

cuttings

Selecting a permanent location for the cutting’s planting is the first stage. A rooted cutting does not respond well to transplantation; it may even perish. Pick a strong branch and remove it. The handle should be between 10 and 15 centimeters in length. It is then submerged in water to begin roots. The plant should be planted permanently as soon as the handle’s roots begin to grow.

Growing from seed

If you wish, you can try to grow a seedling from seeds. For sowing, nuts should be used, the age of which can vary from 1 to 2 years. Seed material before sowing needs stratification. It is kept on the shelf of the refrigerator until the onset of the spring period. Next, the nuts are placed in a water container for a week and a half.

For sowing, only sprouted nuts are used. Bury them in a container filled with moistened sand. There they should be until the moment when the first seedlings appear. This sowing method is only suitable for spring.

If you decide to sow the Manchurian walnut in autumn, the seed material will not need to be pre-stratified. Soak the nuts for 4 weeks in water, then sow them in open ground.

Freshly picked fruits can also be planted in open ground. To protect against rodents, treat the nuts with kerosene and plant them in the soil. First time you need to water the crops only after the first seedlings appear in the spring.

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Diseases and pests

Manchurian walnut is not highly resistant to pests and diseases. Most often, a tree is affected by such ailments as:

Bacteriosis. In the affected plant, the edge of the leaf blades becomes black. The disease can damage more than 40 percent of the foliage, after which it can affect the fruits. To cure the plant, they are treated with a solution of urea (1 percent) or Bordeaux mixture (3 percent).

Macedonia. The causative agent of this disease is an ascomycete fungus. It affects both leaf plates and fruits and stems. Many brown spots appear on the leaves, while cracks can be seen on the pericarp. To save the tree, it is treated from a spray bottle with a solution of Bordeaux liquid, the concentration of which should be equal to 3 percent.

Bark cancer. On the trunk of a diseased plant, you can see dead brown bark. As the disease develops, the bark and the branches’ complete exfoliation and drying are observed.

To prevent disease damage to the nut, it is necessary to inspect it and timely remove diseased stems or branches systematically.

Of the pests, gall mites and gall mites most often settle on such a tree. At the same time, the tick climbs into the kidneys in the winter and lays eggs in them with the onset of the spring months. Females can make their way into the central part of the leaf blades. A small tubercle speaks of its presence in the foliage. There is a gradual drying and slow death of the diseased nut. To clean the tree from ticks, it is necessary to carry out the treatment with colloidal sulfur.

Nutworms damage foliage, flowers, and the bark of the stems. To destroy such a pest, the plant is treated with a solution of karbofos or chlorophos (0.2 percent).

Application

Manchurian walnut is used to cure several ailments and has therapeutic effects. Its fruits are edible and contain a variety of beneficial ingredients. The foliage contains various beneficial acids and iodine, and the kernels’ makeup includes tannins, oils, and kahetins.

Fruits are used to make decoctions to treat rickets, stomach conditions, and diarrhea. The leaf’s antibacterial, sanitizing, and wound-healing properties set it apart from other plants. It is used to make a variety of medications that are used to treat tuberculosis.

The Manchurian walnut is often used in landscaping. It stands out well against the other trees and plants in the backdrop because of its ball-shaped crown and enormous leaves. Such a plant should be placed near coniferous trees, according to experts. A bench or a swing can be placed close to the nut, and the leaves will keep pesky mosquitoes away.

Expert gardeners advise against growing nuts close to fruit plants. A pear or apple tree planted in the neighborhood has the potential to wither and perish over time.

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Conclusion

Growing a Manchurian walnut tree in your backyard is simple and has many practical applications. This tree, after all, has antimicrobial and restorative properties. You won’t find better honey than this. Its fruit can be used to make medicine, cosmetics, and even a delightful jam. It has been discovered that the shell of the Manchurian walnut may be used to make a paint of an extremely dark brown and that the wood can be used to create high-end furniture. All things considered, this plant has the potential to mature into a lovely ornament for your environment.