Black Walnut Seeds

[Al]

I have a Black Walnut Tree that is growing wild in my yard. The tree has seed/nut on it. I would like to use the nuts to grow other Black Walnut trees on my property. How do I do this?

Al

[D. Staples]

Stratification helps, Either in a secure outside storage, or in a brown bag in the refrigerator. Let em over winter, and plant in the spring.

[Sheldon]

I believe the word you want is 'scarification'.

M-W

scar?i?fy transitive verb

1 : to make scratches or small cuts in (as the skin) 2 : to lacerate the feelings of 3 : to break up and loosen the surface of (as a field or road) *4 : to cut or soften the wall of (a hard seed) to hasten germination

[Ann]

Sheldon expounded:

No, it's stratification. That means to subject a seed to a cold period before it germinates. If you weren't so busy trying to prove people wrong you'd know this.

[William Wagner]

I'd just plant a few in the ground in a straight line. Transplant if any come up. Tell the folks on the property that these trees offer valuable woods in time and that once folks used the seed for a tasty brittle. Which is still worth seeking out.

Forget peanut brittle go Black Walnut if we must jeopardize our old fillings. I do!

Bill

Don't tell anybody about this place. He was a lab tech who made custom bikes and ended up in candy. An annual pilgrimage twice a year for us.

[FragileWarrior]

Al wrote in news:TzfHi.2128$603.952@trndny02:

Be aware that Black Walnut is not condusive to other plants grown near it. That means no vegetable garden and most flowering plants. If you want Black Walnut, fine, but don't expect anything else to grow around it. Look up: juglone or

[Janet Baraclough]

The message from Sheldon contains these words:

Yes

No.

You've given yourself away again, Sheldon.

Janet

[Sheldon]

With black walnut it's important to scarify (really just removing the husks), then plant the seeds, the natural exposure to winter while in the ground is all the stratification that's necessary, come spring they'll already be germinating... otherwise come spring all you'll have is cold walnuts in the fridge of which most when planted then will not germinate because they haven't been scarified, and then those really should be planted in the fall, so you lose a year. All things equal, without scarification most walnut seeds do not germinate (in nature left to their own devices most do not germinate), most that have been scarified do germinate. There is no need to artificially stratify black walnut but it's important to scarify. What is most important is to protect newly planted seed from critters otherwise whatever you do is all for nought, squirrels will probably dig up

90pct. I would plant black walnut in individual pots that are well protected from critters (a cold frame is good). Protect pots until they can be field planted as two year old seedlings, and then they'll still neeed protection from deer and other critters. You obviously didn't read the OP carefully... my recommendation is more advantageous

[Myrl]

On Sep 16, 4:23 pm, FragileWarrior up: juglone or

I lived in a house that had one Black Walnut and a couple of English Walnut trees. You're right - absolutely nothing would grow under the Black Walnut. We ended up pouring a nice patio around it. The English Walnuts weren't much better, but I did manage to have a nice garden of Calla Lilies under one of them. I was certain to try to keep any falling leaves from the tree, gathered and raked up however!

Myrl Jeffcoat

[enigma]

Myrl wrote in news: [e-mail]:

i have a Chinese dogwood as understory to my bigger black walnut & it's doing very well. the walnut is around 40 years, & the dogwood is about 30. they are less than 3' apart. OTOH, there used to be an apple tree near the walnut & as the crown began to overhang the apple's area, it died back. i recently cut it down. and the blueberries are also dying back, but that could be because they're in pretty heavy shade from the sugar maples, as well as the effects of juglone. the younger black walnut is in my 'winter' pasture & i *wish* it would kill the weeds that grow under it :p

lee

[Ann]

Sheldon expounded:

Delusions of grandeur cloud your mind yet again, Sheldon.

I take care of a farm in a nearby town that has a 1/2 mile driveway lined with black walnuts. There is no 'scarification' of any seeds, and they come up all over the place - after they've spent the winter outside where the squirrels decide to plant them.

[Sheldon]

You're such a liar... you've never yet proven any of your claims... you take care of a farm, you've never set foot on a farm. Just how you express yourself with the nonsense elaborations of a barroom sot "a nearby town" PROVES you're a big fat pinnochio nose. Must get boring inside your one room tenement flat in some inner city ghetto slum... you haven't even shown you own a flower pot and you want us to believe you babysit farms. LOL And what happened to your claim(s) of killfiling me... weak minded LIAR! You and your asshole buddy lee must be one and the same.

[FragileWarrior]

Sheldon wrote in news:1190124428.071587.192610@

22g2000hsm.googlegroups.com:

Is this your word of the day, Sheldon? Usually the person running around calling everyone that name has a pretty unhealthy idea of how it works.

[Don Staples]

While scarifying is an alternative, it is not necessary, any more than stratification. It may influence germination, but in nature, it doesn't happen that much, scarification that is. Nursery's stratify black walnut, but seldom scarify, just as they stratify other seed. Particularly in warmer climates.

[Jim Kingdon]

In nature, scarification happens by a seed coat being gradually worn away or a seed coat being cracked by freezing. Scarification is a way to speed this up (with cutting a notch and hot water seeming to be the preferred techniques). At least, that's what my book on propagating woody plants says.

But each plant is different. And I don't know anything about black walnut in particular.

Getting some instructions from someone who has propagated the particular plant in question is recommended. Sure in nature, the plant grows (somehow). But whether this happens quickly, or how many seeds are needed for one seeding, or whether the seed passes through the digestive tract of a bird or mammal in nature, or whether you can keep a seed in the ground for months/years and recognize it as a non-weed when it does come up, or whatever, make the garden situation often different.

[John McWilliams]

Why not scan and E-mail? Much gentler on the ecology.

And please place your reply at the bottom! It's kinder that way. '

[dicko]

This link has a pamphlet written in 1910 on how to sprout black walnuts.

[Sheldon]

There are no animals where black walnut grows that eat black walnut seed whole... if ever you come upon a squirrel swallowing black walnut seed whole you'd best don your steel safety cup and get the hell outa there fast as your widdle stumps can run.

No need to back peddle and hide behind ignorance. There are plenty of web sites with expert instructions about how to grow black walnut (I read a few before posting just as a refresher, I'm not a walnut tree maven but I've lots of hickory). Under how to plant all begin by describing how to scarify, remove the husk and notch the shell. Then they go on to describe about stratification, only necessary in warm climes or with large wood stand/nut harvesting operations where seed will be planted later. But this is about someone with a tree in his yard who merely wants to grow a few seeds... someone who as yet refuses to say where.

Do all of yoose go through life making mountains out of molehills, what a bunch or wild exaggeraters. Just answer the question that's asked, stop embellishing with the barroom lush BS... just makes you appear very ignorant.

[Sheldon]

You're wrong, stratification is always necessary... scarifying is not. But in the case at hand, a small backyard operation, it is important to scarify to increase rate of germination. In most cases stratification occurs naturally, but the OP refuses to say where. As per usual usenet practice the regulars argue while the OP never returns... this was probably yet another troll.

[Ann]

Sheldon expounded:

The sign that Sheldon has lost - he's calling me a liar.

Misinformation dribbled from your keyboard will always be corrected. And as I've said time and time again, I don't use killfiles, never have.