Looking for tips from hazelnut growers

11 years ago

I'm new to hazelnuts, as they are a very uncommon crop in my country. They are a very recent commercial crop and absolutely unheard of for home growing. Our shops though have no shortage of the whole, processed nuts & things like Nutella.

I'm currently growing 3 European varieties: Tonda di Gifoni (my main one) and two pollinators Romana & Selvatico. These are young, grafted plants that should bear their first crop later this year, according to the commercial farmer who kindly shared them with me (as I said these cant be bought at any local garden center, totally unheard of). He gave me some information packs, but it is suitable for producing on a commercial scale. I'd like any info from home growers / suburban gardeners on:

- minimum space requirements (farmer said 3 metres between each one!)
- ideal fertilisers
- common pests and pest / disease management options that won't put my dogs and baby in danger (the farm uses heavy duty stuff)
- watering / feeding schedule

I have them in 2 different areas of the garden. One spot is full sun, as per the farmer's instructions, and those plants are getting fried. The others are in an area that gets mid morning & midday sun, but is protected the rest of the day with shade from surrounding trees and bushes. My area would correspond with a Zone 11, if there were such a region in the US. Very hot, long summers. We get rain storms now and then. Winters are dry.

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Comments (3)

Scott F Smith
11 years ago
Your weather is very different than where hazelnuts/filberts are grown in the US. Here Oregon is the main place and its cool year-round there. I don't know how heat tolerant they are but in my zone 7 climate they do fine in full sun. On the other hand you may be better with the plants in a bit of shade in your very hot climate.

The plants are often grown as bushes here, they are not grafted so you can let shoots come up from the ground. I have my plants about 1.5m apart to form a hedge row. I have not noticed any special requirements on fertilizers/watering compared to other trees. They also don't need any spraying for me. The main problem is squirrels, they will take all the nuts. I have had a caterpillar attack the leaves, but after awhile some wasps find out and start eating the caterpillars so I don't have to spray. Filbert blight is a major disease here; I don't know if it has made it to where you are or not but if so it can be a huge problem. I am growing blight immune varieties.

Scott
larry_gene
11 years ago
Willamette Valley where most of the Oregon hazel nuts are grown is hardiness zone 8 or 9. 15 to 25 of 90+ degree days per year, 2 or 3 of those 100+ degrees, on average.
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lala_e
Original Author
10 years ago
I'm back with an update almost a year later on my hazelnut experiment in South Africa. Only two survivors made it through winter dormancy and both were the Selvatico variety.

I found a cherry tree specialist who happened to sell one type of hazel they simply know as "green hazelnut". It hasn't produced nuts in all ten years they've been selling it, which isn't surprising as they have one type. I bought some as potential cross pollinators for my surviving two Selvaticos. They were bare roots, shipped in winter. 80% survival in our dry summer. Below is one of them with the beginnings of a male catkin, in the middle of our summer. Weird!

I recently found a couple of farmers who are pioneering truffle culture here. Hazels are amongst their host trees. They are seed grown, unnamed varieties almost like wild filberts & hazels. I've ordered some for fun, additional cross pollination partners & a potential double crop in 4-5 years.

I am looking up info on the pollination requirement of wild or seed grown hazels. Not much info is available online. I'd be interested in your experiences if you have observed some growing freely in hedgerows (UK) or forests in Oregon.