Walnut Rooting Question

[Pepperhead]

Hey y'all!

I've never taken a cutting and rooted it before, and am looking up instructions to help make my 1st try successful, but one part of the instructions I just can't wrap my head around.

"Open the blades of the pruning shears around the base of the twig. Position the blades so they are flush against the main branch. Cut the twig. Leave a 3-centimeter-long tail of bark and cambium, the layer just underneath the bark, from the main branch attached to the end of the cutting. "

So it says to cut the twig at the base, then it says something about 3cm tail of blah blah blah from the main branch (that I just cut it from). What in the world are they talking about?

Yesterday, my mom and I found at least 4 native black walnut trees of a decent size on the 5-acre lot here, so I would like to get some more of them growing.

I have some seed mix and some rooting liquid concentrate, but that quote above just won't process in my brain, so I want to ignore it.

Anyone mind shedding some light on this? If you are curious, the link below is my source.

https://www.ehow.com/how_7977835_grow-walnut-tree-cutting.html

Thank you for your time!

 

[Meadowlark]

Oh do I love black walnut trees....but my preferred way of propagating is to plant the nut...dehull, store in cool dark place until fall, then plant the seed like a squirrel. Don't expect a high germination rate but a few goes a long ways. Even if you do nothing, its likely the squirrels will do some propagation for you.

TAMU had a reforestation program years ago in which they would mail you a small bag of ready to plant walnuts...don't know if they still have that or not...but I got many beautiful black walnut trees out of that.


Sorry I don't understand the cutting link either.

 

[Pepperhead]

Looks like they have 25 pecan seeds for $45.

I'll try both methods. The seeds we recovered yesterday are likely from last season. Do you think those will be viable for the fall? I'll go grab more before the rain starts back up.

Thanks a lot!

 

[Chuck]

I've never planted either walnut or pecan from the nuts but the way to tell if a nut is still good is by seeing if it will float. If it floats it is not good. If it sinks it is good.

 

[Pepperhead]

That is very helpful as well. Thanks! Out of around 30, I had only 2 floaters.

Since these are from last season, shouldn't I be able to attempt germination now?

Picture attached of the ones that sank. These look like black walnuts, right? Cracking one open definitely looks like walnut.

 

[Chuck]

That is very helpful as well. Thanks! Out of around 30, I had only 2 floaters.

Since these are from last season, shouldn't I be able to attempt germination now?

Picture attached of the ones that sank. These look like black walnuts, right? Cracking one open definitely looks like walnut.View attachment 63655

Yep, those are walnuts but there is more to sprouting them than just sticking them into the ground. They must be stratified. The following link should be of help.

Germination of Tree Seed

Growing trees from seed can be fun. However, the seed of most tree species won't germinate immediately when planted because they are in a dormant state. Dormancy must be broken before the seed can germinate. Learn about the germination requirements for several specific tree species.

hortnews.extension.iastate.edu

 

[Pepperhead]

Oh just like with acorns from the oaks around here. Gotcha and thanks again!

 

[Meadowlark]

Pepperhead, yes those in your picture are definitely walnuts...and look like they are ready to go into a cool dry place until fall...such as refrigerator...just as I recommended.

My advice would be not to plant now...we had a mild winter and face Texas heat very soon...but as I recommended keep them in a cool dry place until next fall and give it a go. Good luck....they are beautiful, valuable trees and well worth the effort. You may not get many...or you may do like I did and a decade later look down and see the ground covered with black walnuts that you have no idea where they came from until you recall you planted those seeds. Well worth the effort!