The Forestry Forum

General Forestry => Forestry and Logging => Topic started by: Rat Rod Mac on November 26, 2017, 08:54:55 AM

Title: Planting Walnuts,,, will they grow?
Post by: Rat Rod Mac on November 26, 2017, 08:54:55 AM
I've got a couple of walnut trees on my place and I have been gathering up the walnut hulls from the ground in five gallon buckets and planting them throughout my woods. Will any of these turn into trees? Or am I wasting my time? If some will make it what percentage would you guess. 10% maybe. I would be very happy if 10% would turn into trees.
We are going to have a small timber harvest later this winter and take out as many ash as possible and a few poplar, so I'm planting the walnut hulls close to where these trees are located thinking they will get the sun light when the host trees are harvested. Any and all comments are welcomed. Thanks.    RRM
Title: Re: Planting Walnuts,,, will they grow?
Post by: btulloh on November 26, 2017, 09:09:29 AM
I don't know for sure, but they probably will.  Squirrels plant walnuts around my place and they grow quite well.  Usually in the middle of flower beds and other places I don't want them.  They plant them so the top of the nut is just barely below the surface.  It's probably best to let the husk fall off first, although I'm not sure it makes a big difference.  Sometimes I gather walnuts in the loader bucket and just dumb them in the woods and let the squirrels plant them for me.  It may not be the best way for managed walnut trees but it's efficient. 

There will probably be someone along to provide a more educated answer to your question.  Good luck with the walnut tree management and welcome to the Forestry Forum.
Title: Re: Planting Walnuts,,, will they grow?
Post by: mike_belben on November 26, 2017, 11:56:31 AM
If the soil is suitable for native walnut to begin with i cant see how it wouldnt propogate. 
Title: Re: Planting Walnuts,,, will they grow?
Post by: Rat Rod Mac on November 26, 2017, 12:43:10 PM
Ok fella's thanks. I'll keep on planting.      RRM
Title: Re: Planting Walnuts,,, will they grow?
Post by: VirginiaFarm on November 26, 2017, 01:50:02 PM
I hauled several hundred pounds of walnuts out of our yard and into the woods yesterday. I'm betting the squirrels will bring some of them back near the house. There seems to be a missed opportunity for Hammond walnut buyers in eastern Virginia and Eastern US. We can't keep the walnut saplings down, and we have quite a few good sized trees.

Does anybody have current stumpage figures on Black Walnut?
Title: Re: Planting Walnuts,,, will they grow?
Post by: TKehl on November 26, 2017, 03:13:45 PM
Can't tell you what percentage grows, but plant more than you need and thin if you get too many.  Depends on how hungry your squirrels are.   :D

Worked good when grandpa established our Black Walnut patch.  Regens naturally now.

As for stumpage prices, here are some Missouri numbers:
https://mdc.mo.gov/sites/default/files/downloads/TPTAprJun2017.pdf (https://mdc.mo.gov/sites/default/files/downloads/TPTAprJun2017.pdf)
Title: Re: Planting Walnuts,,, will they grow?
Post by: Autocar on November 26, 2017, 03:23:52 PM
If your going to have a skidder moving around I would throw them down before your harvest, skidders moving ground will stat alot of young trees by disturbing the soil.
Title: Re: Planting Walnuts,,, will they grow?
Post by: SwampDonkey on November 26, 2017, 03:36:06 PM
They should grow, I have done it for years with butternuts. They will come up within a year or two.  ;D
Title: Re: Planting Walnuts,,, will they grow?
Post by: larry1 on November 26, 2017, 04:16:20 PM
My buddy in Southern Ontario has huge walnut trees in his yard and the nuts have been culivated across the road producing a healthy 14-16" stand in about 40 years .
Title: Re: Planting Walnuts,,, will they grow?
Post by: MbfVA on November 27, 2017, 12:20:10 AM
 I'm listening, and I'm in Virginia like Btulloh above (Did I get that right). What sort of spacing are you guys recommending, if I want to do the squirrels job for them a little more precisely?   My Forester tells me they grow like crazy when they  can grow in the open without a lot of competition.

I am assuming, correctly I hope, that using walnuts from my property and planting them elsewhere on my property would probably give the best chance of success, rather than buying something and or transporting walnuts from somewhere else.
Title: Re: Planting Walnuts,,, will they grow?
Post by: VirginiaFarm on November 27, 2017, 01:01:59 AM
Quote from: TKehl on November 26, 2017, 03:13:45 PM
Can't tell you what percentage grows, but plant more than you need and thin if you get too many.  Depends on how hungry your squirrels are.   :D

Worked good when grandpa established our Black Walnut patch.  Regens naturally now.

As for stumpage prices, here are some Missouri numbers:
https://mdc.mo.gov/sites/default/files/downloads/TPTAprJun2017.pdf (https://mdc.mo.gov/sites/default/files/downloads/TPTAprJun2017.pdf)

Thank you for the stumpage report. Does anybody have any experiences with marketing black walnut?

Here in Eastern Virginia, walnuts totally take over our property. If I wait a week cutting grass, the walnuts start sprouting all over the yard. I have heard that they don't like sandy soil, but that doesn't seem to disturb them here.

As for spacing, I would plant them every 4 or 5 feet from each other and thin down to every 8 or 12 feet after picking the better stems. Nutrient and sunlight competition will yield much different results from open planting, but hopefully produce straighter stems.
Title: Re: Planting Walnuts,,, will they grow?
Post by: MbfVA on November 27, 2017, 04:19:59 AM
 Thanks Virginia farmer. I'm west of 95, on route 15 just south of I 64.

We have a great deal of river bottom land, that floods every so often, every few years though it quickly recedes each time.  I wonder if the walnut trees would work out there.

The biggest walnut on our property almost got her feet wet in the flood in 2010.  Hiking up her skirt she was.  I don't know of any that are actually in the floodplain, but I really haven't looked.  The flooding doesn't seem to bother the sycamores along the riverbank, or the various other trees here and there.   In fact one area seems to grow various hardwoods with a vengeance.   I have been Bush hogging it, though it is outside our conservation fencing, so I may just let it grow up and see what trees come up, then thin them appropriately.
Title: Re: Planting Walnuts,,, will they grow?
Post by: nativewolf on November 27, 2017, 08:21:58 AM
Quote from: VirginiaFarm on November 26, 2017, 01:50:02 PM
I hauled several hundred pounds of walnuts out of our yard and into the woods yesterday. I'm betting the squirrels will bring some of them back near the house. There seems to be a missed opportunity for Hammond walnut buyers in eastern Virginia and Eastern US. We can't keep the walnut saplings down, and we have quite a few good sized trees.

Does anybody have current stumpage figures on Black Walnut?

Hey there fellow Virginian.  Prices vary wildly.  Send me a PM with your phone and I'd be glad to give you all the info I've learned over the last couple of years.  Always glad to hear of another Virginian on the board.   The long and short of it is that there are 4 different markets, broken down into export and domestic.  So you have metric and english lengths, grade, diameter, defect, etc.  $0.80-$7.00/bdft is the range in Virginia but I think you can do even a bit better in prime walnut territory.   
Title: Re: Planting Walnuts,,, will they grow?
Post by: nativewolf on November 27, 2017, 08:24:53 AM
Quote from: MbfVA on November 27, 2017, 04:19:59 AM
Thanks Virginia farmer. I'm west of 95, on route 15 just south of I 64.

We have a great deal of river bottom land, that floods every so often, every few years though it quickly recedes each time.  I wonder if the walnut trees would work out there.

The biggest walnut on our property almost got her feet wet in the flood in 2010.  Hiking up her skirt she was.  I don't know of any that are actually in the floodplain, but I really haven't looked.  The flooding doesn't seem to bother the sycamores along the riverbank, or the various other trees here and there.   In fact one area seems to grow various hardwoods with a vengeance.   I have been Bush hogging it, though it is outside our conservation fencing, so I may just let it grow up and see what trees come up, then thin them appropriately.

Glad to see you thinking of planting walnut.  If you don't have enough nuts the forest service saplings are cheap.  They'll grow just fine, maybe a bit too fast but it will not bother the buyers too much.
Title: Re: Planting Walnuts,,, will they grow?
Post by: mike_belben on November 27, 2017, 08:29:28 AM
Sawlog prices at the nearest mill to me in middle TN start at .30/bf for under 10" diameter pallet grade, jump to a dollar for 10" 3common, $2/bf for 15" 3SC and $2.60-3.00/bf for veneer. 

Ive only seen walnut in yards, not encountered a single one in the woods.  I assume its all been cut. 
Title: Re: Planting Walnuts,,, will they grow?
Post by: TKehl on November 27, 2017, 09:12:47 AM
I've seen people loose a lot of money cutting and marketing their own Black Walnut.  I have dad talked into doing a thinning cut that we will get bids on and have a logger come and cut. 

Locally, a lot of the loggers won't buck them.  They are drug out tree length and bucked where the buyer says to cut.

MbfVA, some of our best Walnut is on creek banks.  It floods from time to time, but goes back down in a few hours to a day.  Can't speak beyond that, so I guess it depends on your definition of "quickly recedes".   ;)

We are planting a small bottom piece to Walnut this winter.  Maybe 4 acres too rocky and flood prone to crop.  I'm going at 5' spacing in row and 30' between rows.  This is mainly so we can hay between the rows while the Walnut matures. 
Title: Re: Planting Walnuts,,, will they grow?
Post by: 78NHTFY on November 27, 2017, 10:40:58 AM
Only plant walnut trees near your home if:
1) You love squirrels and want them to nest in your house (or enjoy target practice :D)
2) You enjoy picking us hundreds and hundreds of pounds of nuts every Fall and disposing of them
3) You like raking the leaves/stems that cover the ground like a thick mat
4) You need the exercise picking up the many broken off branches after any wind event
5) You want many of your other trees killed off (apple, red maple, rock maple, soft maple, etc) by the walnut trees which have a toxic substance (juglone) deadly for other trees.
6) You love hearing your wife say "get rid of all of them now!" on a weekly basis over a decade....

Sorry, not a fan.  It's a dirty, invasive tree IMHO.  Only good for one thing: cutting down and sawing up 8) 8).   Am getting there, slowly.  All the best, Rob.
Title: Re: Planting Walnuts,,, will they grow?
Post by: Corley5 on November 27, 2017, 12:41:20 PM
  I've had good luck dropping the nuts where I want them and heeling them into the ground.  Running over them with the riding lawnmower wheels will do it too if the ground is soft ;) ;D  We've got several large mature trees around the house and barnyard which produce too many nuts and are very messy trees as already mentioned.  Grandma hated them and kept a jug of Round Up to kill any that sprouted anywhere near the buildings or in the yard.  We cut one down by the house for her that kept her awake at night dropping nuts on the roof ;D  Every nook and cranny in every building has been filled with nuts by the squirrels.  I've been planting some else where on the farm where they won't cause trouble :)
Title: Re: Planting Walnuts,,, will they grow?
Post by: campwags on November 27, 2017, 01:36:57 PM
I for one have planted grafted Black Walnuts for timber production.  They have been in the ground for ten years now... My son will have a good harvest.  I had hoped they would pay for his college but not growing fast enough.   :P :o ???
Title: Re: Planting Walnuts,,, will they grow?
Post by: nativewolf on November 27, 2017, 01:45:35 PM
78nh, I've  will be glad to get rid of yours for you:)
Title: Re: Planting Walnuts,,, will they grow?
Post by: nativewolf on November 27, 2017, 01:51:43 PM
Quote from: TKehl on November 27, 2017, 09:12:47 AM
I've seen people loose a lot of money cutting and marketing their own Black Walnut.  I have dad talked into doing a thinning cut that we will get bids on and have a logger come and cut. 

Locally, a lot of the loggers won't buck them.  They are drug out tree length and bucked where the buyer says to cut.

MbfVA, some of our best Walnut is on creek banks.  It floods from time to time, but goes back down in a few hours to a day.  Can't speak beyond that, so I guess it depends on your definition of "quickly recedes".   ;)

We are planting a small bottom piece to Walnut this winter.  Maybe 4 acres too rocky and flood prone to crop.  I'm going at 5' spacing in row and 30' between rows.  This is mainly so we can hay between the rows while the Walnut matures.

Exactly, knowing where to cut walnut is a tree by tree decision.  Easy to loose 500 in one mid cut log, we have spent a huge amount of time getting the grading rules down pat.  Even then we second guess some, walnut does not mind flooding as long as it dries out Within a week or two, lots of walnut in the bottoms of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers and we all know how much they flood
Title: Re: Planting Walnuts,,, will they grow?
Post by: mike_belben on November 27, 2017, 04:30:16 PM
So basically what we're saying is Walnut is like a hickory thats actually worth money?

  ;D
Title: Re: Planting Walnuts,,, will they grow?
Post by: nativewolf on November 27, 2017, 06:42:42 PM
 :D
Quote from: mike_belben on November 27, 2017, 04:30:16 PM
So basically what we're saying is Walnut is like a hickory thats actually worth money?

  ;D

Guess so
Title: Re: Planting Walnuts,,, will they grow?
Post by: MbfVA on November 27, 2017, 08:47:23 PM
I think this particular thread is loaded with wal-nuts.  I'll bet you guys shop at Wal-mart, too.  And buy your drugs at Wal-greens.   And when you fish, you fish for Wal-leyes.

Yeah, if you get your hands on me you'll give me a...

Wal-lup.

I think I'll go plant some trees.
Title: Re: Planting Walnuts,,, will they grow?
Post by: roger 4400 on November 28, 2017, 08:43:47 AM
I live 30 miles north of Montreal,Quebec.  Overhere I had 100 walnut trees  8 years ago. 25 survived and this year 2 walnut trees gave me 8 nuts  :laugh:.
If I want to grow some trees from my walnut nuts do I have to peel them and only put the nuts in ground ( maybe 3 inches deep ) or will they freeze so much they will not grow ?
Or do I have to put them in a refrigerator in a humid bag with peat moss and watch them in 3 to 4 month to see if they will germinate ?
Title: Re: Planting Walnuts,,, will they grow?
Post by: TKehl on November 28, 2017, 09:24:45 AM
Peeling is optional.

You get colder up there than down here.  However, a snow blanket can give good insulation.  Do Black Walnuts grow naturally in your area?  If so, direct seed is fine.  If not... ???
Title: Re: Planting Walnuts,,, will they grow?
Post by: roger 4400 on November 28, 2017, 02:28:43 PM
No, walnut do not grow normally , often too cold here, I guess we are at the north limits of the tree resistance . I got those trees from our government. As I said only 25 survived out of a 100. But now they seem strong and 2 are already giving nuts. Nights are not as cold as 25 years ago.
Title: Re: Planting Walnuts,,, will they grow?
Post by: TKehl on November 28, 2017, 03:33:53 PM
With only 8 nuts, I'm thinking refrigerator and damp moss.  Could have some very nice cold hardy F1 crosses!

If you get a bigger crop next year, I would take more risks.
Title: Re: Planting Walnuts,,, will they grow?
Post by: nativewolf on November 28, 2017, 06:51:52 PM
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/34089/Walnut_Trailer_Load.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1511912781)

Of course if you plant enough someone gets to cut them down one day.  This is the beginning of our third load off of my most recent project.  About 2500-3000bdft per load only because lots of crooks and my loggers old truck make it hard to get much more on.  We're averaging about $2.50/bdft so far and have 2 more to get out.  Next two are tricky logs though, too close to the power lines.  We can only get 2-3 loads/week as we're all part timers.
Title: Re: Planting Walnuts,,, will they grow?
Post by: SwampDonkey on November 28, 2017, 08:30:25 PM
They do grow naturally in southern Quebec and Ontario. I have a couple trees, and they are always loaded with nuts. I don't really bother with them too much to plant. I don't find young trees produce very viable seed. Mine are not that frost hardy. Got the seedlings from Quebec.
Title: Re: Planting Walnuts,,, will they grow?
Post by: mike_belben on November 29, 2017, 04:02:22 AM
Boy thats a nice little sidejob!
Title: Re: Planting Walnuts,,, will they grow?
Post by: nativewolf on November 29, 2017, 05:29:53 AM
Wish I had pictures of those first 2 loads, my phone died on me 2 days ago.  Thursday night I'll upload some that should be pretty good.  It's a lot of money but split for the landowner is high (50/50) and the logger friend has real equipment & costs..so that takes a big chunk.  I've got a little flatbed but so much easier to load on his truck and move it that way.

My personal goal is 1000 trees in 2018.
Title: Re: Planting Walnuts,,, will they grow?
Post by: VirginiaFarm on November 29, 2017, 08:21:32 AM
nativewolf: what are the log lengths on the truck?
Title: Re: Planting Walnuts,,, will they grow?
Post by: nativewolf on November 29, 2017, 04:00:45 PM
Quote from: VirginiaFarm on November 29, 2017, 08:21:32 AM
nativewolf: what are the log lengths on the truck?

ahh, every length you can guess.  5' to 16'6".  With walnut it is a different game cutting length.  To give you some perspective, we had two of the best log graders (also buyers) come out to grade the first set of logs, took them an entire hour to grade the 16 trees.  Lots of measure , re measure, and check diameter, remeasure.  Some is straight sawlog export (5 grades) (metric measures), some veneer, some export low grade (think firewood processor rejects, I really should post a picture of this stuff). 

On the top of the bunk there were 10' small veneer logs.  Hope those go at $4.50/bdft or more.  They are going to be 16" at least on the small end, inside bark.  We'll see.  Overall that was not a good load. 

Again, feel free to send me a pm and we can talk or if you can get free tomorrow come up to Fauquier county and you can see us cutting some and bucking.  Everyone is welcome if you are curious.  High hopes we can put $9k in logs on the ground so we'll be working but you can tag along or bring a small saw and help top :).  Or if some sawyer/restaurateur shows up he can bring lunch :) and you know who you are if you are reading this.
Title: Re: Planting Walnuts,,, will they grow?
Post by: MbfVA on December 01, 2017, 09:20:33 PM
I'll send you some chicken images and you can put them in your 3-D printer. That way you won't go hungry. :D