Has anyone tried using hazelnut husks in their soil mix for containers? I end up with large bowls of it this time of year. The pieces seem like the perfect size for use in soil. I soaked a handful of them in a mug and they seem to absorb water.
I have seen plants imported from a very large nursery in Oregon that used filbert husks as a topdress on their potted (#5 pot) Camellias and a couple other things.
Are we talking Filbert husks or Filbert nut hulls? Yes, the hulls have been used as a topdress on some container plants in Oregon. I've seen them used as a topdress along with redwood bark chips as soil mulches for plants in a landscape also in Oregon. For indoor container plants, especially for Citrus if that is where you are going with this, I would only use the hulls as a topdress and not mixed in per say with the soil medium. The husks I would want to be sanitized or steam or heat treated before I would consider using them as a soil supplement for container plants. If there are any aflotoxins due to fungal or insect activity or the presence of root inhibitors they will more likely be found in the husks rather than in the hulls. Jim
Come to think of it I remember seeing some in a couple of citrus plants I bought last year - again as top dressing. Here is a page on uses for hazelnut shells. They should be available locally since there are some hazelnut orchards nearby. Jim, aren't hulls and husks the same thing? In any case I'm referring to the hard shell. I wouldn't have thought there'd be any harm in using them as they look so clean but your suggestion of the presence of toxins and such makes me think twice.
The husk is shown in this link below. Look at the last photo on the left hand side to see the leafy like husk. The husk is what holds the Filbert until the nut is released into the open. The hull is the hard shell that protects and encapsulates the nut meat. Hazelnut or Fibert - Corylus avellana L. The Filbert hulls is what you may want to use for your Citrus or other plants. Jim
Hi Jim, There's an error on that page: Hazelnut = Corylus avellana Filbert = Corylus maxima. Different species. Not the same.
Michael, I did not go through all of the content as all I wanted was a picture of the husk. For all intensive purposes we call the Hazelnut and the Filbert the same plant out here in California but in other areas they are called either Hazelnut or Filbert depending on where the plants came from i.e. European Filbert (Corylus avellana), Western Hazelnut (Corylus cornuta californica) and fruiting Filbert (Corylus maxima) and whether they are ornamental or not. My whole point of showing the husk is that Dogs can have adverse reactions to eating Walnuts. The question was did the Dogs have a problem with the nut meat, the hull or the husk and the answer was that an aflotoxin is created in the husk that affects the Dog. This is our basis for when we ask the UC Davis Vet school, why the Acer rubrum could cause hepatic and renal failure in Horses right now. Is it due to the fermentation of the fallen leaves, due to the chemical constituents of the leaves themselves or is there an aflotoxin that is produced in the leaves that can be lethal to Horses once the leaves are ingested by them? Jim
Around these parts hazelnuts and filberts are the same. Check out What's in a Name section in this article for an explanation.
Mr Shep, I was thiking of the outer shell parts. I think they were just randomly broken up in fairly large bits, not crunched to smithereens. I never did ID the exact source but they looked like hazelnut if I remember correctly.
Guys I knew what you' meant by the use of the word husk but in this case as with some of the nut trees, there is a huge difference between what we can do with a husk as opposed to the nut shells. Even in Almonds the hulls (including the husks) were used to clean out Jet engines and most empty hulls, minus the nut, laced with molasses has been used for years as a cattle feed supplement In this case the Filbert husks may not have the water holding capacity that the hulls (nut shells) may have. Also, there is a deterioration factor in that the leaf like husks will degrade much quicker than the hulls will for usage as a soil or plant container topdress or as an additive to soil mediums. Jim A quick note: In regards to the Almonds as mentioned above, technically it was the Almond husk, commonly referred to and sold as Almond hulls, that were used to clean out Jet engines, such as used on the B-52's and KC-135's as examples that were once located near here at Castle Air Force base. For many years it was the husk, minus the hulls (nut shells) that were used as a supplemental cattle feed. Now we can see the soft shelled hulls mixed in with some of the Almond husks that are being used as a supplemental livestock feed. Personally, I would think most any nut shell can be used as a soil topdress mulch or as a container topdress or perhaps as a soil medium supplement but I would caution that I would be rather hesitant to use hulls from any Walnut or Walnut relative other than an English Walnut. The English Walnut hulls are practically devoid of juglans but the husks from an English Walnut are loaded with juglans.
Well this is a little dated for this 'contorted filbert' discussion, but maybe good place to add on....... for future interest, lead here as I was........ First off 'filberts' or 'hazels', your call.... common names only..... stick to the binomial latin for distinctions....... and yeah filbert hulls/shells, the little woody 'hemispheres', get used for mulch here in OR... the leafier husks, enclose the woody shell and nut, and stay on the tree, after the shell and enclosed nut drop, and a typical commercial filbert tree may be 20'x20'+, with only about 3' of single trunk.... very well branched I recently found some 'red contorted filbert'... C. avellana 'Red Dragon', .....and in queries as to sources and nature of the beast, have learned a bit........ First there are at least two varieties of the ornamental 'red contorted filbert' now on the market....... the 'Red Dragon' and the 'Red Majestic'....... both patented It seems the Red Majestic came first, ca '95, developed in the UK..... and the Red Dragon second, ca '08, developed by Oregon State Univ....... Of the two, the Red Dragon may be the more desirable....... as it seems to hold the red leaf color longer, as opposed to just on new growth in the Red Majestic variety.... Also the OSU genetic analysis, lab exposure tests, and field testing all show the Red Dragon to be very blight resistant, per patent discussions...... while it seems the Red Majestic was not tested, and make no claims to resistance........ it may or may not be, from the patent description??...... Neither made any claims on reliable nut production..... the Red Dragon patent info advised the variety was only moderately 'flower mite' resistant, ....and only pollenated by four other varieties... some sounded familiar, but I'm just not familiar with the fruiting varieties...... see the patent info...... basically, this is an ornamental, and not for nut production...... I have found a number of web sites with images of the Red Majestic...... none with images of Red Dragon... maybe in time.... but the Red Majestic appears to have red only in the new growth...... which soon transitions to bronzy green or green foliage.... The Red Dragons I saw, where primarilay new growth, 5/01/11....... with one atypical plant, that showed some signs of greening in some more interior leaves.... which also displayed more lower, straight horizontal branching than the other trees..... At the time I was not aware of the variables...... and now suspect this tree was on a short graft, or on its own root...... while all other samples where likely high grafted, as on a standard, and had not as yet displayed all the more mature?? characteristics that this one tree was showing....?? From my own earlier experiences, around some homeowner planted 'generic filberts'... C. avellana or maxima?? varieties unknown.... some seemed to be grafted on 'red filbert' root stock....... as they suckered red leafed shoots........ and there was a bit of variation in these various root stock suckers ... some held their red color, all season, some transitioned to more green foilage early in the season...... but most got pruned, so hard to say....... some did produce red male catkins, and later red nut husks when the females got pollenated....... not a real field trials, just casual observations on my part ATT...... I also have seen some large specimen ornamental 'red leaf filberts', not contorted..... but nice dk purple red leaf for most of the branches, at a Portland area wholesale nursery, some five years ago, just as the blight quartine was imposed....... have not seen any since....... One other clue from the patent info....... the Red Dragon seemed to 'self root' well, so for those of you wishing to have it on its own root... sounds possible, though asexual reproduction is patent licensed....... but may avoid having to prune straight green suckers annually.... Actually saw some Red Majestics on its own root?? later this week....multiple contorted stems right outta the ground..... did not appear very diff from Red Dragon in this early stage of leafing out....... just not on the high grafted, straight standard, most of the Red Dragons had....... Both these varieties seem to come up with numerous listings, and patent infos, if you do an internet search ATT..... I do like the looks of the dark red contorted growth of the Red Dragon I saw first hand.... we'll see what the season produces....... the few female flowers I saw all appear to have aborted ATT for whatever reason........ mites or pollen.... with the right pollenators around might produce a few nuts, but probably need to go for more mite resistance varieties, or spray, if want a real nut crop....... For anyone interested in propagating filberts, I notice our local commmercial producers have two approaches...... the simplest is to field plant a rooted stock, and mound up chip mulch to the branches, with a tall 5 gallon pot inverted, and the bottom cut out...... I think this is referred to as 'stooling' in the trade.... I have also seen a row, of 'grafted stocks' I was told..... that where bedded in a field row of mounded chip mulch, with plastic tubing carrying hot water during the winter, to keep them warm.... I took it this was to promote the graft healing, but may have misunderstood, and maybe merely to promote rooting of grafted whips during the winter...... both approaches would be methods of layering..... or stooling...... And for those willing to experiment, I supposed merely planting a high grafted tree deep, and filling the hole with mulch may achieve the same results..... my experience most filberts like to throw shallow roots, and lots of suckers..... I do like the 'red filberts', with the leaf colors on the order of Cercis 'Forest Pansy'...... with a bit of luck, might get a few snacks to boot..... And just for the record, neither our isolated native C. cornuta californica, nor most volunteer 'bird seedlings' of commercial filberts.... seem to be very productive nut trees.... best to go with the selected commercial varieties for nut production....... later
