I bought a couple of self polinating variety of small hazel nut trees ( Skinner X Graham X Winkler) from a company back east. For what ever reason they just won't break their dormancy. I talked to the company and so far they are baffled, and told me to cut them back, which I did several times. I fertilized with miracle grow, and have them in the green house where it is warm. The one has had tiny "bumps" like it wants to leaf out, but nothing, and the other one basically has nothing on the stems. They are still alive and green when you scrape the bark or cut them back, so I am still watering and babying them. The company said if they don't do anything they will refund my money, but i would prefer to have the trees!! This is almost the middle of June, and even though this type of tree is hardy to a zone 2, I would think they would have leafed out by now.. Any thoughts or suggestions to encourage them to leaf out?? thanks...
Yes they were from T & T Wonder if there are more out there that have never came out of their dormancy from T &T ?were yours still alive ( green under the bark) or where they completely dead? These are still green under the bark, just don't want to leaf out, and they are in the greenhouse where its warm. The lady I talked to at T & T said she never had luck with hazelnuts and that they always died, but from what I have heard they are pretty tough specie. They sounded like a good item like zone 2 self- pollinating, and supposedly the nut itself wasn't all "stickery" like some of them. Some of the hazelnuts the nut itself is like handling fiberglass, your hands get all full of fine hairlike stickers, which you are picking "forever". There is a blight going on in the hazelnuts in someplaces down on the coast, so I was leary of getting them from down there, and the ones down there are often not as cold tolerant as some types,that is why I went with T & T. Any good idea where to get some good hazelnuts that are cold tolerant, and have a decent nut and your hands don't get all full of stickers?? IWould really like to know. If they don't open up soon I think I should ask for a refund, what do you think?
You could try breaking the dormancy by cracking the shells. That's the only way I've germinated hazel nuts. Just be careful not to damage the kernel inside when doing so.
These are trees I am talking about not nuts. They were about 18 inches high and I have trimmed them back to maybe 14 inches. By looking I would guess they have 2-3 years growth on them, by the "dividing line" every 6-7 inches on them. If they were nuts I would say they were simply no good and try different ones.. So that is why I am baffled and so are the company people.
I didn't scratch bark yet, still waiting for buds to pop! Keep moist and wait a bit. I know it doesn't make much sense but cut a few inches off top of plant if still green under bark. I've had it wake dormant trees up late in summer before, which I can't explain! I will do same, it IS mid June.
I already have cut them back several times. Someone recommended to put a plastic bag over each of the trees for about a week. Do you think that would work? They are already in a green house... The question is why they are doing this, when it appears they are a couple of years old, unless there was some sort of root damage when they were put in the freezer at T & T over the winter...
Sometimes bare root stock simply fails to 'wake up'. I've had a few trees do this over the years, most notably persimmons and jujubes: they form buds, sit still, maintain healthy cambium for a year, and by the following spring they're dead. Could be too much loss of viable roots during cold storage, could be rough handling in the nursery....My advice: call it a loss, and have replacements sent for planting in the fall. You can continue to fuss and fiddle with the two you've got in the hopes they might wake up, but in my experience, they'll likely linger this way for a while, and eventually die.
These were not bare roots but potted.. Was talking to a fellow yesterday who raises nut trees, and he said that he digs trees in the spring and alot of nurseries dig them in the fall. He claimed that the ones dug in the spring did better. He said that the ones dug in the fall ( maybe before they are dormant??) get shocked and don't have time to recover and are in cold storage all winter the roots are simply not strong enough to recover. Will give them a bit longer and see if I can get a refund.. thanks for the advice.
I once again scraped the bark on the trees today, and it appears that just in the last week or so they have gone down hill and are basically dead. Will phone T & T tommorrow and try to get a refund....
Glad I found this thread. I bought a hazelnut from T&T (who I really like, by the way) and its doing exactly the same thing. That is: nothing. I'll trim it back tomorrow and see if there's any green. If not, T&T is very good about replacing things that don't work. Cheers Carl
Pinenut, hope your trees do better than mine did.. I talked to T & T and the one gal I talked to seemed prone to sending me my money back. The second gal said forget it, it is our choice whether or not we send you money or give you credit. So she gave me credit, and then told me that they don't ship any more plants by mail this late in the year, that I would have to wait till next year to choose new plants, and they wouldn't refund the shipping price.... So I have to wait till next year to get any plants from T & T. Would have rather had the plants.. Found another place on the web in northern alberta called Mr V"s the place for trees. ( sorry don't have the link) That sells Burr oak (Quercus macrocarpa ) supposedly zone 2 A few black walnuts, butternuts, hazel nuts etc. Might be interesting to talk to them about their hardy nut trees.
