The relevance of research: An old cedar tree grows next to our dacha. He's probably many years old. The branches are spreading. The tree bark is all cracked. My dad and I saw a lot of cones on the cedar tree. We collected those that had fallen and in the evening our whole family happily gnawed on the nuts.
I was wondering if these nuts have any benefits?
Project goals:
- learn as much as possible about cedar and pine nuts;
- find out the meaning of pine nuts in human life;
- find out why they are called “miracle nuts”?
Tasks:
1) collect information and expand knowledge about the characteristics of cedar;
2) learn about the nutritional and medicinal properties of pine nuts;
3) study how people use pine nuts in cosmetology and cooking.
Object of study: pine nut.
Item: properties and uses of nuts.
Research methods: turning to Internet sources, books, searching for recipes with pine nuts, surveying classmates
Work plan:
1. Find out where the name of this tree came from?
2. Learn about the extraordinary properties of cedar.
3. Find out where pine nuts are used.
4. Prepare a dish with pine nuts.
5. Conduct a survey in class.
6. Project defense (presentation).
Progress of the study:
1. Having studied history, I learned that the tree was called Siberian cedar because it resembled the sacred cedar of Lebanon, which people already knew about.
2. I learned that cedar is valued not only for its beauty, but also for pine nuts and oil from them, for beautiful wood, for resin, pine needles and even for nut shells, which are widely used in folk medicine.
Pine nut air is very healing; pine nut kernels contain a lot of microelements and vitamins.
Conclusion: Pine nuts should always be in the diet of children and adolescents. They have a beneficial effect on the physical and mental development of the child. Very useful and necessary during the period of changing baby teeth.
3. I learned that pine nuts are used in folk medicine.
I concluded that eating pine nuts increases the body’s defenses and strengthens the immune system.
Being a natural food product, cedar oil has no contraindications for consumption and use, both for food and for medicinal and prophylactic purposes.
4. I also found many more different dishes with the addition of pine nuts, which I will definitely try to cook myself and recommend it to you. At home I tried to prepare the dish “Chicken legs with pine nuts”.
5. On class hour, I decided to find out if the guys in our class know about cedar? For this purpose I compiled a questionnaire. The results of the questionnaire can be found in detail in the appendix.
6. The defense of the project is reflected in the presentation.
Conclusion: While working on the topic, I used various sources, from which I learned a lot of interesting things about the Siberian pine pine, about the benefits of pine nuts, and came to the conclusion that nature itself gives us a unique supply of vitamins in the form of pine nuts for free, that we, the residents of this region, are lucky, that such miraculous plants grow next to us. Take it and use it! You just have to do it correctly and wisely.
Many studies prove that walnuts should become one of the essential elements of our daily diet. A diet rich in vegetables and fruits, legumes, whole grains, olive oil and walnuts, and, therefore, the Mediterranean diet includes a whole storehouse of vitamins, minerals and nutritional components.
Nuts are excellent because they contain a strong antioxidant - ellagic acid, which blocks metabolic pathways leading to the formation of a malignant tumor. Ellagic acid not only protects healthy cells from free radicals, but also helps detoxify potential cancer-causing substances and prevents the proliferation of cancer cells. Another example of a food rich in ellagic acid would be strawberries. One study of over 1,200 adults who regularly consumed strawberries found that their risk of cancer was 3 times lower than those who ate fewer or no strawberries. The situation is similar with walnuts.
Best sleep
Do you have trouble sleeping? Try sprinkling a few walnuts on a fresh vegetable salad, or adding them to a fruit salad, dessert, or steamed vegetables.
Melatonin, a hormone produced by the pineal gland, is involved in regulating sleep. This hormone has been found in walnuts in a digestible form, making them ideal for promoting restful sleep. The amount of melatonin produced by the human body declines significantly with age, but the decline may also be due to the increased development of free radicals in adulthood. Research published by Russell Reiter and his colleagues at the University of Texas found that nuts contain an average of 2.5 - 4.5 ng of melatonin/g, and their consumption increases the level of the hormone in the blood and its antioxidant activity.
Feeling better
Epidemiological studies from various countries, including others in the United States, suggest an association between depression rates and decreased intake of omega-3 fatty acids, a very good source which are walnuts. New research shows that children who consume little omega-3 acids in their diet have increased excitability and problems with learning, behavior, angry outbursts and sleep disturbances. This is the next argument for regularly eating walnuts and including them in a regular diet.
Food for the brain
Walnuts have often been perceived as "brain food" not only due to their brain-like shape, but also due to their high omega-3 fatty acid content. The human brain is made up of 60% fat. For the normal functioning of brain cells, the most important omega-3 fatty acids are found in walnuts, flaxseed and sea fish. The membranes of all the cells in our body, as well as our brain cells and neurons, consist primarily of fats. Cell membranes are the “guardians” of each cell. Every substance that “wants” to get into or out of a cell must pass through the outer membrane of the cell. Thanks to the omega-3 fatty acids found in walnuts, this process is more simplified, because these substances increase the cell's ability to transport nutrients better.
Walnut prevents the formation of gallstones
Research data collected from 80,000 women shows that women who eat at least a handful of walnuts weekly have a 25% lower risk of developing gallstones. About 30 gr. nuts or about 2 tablespoons of nut butter prevents gallbladder disease. They are useful to add to cereal or a lush salad.
Help for the heart after a big meal
Walnuts, a rich source of omega-3 fatty acids and alpha-linolenic acid, improve artery function after a high-fat meal and may be more important in the Mediterranean diet than olive oil.
Research funded by the California Walnut Commission and the Spanish Ministry of Health assessed the effects of walnuts and olive oil on circulatory markers after adding them to fatty foods. The study was conducted among 12 healthy people and 12 with high cholesterol. Scientists concluded that blood flow in the brachial artery increased by 24% in subjects with high cholesterol after eating a meal containing walnuts, and olive oil in the food caused a 36% decrease in blood flow! However, cholesterol and triglyceride levels decreased to the same extent after both meals.
Remember
Eating walnuts regularly can actually provide great health benefits. Eating nuts along with other healthy foods nutritious foods as an element of the Mediterranean diet has proven positive influence to your health.
But! Attention! A handful of walnuts is almost 200 kcal! Therefore, if we are interested in maintaining a stable body weight, this amount of healthy calories, vitamin and mineral components will be sufficient. And, as with everything, you also need to observe moderation when eating nuts.
Galina Shiropyatova
Children's project "Growing walnuts in our climate"
« GROWING WALNUT IN
CONDITIONS OF OUR CLIMATE».
Performed by children of mixed age group No. 1 of the Morozov branch
"Crane"
Municipal budgetary preschool educational institution
"Zmievsky children's combined type garden No. 1"
Teachers: Shiropyatova G. D.
Markova I. I.
ZMIYOVKA 2017
Walnut
Walnut- a long-lived tree that can survive (single copies) up to 2000 years. In Ancient Greece this tree was dedicated to the goddess Artemis. One legend tells that long ago Caria, the daughter of the king of Laconia and the beloved of the god Dionysus, was transformed into this tree. Abundant fruiting walnut tree all the way"elderly" age seemed amazing to ancient people, for this reason in ancient Rome and Greece walnut symbolized longevity, prosperity and abundance. The priests of Babylon forbade eating nuts ordinary people , the ancient Greeks offered each other nuts Only on special occasions did the Romans use the fruits of the tree as an indispensable attribute of wedding rituals. It still exists in Moldova and the Caucasus ritual: when a child is born, he is imprisoned as an inheritance Walnut.
Walnut is also called Voloshsky nut. People widely use it for food; some peoples even make jam from walnuts.
Walnut. Botanical description, distribution
Walnut- a tree with a well-developed root system, reaching a length of 30 meters (in some cases and more). The bark of the trunk is cracking and dark gray in color. The leaves are odd-pinnate, rather large, with 2-5 pairs of oblong-ovate, glabrous, entire-marginal leaflets. Staminate flowers walnut– in large catkins, fruits – false drupes, spherical or oval shape, with a leathery-fleshy green outer pericarp and an inner woody (bone). The tree begins to bloom in April-May and bear fruit in August-October.
Homeland walnut is considered to be the Balkans. Also tree (in the wild) grows in the Caucasus, Crimea, and Central Asia. The plant has been cultivated since time immemorial - long before ad. This is a moisture/light demanding, heat-loving crop that prefers moderately moist, rich loamy, carbonate soils with a constant but low groundwater level.
Walnut(core) contains nitrogen-free extractive elements, cobalt and iron salts, protein, fats. Also, the fruits of the tree are generous with vitamins E, A, P, B1. There is more ascorbic acid in the fruits of the tree than in citrus fruits and black currants. Greens walnuts(pericarp) contain tannins, iodine, ascorbic acid, juglone expressed bactericidal activity; leaves - essential oil walnut, carotene, ascorbic acid, mineral salts, tannins, hydrojugone, flavonoids; roots – nicotine, serotonin, mineral salts, iodine, tannins.
Walnut. Treatment, healing properties
This plant exhibits anti-inflammatory, anthelmintic, moderately hypoglycemic, epithelializing, wound-healing, bactericidal, anti-sclerotic, astringent, mild laxative and tonic activities. Walnut regulates the gastrointestinal tract, treats lymph nodes, normalizes carbohydrate metabolism. Also properties walnut allow you to recommend a plant (in particular the bark) for the treatment of rickets, scrofula, venereal diseases, tumors, ulcers.
The leaves of the tree are used to treat venereal diseases, dysmenorrhea, leucorrhoea, vitamin deficiencies, anemia, gout, scrofulosis, diabetes mellitus, stomach diseases (how delicious). Also, the leaves of the plant are used for hair growth/strengthening, for diseases of the throat and oral mucosa, skin, pulmonary and other forms of tuberculosis, carbuncles, boils, purulent wounds, rickets and scrofulosis, exudative diathesis, dermatomycosis, chronic eczema.
Nut ointment is used for long-term non-healing wounds and furunculosis, juice (internal reception)– for the expulsion of roundworms, venereal diseases, dysmenorrhea, leucorrhoea, vitamin deficiency, anemia, gout, cerebral atherosclerosis, diabetes mellitus, intestinal/stomach catarrh, gastric diseases, to stimulate appetite. Traditional medicine uses the juice externally for purulent wounds, diseases of the oral mucosa, all forms of tuberculosis, rickets, diathesis, various neoplasms, metabolic arthritis, exudative diathesis, dermatomycosis, chronic eczema.
Worth buying walnut and those people who suffer from various skin diseases (eczema, lichen, purulent rashes, etc.)– pericarp, leaves.
Greens walnuts(fruit)– an excellent source of ascorbic acid. Traditional medicine uses them in a similar way to the leaves. The ripe fruits of the tree are an effective anthelmintic, as well as a remedy that improves the functionality of the stomach and liver. Oil walnut used to treat skin diseases (externally and orally (inside) it is used as a diuretic, anthelmintic and laxative.
Tincture from walnuts(leaves) taken for high blood sugar, metabolic disorders, rickets ( children's, tuberculosis, sclerosis of the heart/cerebral vessels.
Partitions walnut help get rid of conjunctivitis, diabetes, colitis, and prolonged diarrhea.
Contraindications and side effects walnut
Preparations from the pericarp and leaves of the plant increase blood clotting, so patients with thrombophlebitis are not recommended to take them.
Cores walnut(their excessive eating, as well as inhalation of the smell of wood in "high dosages" may cause headaches. The fruits of the tree contain up to 15% protein, and therefore they are not recommended for use by hypersensitive people, as allergic reactions may occur (diathesis, allergic stomatitis, urticaria). Also fruits walnut are harmful to people suffering from neurodermatitis, psoriasis, eczema (the plant provokes an exacerbation of these diseases).
CARE WALNUT
Family Nut– unpretentious appearance plants: They do not require much attention, they do not need pruning and constant monitoring of soil characteristics. Care walnut quite simple, and plays an important role in the development and fruitfulness of the plant.
Planting and care walnut - business, which does not require special skills. However, not all gardeners carry out certain sanitary procedures on time, forget about the importance of watering and other nuances that can improve the quality of the crop. So let's figure out how to care for nuts to get a powerful fruitful garden.
PROPER CARE OF NUT
Gardeners know: most of work on the site falls in the autumn season. As a rule, in preparation for winter, the soil in tree trunk circles is flavored with mineral compounds. Nut also love fertilizer, and care walnut in the fall, half consists of adding minerals to the soil. Under no circumstances should nitrogen compounds be added. "in winter", but the plant doesn’t get rid of ash will refuse:)
Adult care walnut mainly consists of watering and periodic sanitary pruning:
The plant loves moisture very much, so on dry days have to water it by hand. On average, 1 tree uses 3-5 buckets of water.
Only dead branches and diseased shoots are removed. Formative pruning nuts don't need it, they do an excellent job of this task on their own.
Our experienced gardeners will help you carry out sanitary pruning of the crown. They will be happy to relieve your nut from excess load, senselessly draining vital juices.
We care for the young animals
Seedling care walnut differs from guardianship of adult plants. Firstly, you shouldn’t heavily fertilize young growth. You don’t have to feed the seedlings at all for the first 2 years. They will grow slower, but the frame will become much stronger.
Tree care walnut at one year of age includes the first and only pruning in his life. Its goal is to help the tree form the correct crown. If during growth several strong shoots have formed on the pole, you need to choose which one will become the main one and "will pull" plant up. "Leader" leave untouched, and pinch out the remaining shoots. Thus, all the strength nut go to the development of the leading shoot, while the rest act as an assimilation apparatus. In addition, they do not develop further.
Growing and caring for walnuts
The fruitful hazel tree has its own rules "care". Here are the main ones them:
1. Irrigation. As mentioned above, Nuts are very moisture-loving. Trees experience a special need for water from late spring to mid-autumn. It’s probably not worth discussing for a long time how to care for walnut at this time. The main thing here is to monitor the level of soil moisture and water the garden on time. The use of mulch is effective for long-term retention of moisture in the soil around the tree trunk.
2. Plowing and fertilizing. In hazel groves, the soil is loosened 2-3 times throughout the growing season to a depth of up to 10 cm. In autumn, after the leaves have fallen, the soil can be dug to a depth of up to 20 cm. Every year for one middle-aged nut it takes about 10 kg of superphosphate, 6 kg of ammonium nitrate, up to 3 kg of potassium salt and about 10 kg of ammonium sulfate. Remember proper care walnut involves the application of fertilizers season: nitrogen - in spring, minerals - in winter.
3. Trimming. Beautiful shape achieved by the intervention of the gardener in the early years life: shoots are pruned only until 6-7 skeletal branches are formed. Essentially, with the help of the gardener, the framework for the future tree cap is laid. Further with the formation the nut can handle it on its own. Subsequent pruning is carried out exclusively in sanitary conditions. purposes: dead and damaged shoots are removed, as well as branches growing inside the crown.
Care walnuts in"elderly" age consists of rejuvenating procedures Nut They regenerate well and cope well with anti-aging pruning. The main thing is to carry out the removal not in the fall, but in the second half of summer. Before going to sleep nut There will be enough time for the wounds to heal.
As you can see, care « walnut happiness» simple enough. The main thing is to do everything on time and then the trees will certainly thank you with a huge harvest!
Work schedule
Work plan
Work objectives Deadlines
Phenological observations
Get acquainted with botanical characteristics walnut January 2017
Experimental work with walnut
Growing walnuts in our climate
Agrotechnical work plan
Germinate a seed walnut
From March 1, 2017 to March 25, 2017, the seed sprouted
Plant a seed in the ground
03/26/2017 planted a seed in the ground
Watch its growth and development
15.04. In 2017, vegetative shoots began to appear
Drop off walnuts in open ground, watch its development
Conclusion: V in our climate it is possible to grow walnuts, in open ground.
High demand and high marketability of nuts are due to:
- their exceptional value as food products (from the formation of man, the mastery of fire - to the present day, according to the recommendations of modern nutritionists);
- high transportability of nuts, which can be stored and sold for a year or more;
- relatively low productivity of walnut orchards - up to 1.0-1.5 t/ha;
- a relatively small area of area on the globe suitable, according to environmental conditions, for the cultivation of walnuts and hazelnuts.
Therefore, there have never been and never will be many nuts, there has always been and will be a demand for them, and great attention has always been paid to their cultivation in all CIS countries.
Plans for creating forest crops and walnut orchards were communicated everywhere.
For example, in Moldova alone, the state forest fund created more than 30 thousand hectares of walnut forest crops and more than 2 thousand hectares of walnut orchards on collective and state farms of the republic.
By this time, after graduating from the Ukrainian Agricultural Academy, I was in charge of the largest tree nursery in Moldova, where in some years up to 30 tons of nuts were sown and hundreds of thousands of walnut seedlings were grown.
When I was assigned to study the productivity of walnut plantations, I began by analyzing the accumulated experience, studied more than 50 dissertations on nuts, more than 2000 scientific publications (including more than 500 foreign ones).
An analysis of the literature showed the lack of a clear, substantiated technology for the industrial culture of walnuts. This was confirmed by our expeditionary research in almost all walnut-growing regions of the CIS from Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia to the North Caucasus, Crimea, Bukovina, Transcarpathia. A study of the productivity of walnut orchards in Moldova with feeding areas from 6x4 m to 10x10, 16x16, 20x20 m showed that the nut harvest in them does not exceed 3-5 c/ha. At the same time, long-term studies have shown that the yield of walnut trees in single and alley plantings planted with same-aged seedlings of the same origin is 2.5-3 times higher than in massive walnut orchards adjacent to the same conditions.
An analysis of the commercial production of nuts in Crimea, Bukovina, and Moldova, from where tens of thousands of tons of them were exported, shows that previously nut trees, as a rule, grew along borders or around vineyards in rural farms. These plantings were planted using the method of “folk selection” - the best local forms of nuts.
The work we carried out in Moldova, Chernivtsi, Vinnitsa and Odessa regions showed the great potential of the walnut gene pool here.
A number of American varieties have also been bred on the basis of local, so-called “Carpathian” forms of walnut.
And in recent years, employees of the California Walnut Farmers Association came to us twice with an offer to purchase our best varieties of walnuts.
In our breeding work, we also encountered varieties with fruiting from lateral buds. In our opinion, the significance of this phenomenon is greatly exaggerated. After all, fruiting from lateral buds is possible only with strong growth of more than 10-15 cm (i.e. only at a young age). But by 15-20 years, the length of the annual growth decreases to 5-7 cm and below. At the same time, the ovaries even from the apical buds fall off.
The most sensational thing was our discovery of nut forms that had a solid, without partitions, kernel, like an almond, and a shell without seams, like a hazelnut.
In the future, the discovery and study of such varieties will revolutionize the production of walnut kernels.
In general, based on more than 40 years of experience in walnut breeding, we consider the most valuable varieties to be those with fruits of 10-14 (16) g, a light-colored kernel yield of 50-56%, and a yield of 15-40 kg/tree.
As our experience has shown, large-fruited varieties such as “bomb”, “paper-shell”, “racemose”, which begin to bear fruit early (in the 1st-2nd year or the “Ideal” type) produce low-quality commercial products, or are insufficiently tested, an unfounded sensation . Walnut selection is a very serious matter, many years of painstaking work.
We have developed a technology for permanently grafting walnuts. The best results here are obtained with 5-7-year-old rootstocks with a trunk diameter at the grafting site of up to 5 cm using winter cuttings behind the bark with a “saddle” coated with paraffin. This method is most appropriate in small farm gardens or to speed up the creation of queen cells of scion cuttings and collection walnut orchards.
In general, in Ukraine and Moldova, all scientists have identified quite a lot of valuable varieties of walnuts. But there is no guarantee that they will produce high yields in massive gardens, since the biology of flowering and pollen compatibility of these varieties has been very poorly studied. Therefore, before studying these varieties in detail, we recommend creating nut plantations using seedlings of the best varieties and varietal hybrids:
- along land use boundaries;
- around gardens and vineyards;
- along the canals;
- in protective zones of water bodies;
- and most importantly - along the borders and on household plots of the population, where both in the past and today the bulk of commercial nuts are produced in all CIS countries.
Zhadan Viktor Markiyanovich
Candidate of Agricultural Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of General Ecology
senior researcher in specialty:
"Forest crops, selection and seed production"
Course work
Selection and cultivation of walnuts
1. Characteristics and origin of walnut
Walnut – Juglans regia L.(2n=16) belongs to the genus Juglans, which is part of the walnut family – Juglandaceae Lindl. In addition to the walnut, this genus includes about 40 species, including J. nigra L. - black walnut, J. cinerea L. - gray walnut, J. manshurica Maxim - Manchurian walnut, etc.
The origin of species of the genus Juglans goes back to ancient times, separated from our time by tens of thousands of years, and in those distant times this species was widespread on the globe.
Natural walnut thickets in the northern hemisphere today are scattered, starting from the territory of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Ukraine (Crimea) and ending with the countries of the Balkan Peninsula, in the southern - in South America: Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil.
Walnut culture has been known in China and India since time immemorial.
The first historical information about walnut culture is associated with the territory of Central and Asia Minor, from where this plant penetrated through Iran and Greece into the countries of Western Europe. Many references to the walnut are found in Cicero, Pliny, Virgil and other researchers of ancient Greece and Rome.
In ancient Greece, and later in the Roman Empire, walnuts were common already in the first centuries of our era. Much earlier, more than four thousand years ago, the nut grew in the famous “hanging gardens” of Babylon. The walnut was apparently brought to Rus' by Greek merchants about ten centuries ago.
High taste and nutritional properties of the walnut kernel, technological properties of wood, the use of leaves, juicy green pericarps, unripe nuts in milky ripeness, the bark of young shoots and roots in folk medicine, the use of individual parts of the plant for dyeing and tanning leather, dyeing fabrics and others qualities have ensured the wide popularity of walnuts among many peoples of the world, especially in the natural habitats of this plant.
Today, walnuts are of industrial importance in China, Iran, Turkey, Italy, France, and the Central Asian countries of the CIS. This culture is also developed in India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Romania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, the countries of South Africa, etc.
Here it is necessary to emphasize, in particular, that the Republic of Tajikistan is one of the centers of origin and evolution of the walnut and, as V.I. emphasizes. Zapryagaeva: “The walnut of Tajikistan belongs to one very polymorphic species, J. regia L., which is characterized by nuts of very different shapes, with different shell thicknesses.”
In the Pamir-Alai, mainly in the territory of Tajikistan, at an altitude of 1000 to 2900 m above sea level on the mountain slopes, in the Gissar, Karategin, Darvaz and Peter the Great ridges, there are more than 28,126 hectares of wild walnut forests, including very different economically valuable characteristics of shape, some of which contain up to 70-74% nut oil in the nut kernel. This walnut gene pool can be successfully used for breeding work with this breed in Russian research centers.
Walnut is a highly developed tree, with a well-defined trunk and powerful skeletal branches, forming a relatively dense crown of a wide-round shape, reaching a height of 20-30 m with a trunk diameter of 80-150 cm or more. In dense plantings, in industrial gardens, the trees are less developed and have a trunk diameter of 30-60 cm. The bark of the trees is light gray, with large longitudinal cracks on the trunk and skeletal branches. The buds at the ends of annual shoots are very large, up to 0.6-0.8 and 0.5-0.6 cm wide, the edges on the buds are sometimes weakly expressed.
The leaves are large, complex, consist of 5-9, rarely 13 leaflets, imparipinnate, glabrous above, ragged-hairy below at the base of the veins, up to 54 cm or more in length; on coppice shoots - up to 75 cm.
Flowers are unisexual, monoecious. Staminate or male flowers develop on the shoots of the previous year, collected in lateral, hanging earrings, 5-10 cm long. The flowers are small.
Pistillate or female flowers, single or several, on short stalks, develop at the ends of the shoots of the current year, the uppermost of them ends the axis of the spring shoot. Flowers with two bracts, with four tepals, fused with the ovary at the base and free only at the very top, with a short style and two separate fringed fleshy stigmas.
The fruit is a false drupe of round to elongated shape, with a fleshy, pubescent or bare green outer shell and a woody endocardium of varying thickness, a smooth or wrinkled and even pitted surface, with blunt or sharp grooves or ribs.
The fruit inside is divided by two or four incomplete partitions, which is why the seed is two- or four-lobed. The seed has two cotyledons and is covered with a light brown shell rich in tannins.
Due to high polymorphism, especially during seed propagation, clear characteristics can vary greatly. The root system of the walnut is taprooted, highly developed, significantly larger in horizontal distribution than the size of the crown and penetrates deep into the soil.
Walnut is a fast-growing, light-loving deciduous species. Already at one year of age, seedlings reach a height of 50 cm or more; at three to four years of age, in areas provided with moisture, trees can reach a height of 3-4 m. The tree grows for 150-170 days.
Intensive growth of shoots is observed at the beginning of the growing season. Already in July, shoot growth slows down, and in mid-late August it ends with the formation of an apical bud.
Grafted trees bear fruit earlier than seed trees - in the 4th-5th year. The tree's yield is 100-150 kg. A nut can bear fruit for up to 300 years or more. The most productive trees are those grown separately and in sparse plantings.
There is also information about the fantastically high productivity of walnuts on the southern coast of Crimea and the Caucasus. Thus, in the “Encyclopedic Dictionary” of Brockhaus and Efron it is reported that in the 19th century. In the Caucasus, there were trees that produced about 100 pounds of nuts (1600 kg).
In nature, walnuts reproduce by nuts, i.e. sexually. The same method of obtaining plants was also used in culture. However, during seed propagation, a large variation in economically valuable traits is observed, often in the direction of deterioration.
In this regard, nut propagation is carried out using technology similar to other fruit plants, i.e. budding of seedlings. When budding, the resulting plants retain the economically valuable characteristics of the mother plants (varieties); such trees, as mentioned above, bear fruit faster.
2. National economic significance
“The tree of life” - this is how the walnut is often called, since for a long time it has fed, restored strength and healed people. The walnut is perhaps the most unique and brightest representative of the plant community, a plant in which all its parts have high biologically active properties. The nut makes a significant contribution to the green pantry, which contributes to the highly effective treatment of the human body from many ailments. It has long been known in many countries of the world as an excellent remedy.
Nuts, according to many experts, are a very healthy food.
Even if there was no other food, a person could eat only nuts, they are so rich in proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals.
2.1 Chemical composition
All parts of the plant contain many biologically active substances: bark - triterpenoids, steroids, alkaloids, vitamin C, tannins, quinones (juglone, etc.); leaves - aldehydes, essential oil, alkaloids, vitamins C, PP, carotene, phenolcarboxylic acids, tannins, coumarins, flavonoids, anthocyanins, quinones and high aromatic hydrocarbons; pericarp – organic acids, vitamin C, carotene, phenolcarboxylic acids, tannins, coumarins and quinones.
Vitamins C, B 1 , B 2 , PP, carotene and quinones are found in green nuts; sterols, vitamins C, B 1 , B 2 , PP, carotene, tannins, quinones and fatty oil, which includes linoleic acid, are found in mature nuts. , linolenic, oleic, palmitic and other acids, as well as fiber, iron and cobalt salts. The shell contains phenolcarboxylic acids, tannins and coumarins; pellicle (thin brown skin covering the fruit) - steroids, phenol carbonic acids, tannins and coumarins.
Ripe nuts contain vitamins: A, B 1, B 2, B 3, B 12, C, K, E, PP, carotene, tannins, sitosterones, quinones, linoleic, linolenic acid, gallotannins, juglone, essential oil, phytoncides, small amounts of gallic and elagic acids. They are rich in mineral elements: phosphorus 390 – 600 mg, potassium 600 – 1300 mg, magnesium 150 – 250 mg, calcium 85 – 180 mg, sulfur 50 – 100 mg, iron 5 – 25 mg, aluminum 5 – 10 mg, manganese 2 – 15 mg, zinc 2.5 - 6 mg, much less iodine, cobalt, copper, strontium, chromium, fluorine, nickel.
All the necessary and main amino acids are concentrated in the cotyledons of the nut: glutathione, cystine, lysine, histadine, arginine, aspartic and glutamic acids, alanine, proline, valine.
In walnut leaves, the amount of vitamin C gradually increases as they develop and reaches a maximum in the middle of the growing season. The main value of the leaves is a large amount of carotene. In addition, tannins and the dye juglone, which has a bactericidal effect, and traces of essential oil were found.
Medicinal raw materials: unripe fruits and leaves, pericarp, green and mature nuts, nut seeds, seed oil, hard shell and thin partitions between parts of the nut kernel.
The leaves are harvested in dry weather in May-June, when they have not reached final development, and are quickly dried under a canopy, in attics under an iron roof, making sure that they do not turn black and lose their leaves. medicinal properties. Store in well-ventilated areas. The pericarp is collected during fruit harvesting (in August-September), dried in dryers or ovens at a temperature of 30–40 °C. The fruits are collected unripe and ripe.
Unripe nuts are harvested in June (when they reach the size of ripe fruits, but their shells have not yet become lignified and the nut can be pierced with a needle).
The main harvest of nuts is made during the period of full maturity, when the green pericarp bursts and the nut falls out.
2.2 Use on the farm
Walnut trees are used to strengthen mountain slopes and as protective plantings. Wood is a high-quality building material, valued in furniture and carpentry production, in the manufacture of musical instruments and artistic products.
The bark can be used to dye silk, wool and wood in black and brown tones, as well as to tan leather.
The leaves are used as a substitute for tea and tobacco, for tanning leather, dyeing hair, fabrics and wood.
Unripe walnut fruits are used to make jams and marinades, as they are a source of vitamin C, while ripe ones are a highly nutritious food product. They are widely used to feed patients with high acidity of gastric juice. The nut shell is suitable for production activated carbon, grinding stones, linoleum and roofing felt.
A decoction of the leaves is used in the form of lotions to speed up the healing of wounds, and has a beneficial effect on scrofula and rickets in children. The fruits are used as a multivitamin.
Ripe nuts are a food product and a highly active medicine. In terms of calories, they are 2 times higher than premium wheat bread. They are recommended for the prevention and treatment of atherosclerosis, with a lack of vitamins, cobalt salts and iron in the body. Nuts contain a lot of fiber and oil, which can enhance intestinal activity. They are useful for older people prone to constipation.
Walnut kernels are eaten fresh and dried, and are also widely used in the preparation of cakes, pastries, halva and other sweets. Oil is extracted from the fruits, which is suitable for food, but more often they are used to make special varnishes used by painters. Jam with a pleasant taste is prepared from unripe fruits. In Central Asia, there is an original way to correct the taste of rancid vegetable oil. A small amount of walnut kernels is added to it and boiled. The oil regains its former taste.
In the Far East, the astringent property of fresh leaves of the local Manchurian nut is used to moisturize the skin of the hands before carrying out various labor-intensive work, especially before making hay. When you rub leaves or crushed green pericarps in your hands, the skin acquires a brown tint, becomes rougher, and calluses do not form on it.
To give your hair more dark color, wash your hair with a strong decoction of walnut leaves.
The wood from the trunks of this tree is of great value. It is very durable and has a beautiful pattern. It is used to make expensive furniture, as well as stocks for gift guns. Until recently, airplane propellers were made from walnut trunks. On the trunks of many walnut trees, burls often form - burls, which have a bizarre pattern formed by intertwined wood fibers. The burls are sawn into very thin slices, which are used as a finishing material for various decorations. Moths, flies and mosquitoes cannot stand the smell of nuts.
Inhaling the smell of nuts in small doses is pleasant for a person, but in large doses it causes a headache.
2.3 Medical use
A green walnut changes life for the better. Perhaps the record holder (for the presence of vitamin C) of all parts of the walnut plant is rightfully considered to be its unripe fruit. While the nut is green and can be pierced with a needle, it contains the maximum amount of ascorbic acid - about 2500 mg.
Green nuts are rich in carbohydrates: starch predominates among polysaccharides, and glucose predominates among sugars. As they ripen, the amount of starch decreases, glucose disappears, and fats accumulate.
They have phytoncidity, antimicrobial properties and emit aromatic and essential substances with a strong odor that repel flies and midges, and thereby have a sanitary and health effect.
In terms of vitamin C content, an unripe nut is 8 times higher than black currants and 50 times higher than citrus fruits. It is known that ascorbic acid promotes the synthesis of deoxyribonucleic acid, participates in redox processes, in the exchange and synthesis of steroid hormones of the adrenal cortex and thyroid hormones, ensures normal capillary permeability, increases the elasticity and strength of blood vessels, and plays an important anti-infective role. To increase immunity and normalize blood composition, you should mix green nuts and honey (you can also use sugar) in equal parts by volume, and leave in a tightly sealed container in a dark place for 1 month, shaking occasionally. Take 1 tsp. 3 times a day 30 minutes before meals.
In recent years, scientists have found that each cigarette smoked steals from us up to 30 mg of vitamin C, i.e., almost half the daily dose, and also negatively affects others, and stress within 20 minutes costs us up to 300 mg of ascorbic acid.
Ascorbic acid concentrate, obtained from unripe walnut fruits, contains vitamin C - 1 - 2%, tannin - 1 - 3%, organic acids - 2.3 - 2.9%, as well as mineral elements, iron, calcium phosphate.
Juice from the pulp of green nuts in the form of syrup is used for scurvy.
Vitamin B2, contained in green fruits, stimulates the oxidation of glucose, fructose and other carbohydrates in the body, promotes the breakdown of pyruvic acid, the accumulation of which in case of carbohydrate metabolism disorders has a negative effect on the body - on the peripheral, nervous, and cardiovascular systems.
It is also a component of two important enzymes that are involved in converting carbohydrates and fats into energy. Those who are constantly stressed need especially a lot of riboflavin, which promotes the release of stress hormones, such as adrenaline, into the blood.
Vitamin P, found in green nuts, helps increase the strength of capillaries and is used for various bleeding. It also helps retain vitamin C in the body.
3. Taxonomy
Type: walnut - regia L
The entire variety of nut forms is currently united into several well-known botanical varieties:
1) large-fruited varieties;
2) thin-barked dessert varieties;
3) almond-shaped varieties;
4) carpal varieties;
5) late-flowering varieties;
6) hard-shell varieties;
7) burl varieties.
The selection of these varieties for systematizing walnut varieties is explained by the following reasons. The large size of nut fruits always attracts a wide range of consumers, as well as gardeners and breeders. Large endocarp sizes are not always accompanied by a large nucleus, but this is often not given much importance. Thin-barked nuts are also highly valued due to the ease of extracting the kernel from them. The raceme-shaped walnut is attractive due to the cluster-like arrangement of its fruits, high productivity in some favorable years, and also because trees of the raceme-shaped tree often bloom twice a year. The almond shape is interesting due to the beauty of the oblong-oval endocarp. Almonds can be medium to large in size. Late-flowering walnut trees must be identified and widely distributed in cultivation, as they avoid late spring frosts. Hard-shell nut varieties are important for breeding when breeding forms that are immune to diseases and resistant to unfavorable external conditions. Finally, burl varieties should be widely bred to produce burls.
Large-fruited walnut varieties. These varieties belong to the walnut variety Juglans regia L. var. macrocarpa DC. The variety has leaves with 9 leaflets and endocarps up to 6-7 cm in length with a highly wrinkled shell. It was first described by Decandolle in France in 1864. Large-fruited forms are found everywhere both in culture and in natural conditions. Their main drawback is a puny kernel and a low percentage of seed germination. Therefore, large-fruited varieties have decorative value and are also suitable for breeding for the purpose of breeding large-sized full-kernel nuts.
V.G. Kartelev (1981) studied in the conditions of Armenia (Ijevan) the economic value and frost resistance of 474 varieties and forms of domestic selection and 43 foreign ones. The latter have been found to have poor frost resistance, and therefore it is not advisable to purchase varietal material abroad. As for domestic varieties and forms, the local ones in Armenia turned out to be higher than all those studied in terms of economic value.
4. Flowering biology
Walnut flowering is observed at the end of April, in May, almost simultaneously with the beginning of shoot growth. The duration of flowering of male and female flowers is from 4-5 to 10-12 days. In some trees, female flowers develop several days earlier than male ones, while in others it is the other way around.
There are plants that re-bloom in one growing season 2-3 weeks after the first flowering.
The plant is wind-pollinated, produces a crop when self-pollinated, but when cross-pollinated with pollen from other trees, productivity increases.
Active growth of nut ovaries is observed within 1-1.5 months from the end of flowering until July, when the increase in nut volume stops altogether. The process of nucleus maturation is taking place.
5. The influence of the external environment on the growth and fruiting of walnuts
5.1 Effect of temperature
Walnut is a heat-loving fruit crop. In terms of its need for heat, walnuts are close to grapes. Therefore, the most favorable for its cultivation is the zone of uncovered viticulture, where sub-zero temperatures in winter rarely fall below 20°C. It is known from the literature that in places where walnuts naturally grow, the average annual temperature fluctuates between +8, +10°C, the average monthly temperature of the warmest month is not lower than +20°C, the absolute minimum is –16, –20°C, the frost-free period is 200 days, of which the growing season of this crop is 150-170 days. Comparing these results with data on weather conditions in our republic, we see that Moldova has quite favorable climatic conditions for the growth and fruiting of walnuts. True, some unfavorable winters with sudden temperature changes can cause significant damage to trees. These were the winters of 1928/1929, 1941/1942, 1952/1953 and 1962/1963. During these years, all fruit crops cultivated in Moldova suffered significant damage. Complete death of walnut trees during these years was observed only in deep, cold ravines. On more elevated elements of the relief, parts of the crowns were only slightly damaged. Results of overwintering walnut trees of seed origin in the winter of 1962/1963. showed that they all behaved differently under these unfavorable conditions. In the same places, some trees were severely damaged, while others did not have significant damage and in 1963 bore fruit well. This proves that among the forms of seed populations there are highly frost-resistant ones. These data are quite consistent with the conclusions of a number of authors who claim that the winter hardiness of walnuts is associated mainly with the biological characteristics of its varieties and forms. Thus, V.F. Pronin (1952) indicates that in the Voronezh region of Russia there are forms of walnut that can withstand winter temperatures down to –40°C. A. M. Ozol, E. I. Kharkov (1958) believe that even in the conditions of Latvia, winter frosts are not destructive for walnuts.
Analysis of data from numerous studies has also shown that the degree of frost resistance of trees depends on their age. Young non-fruit-bearing trees tolerate short frosts well -25°, -27°C. Fruiting trees at this temperature may have various damages: death of apical, lateral buds and 2-3-year-old branches. However, there are cases when relatively minor frosts can cause significant damage to young trees. So, in the winter of 1976/1977. In Moldova, frosts did not exceed –25°C and were not long-lasting. However, young walnut trees in some gardens completely died due to severe damage to the trunks by frost. This is explained by the fact that the growth of shoots in young trees in the fall of 1976 continued for a very long time, and the sudden frosts that occurred on October 16 (down to -6°C) led to the death of skeletal branches, and in some trees - to the root collar. We have established that the nature of overwintering of walnut trees also depends on the condition of the trees. Trees weakened by drought are more damaged by frost than those that grow in favorable conditions. Thus, in the winter of 1971/1972, when the temperature dropped to –29°C, the trees in the collection garden did not have any significant damage. In the winter of 1876/1977. frosts did not exceed -25°C, but since the trees went into winter after a long summer-autumn drought, in the same collection garden damage to growth was noted, and in other varieties even 2-3 year-old branches. The level of agricultural technology used also has a significant impact on the nature of overwintering of walnut trees. Thus, A.U. Zarubin notes that in the conditions of Tajikistan, walnut trees are more frost-resistant in conditions where higher agronomic conditions are provided. The consequences of Moldova's harsh winters are proof of this. Trees in neglected gardens in the winter of 1962/1963. suffered more severely compared to trees growing in orchards where proper cultural practices were implemented. Research has established that the frost resistance of walnut trees depends on the phase of their development during the onset of low temperatures. They are most sensitive during the period of bud break and flowering. A. M. Vukolova points out that as a result of a sharp drop in temperature on May 26-27, 1955 (from 2 to 4 ° C), part of the pistillate flowers and male catkins died in Moldova, which led to a sharp decrease in the harvest. Even earlier, L.D. Batchelor (1929, USA (California)) noted that the size and quality of the harvest are greatly influenced not by low winter temperatures, but by late spring frosts. In some cases, a decrease in temperature to –1.5°C led to the complete death of pistillate flowers and male catkins. Over the course of the long-term cultivation of walnuts in the republic, many forms (trees) have formed that have a relatively late start to the growing season in the spring and always escape the destructive effects of spring frosts. The weakest resistance to low temperatures have roots, which must be kept in mind when planting trees in the fall, when digging up rootstock seedlings and storing them. Loose root tissue is damaged at –5°, –6°С, and this can lead to complete death of plants. At frosts of –25°, –27°С, male catkins and part of the vegetative buds are damaged, at –28°, –29°С – annual growth, –30°С – skeletal branches, and sometimes the entire tree down to the level of the root collar. Skeletal branches are damaged, as a rule, on the south side, forming severe burns on the bark. The frost resistance of walnut trees drops sharply during the period of bud break and the beginning of shoot growth. Therefore, the return of cold weather at this time can cause great damage. This happened on the night of May 21-22, 1952, when the air temperature dropped to -3.5 ° C and the young shoots completely died. The restoration of growth in these trees occurred due to spare buds. In some years, early autumn frosts can also have a detrimental effect, as happened in 1976. On the night of October 14, after relatively warm weather, when the trees were still growing normally, the temperature dropped sharply (to –6°C). As a result, most of the trees lost the tops of their annual growth, and the trees planted in 1976 lost their entire annual growth. The affected trees had little harvest that year. Despite the fact that walnut is a heat-loving fruit species, not only very low, but also very high temperatures negatively affect the size and quality of the crop. L. D. Batchelor (1929) noticed that an increase in temperature in summer above 37 ° C causes significant damage to fruits located on the upper and lower parts of the crown. When sunburn occurs in June-July, a large number of fruits do not develop at all and form small withered kernels. In California (USA), trees are sprayed with a lime solution to combat insolation during the hottest months. In the conditions of Moldova, damage to walnuts by burns is very rare.
5.2 Effect of light and location
Walnut is the most light-loving fruit crop; it grows well and bears fruit only in good light. Individual trees form a powerful, well-leafed crown. In dense plantings, tree crowns are sparse, with weak leaves, age prematurely, and bear little or no fruit. An attempt to create walnut plantations with a large number of trees per hectare was unsuccessful. In the first years, the trees develop well, but by the 5-7th year of life they abruptly stop growing, form a small crown with a sparse leaf apparatus, soon begin to dry up, and in a later period they even die. Walnut does not tolerate shading from accompanying species. And since it grows slower than other tree species, it remains in the shade and eventually dies. Walnut does not tolerate shading inside the crown. At a young age, when trees are well lit, they have greater shoot production capacity. The vast majority of buds on the conductor begin to grow and form powerful annual growths with rich leaf apparatus, which subsequently turn into skeletal branches. If trees are left without pruning, then by the age of 8-10 years they will have up to 20-30 skeletal branches of the first order. With strong shading, usually only apical growth of shoots occurs, that is, only the apical bud grows and, very rarely, one or two more lateral ones. At 12-15 years of age, the tree crown consists of many elongated and bare skeletal branches, and the underdeveloped leaf apparatus and crops are located only on the periphery of the crown. As the tree ages, the crown becomes thinner. In heavily shaded areas, weakened branches damaged by frost, pests and diseases dry out first. With age, stronger branches also die. In the end, no more than 4-5 first-order branches remain on the old tree. Thus, a walnut tree can form a powerful crown, capable of laying and holding a large crop of high-quality nuts only when, through appropriate shaping and pruning, good lighting of the crown is ensured from within. In Moldova, walnuts grow well on all relief elements. Still, preference should be given to southwestern exposure.
5.3 Effect of soil and soil moisture
Walnut has certain requirements for the soil, its supply of nutrients and moisture. V. A. Kolesnikov (1946) notes that in the Crimea, walnut trees develop better on alluvial soils, loamy in mechanical composition, in shallow ravines. P.P. Dorofeev (1959) wrote that the most powerful walnut trees, reaching a height and diameter of 30 m, grew in the floodplain of the Dniester River. Some of them produced more than 300 kg of nuts annually. Powerful, abundantly fruiting trees of this species are found in the central hilly part of Moldova, the so-called Codr zone, in small ravines, well protected from strong winds, on deep, well-humused soils. On sloping lands, the thickness of trees depends on the degree of erosion of soil horizons. On heavily eroded soils, trees grow poorly, form a small crown and bear little fruit. Nediu Nedev (1967) found that creating large industrial walnut plantations in Bulgaria on heavily eroded soils is impractical. Swampy and highly compacted soils are completely unsuitable for planting walnuts. In years with high rainfall, especially in the autumn-winter period, trees die from suffocation of the root system, especially if the subsoil is also water- and air-tight. In Moldova, walnut trees also grow well on carbonate soils.
6. Features of walnut agricultural technology
Practice has established that annually high yields of nuts, as well as other fruit crops, can be obtained only in cases where a full range of agricultural measures is carried out in the plantings, ensuring every possible increase or maintenance of soil fertility at a high level. In conditions of insufficient moisture supply, this complex should also provide for the most complete absorption of moisture by the soil and its rational use by trees. Due to this the best way soil content in walnut orchards under conditions of insufficient moisture supply (typical for Moldova) are black fallow. Due to the peculiarities of the use of soil moisture by walnut trees, a system of maintaining black fallow with green manure can be recommended. In this case, green manure is sown in the second half of summer and plowed in the fall. Under irrigated conditions, the soil between the rows of the garden can be kept under meadow, as well as for sowing perennial legumes, such as alfalfa. Growing alfalfa in the inter-rows of a non-irrigated garden, as well as maintaining the soil under meadows, is not recommended, primarily because the soil dries out greatly, and the trees suffer as a result of soil drought.
6.2 Fertilizer application
According to L. Garavel (cited by L. Mitterpergher, 1966), it was established that with a harvest of 4000 kg of nuts and 4200 kg of wood (dry weight) from one hectare of walnuts, trees annually remove 100 kg of N, 16 kg of P2O2, 21 from the soil kg K2O and 31 kg Ca. Since the longevity of walnut trees is long, it is understandable that without annual application of Fig. 43. Systemic walnut garden fertilizers cannot produce high yields of nuts. Therefore, statements about the low requirements of the walnut for elements of soil nutrition (Batchelor, 1939) must be considered as a relative concept. Indeed, on deep, rich soils the effect of fertilizers will be less than on weak soils. Since walnuts remove a large amount of mineral nutrients from the soil, the deficiency must be replenished annually. Nitrogen is known to be an element that promotes intense vegetation. However, the application of nitrogenous fertilizers in a walnut orchard should be carried out carefully, as they favor the development of bacteriosis. Therefore, when applying these fertilizers, phytosanitary control must be carried out in a timely manner. You should not apply nitrogen fertilizers for 2-3 years when trees begin to bear fruit. Phosphorus-potassium fertilizers favor the fruiting of the tree, and they must be applied at the root level. The problem of fertilization also includes the issue of loosening deep layers of soil in order to better penetrate the roots into the soil. In France, interesting data were obtained when loosening the soil using an explosive method. To do this, at a depth of 1 m or more, 3-4 explosive charges with nitrate salt are detonated, located along the periphery of the tree’s root system. If fertilizers are introduced along with these explosions, the results are even better. Typically, the application rates of mineral fertilizers in walnut orchards are slightly higher than in orchards of other fruit crops. For one medium-aged tree (3050 years), it is necessary to add 10-12 kg of ammonium sulfate or 6-7 kg of ammonium nitrate, 9-10 kg of superphosphate, 2-3 kg of potassium salt. Phosphorus and potassium fertilizers are applied before autumn plowing, nitrogen fertilizers are applied in the spring, before cultivation.
6.3 Irrigation
The walnut tree is a large consumer of water in the spring and summer (May, June, July, August). The amount of precipitation at this time is usually insufficient. Therefore, whenever possible, watering is recommended. In cases where it is impossible to irrigate, it is necessary to carry out a strict regime of saving moisture in the soil: do not cultivate inter-row crops, conduct systematic weed control, and combat water losses during soil cultivation. The saying “One plowing replaces two waterings” is true only if this plowing is carried out correctly and in a timely manner. Autumn plowing must be carried out to such a depth as not to damage the roots and accumulate as much water as possible from precipitation. During the summer, the destruction of capillaries should be carried out gradually and to a depth of no more than 10 cm. During dry periods, deep and frequent loosening of the soil leads to drying out of the soil. Due to the fact that walnuts have superficial fibrous roots that are destroyed during soil cultivation, the use of herbicides is a very important measure. The less loosening during the summer, the better for the tree. The application of organic and mineral fertilizers, which increase the holding capacity of the soil, is an important element in solving the problem of saving water. There are cases when walnut growers have to take measures to remove excess water from the soil, both surface and subsurface. In the first case, drainage is carried out, in the second, drainage is used. Removing surface water is technically easy to do, you just need to decide on the timeliness of doing this work. Reducing the groundwater level can be done by ringing the area with ditches of the required depth. In cases where, due to the nature of the relief, the reduction of groundwater cannot be carried out in this way, they resort to drainage, after consulting with hydro reclamation engineers.
6.4 Tree crown care
The formation of the crown of a walnut tree usually ends after laying the required number of skeletal branches and removing the central conductor. Further intervention by a specialist consists only of correcting errors in the formation and removing diseased, damaged and thickening branches. Thickening of the crown is especially dangerous. In this case, the skeletal and semi-skeletal branches lengthen and become bare due to the death of the overgrowing branches. The leaf apparatus and harvest are transferred to the periphery of the crown. In the future, as the tree ages, the rejuvenation of skeletal and semi-skeletal branches has a positive effect. A large number of growths appear from dormant buds on shortened branches, which can be used to form new crown elements or for fruiting. Research has found that shortening is best done by transferring it to a lower branch. In this case, the center of the crown is illuminated, creating conditions for good growth of shoots that have sprouted from dormant buds. The walnut tree has great restorative ability. You can often see young plants that were formed from the root collar and even from the trunk of old extinct trees. When the crown dries out and trees dramatically reduce their yield, fruit growers sometimes resort to rejuvenating old trees. This anti-aging pruning consists of shortening all or part of the skeletal branches by 1/2 or 1/3. After such pruning, as a rule, a strong fatty growth appears, from which, after a few years, a new crown is completely formed and fruiting of the tree is restored. In particularly harsh winters, walnut trees, especially those growing in deep ravines, can be damaged by frost. In this case, damaged branches must be cut back to living places. If such pruning is not carried out, the shoots grow poorly, the crowns become thickened, and the trees are severely affected by diseases.
6.5 Disease and pest control. Fight strategy
Walnut selection is carried out according to three main criteria: yield, commercial quality of the fruit and tolerance. Productivity is a defining characteristic, and all high-yielding forms are subject to identification and recording. High-yielding forms with low marketable harvest qualities are of breeding interest for crossing. With high yields, depending on its quality, it is possible to change the purpose of the crop (preparing jam from green fruits, seed material for growing rootstock, etc.). There are relatively few places on the globe whose environmental conditions allow the successful cultivation of walnuts.
Nut-bearing species in most cases are formed of low-value forms and their productivity is low. In this regard, one of the most important problems in the development of walnut growing is improving the quality of existing ones, creating new highly productive plantings and their rational use.
Such varieties are high-quality commercial products, in contrast to large-fruited varieties with thin shells.
It is also necessary to increase the frost resistance of this breed, resistance to pests and diseases, and adverse environmental conditions. Breed varieties with late flowering, early fruit ripening, and a shorter growing season.
8. Breeding methods
8.1 Selection methods
Selection is carried out on the basis of economically valuable characteristics of fruits. As a result of analyzing the size of the nut, the thickness of the shell, the extractability of the walnut kernel, the yield and taste of the kernel, the fat and sugar content, breeders discovered and described many forms. For convenience, these forms were called varieties.
Then, along with the high economically valuable qualities of the fruit, nut breeds are distinguished that are characterized by increased productivity and regular fruiting, frost resistance, resistance to pests and diseases, unfavorable growing conditions, late flowering, early ripening of fruits, and a shorter growing season. The timing of the duration and intensity of flowering of male and female flowers on walnut trees is taken into account.
An important feature when identifying and describing walnut varieties are the following points:
1. The location of the variety, the address of growth, and on the plantation - the number of the varietal tree are indicated. We consider such an indication to be extremely significant and necessary for the further promotion of the variety into culture and the development of breeding work.
2. The sign of dichogamy of the walnut tree is given, which is also necessary when creating industrial walnut orchards with grafted seedlings. Failure to indicate the dichogamy sign of the walnut tree can lead to difficult-to-correct errors and large losses in fruit yield. And only with the correct placement of protogynous and protoandric walnut individuals on the plantation is normal pollination and fertilization of flowers ensured.
3. The following is a description of the endocarp of a nut of a promising variety, indicating the shape and size of the fruit, its weight, kernel yield, shell thickness, the difficulty of splitting it and the ease of extracting the kernel, the fat content in the kernel, the yield of the tree and its resistance to low and high temperatures, pests and diseases.
Walnut is a very heat-loving plant that bears fruit.
Walnut needs a lot of sunlight. In places where this crop grows, the average temperature can range from +8 to +10 degrees. But, nevertheless, sometimes sudden cold snaps occur, and this can lead to very significant damage that low temperatures cause to fruit-bearing trees.
Based on diverse and numerous studies, we can conclude that the frost resistance of trees directly depends on their age. Young trees that have not yet produced fruit can withstand short frosts. But fruit-bearing trees under the same conditions may already be subject to some damage. For example, the death of the uppermost and lateral buds, as well as young shoots.
Sunlight and the location of the trees can have a huge impact on the development and fruiting ability of the walnut. Since this tree is very light-loving, it means it can grow in excellent lighting conditions. Based on these data, we can conclude that sparsely growing trees create a powerful crown, but this does not affect their growth and successful fruiting.
But if planted trees are located close to each other, this harms them. Because in such conditions, trees begin to age prematurely and their fruit-bearing abilities fade or stop altogether.
Walnut is very picky about the soil in which it grows. These trees thrive on alluvial soils, such as in Crimea. They have a loamy composition, which has a beneficial effect on the growth and fruiting of trees. Swampy and compacted soils with a lot of moisture are completely unsuitable for growing walnuts. On such soils, gradual death of the root system and complete death of the plant occurs.
The main walnut plantings are concentrated in the south - in the North Caucasus, in the Krasnodar Territory. Even in the Tambov region, most of its forms are no longer winter-hardy. And in the central zone and north-west of Russia, only isolated experiments in its introduction and acclimatization have been successful. In these regions, walnut trees regularly, every few years, suffer from frosts, and their shoots also suffer from spring frosts. It grows in the form of a low, practically non-fruiting tree.
When growing walnuts in the Non-Black Earth Zone, it is necessary to select from nature and culture the most frost- and winter-hardy forms that can withstand winter temperatures down to minus 30 and even 40°C. Such forms can be found in the high-mountain forests of Central Asia and the North Caucasus, and among cultural plantings - in Left Bank Ukraine (in particular, in the Kharkov region), in Belarus, the Baltic states, Kursk, Bryansk, Voronezh and Belgorod regions of Russia. The most promising varieties for moving north are Shevgenya, Krepysh, Voronezhsky, and Kamensky.
Thus, the Soviet agronomist-plant breeder A.M. Ozol grew seedlings (and then saplings) from nuts collected in the Kirovograd region of Ukraine and Dagestan, from which he subsequently selected the most winter-hardy and planted them in the Moscow region. And most importantly, I got them to bear fruit. I sowed the nuts again and got trees that were much more adapted to local conditions, that is, more winter-hardy. And most of the plants that grew, in turn, from their fruits (already the third generation) were almost completely adapted to the conditions of the Moscow region. The technology takes time, but after several generations of plants it can give quite real result.
Another method is interspecific hybridization - pollination of Manchurian walnut flowers with imported (sent) walnut pollen, followed by selection of the most winter-hardy and externally similar to walnut specimens, but here another problem arises: most hybrids genetically deviate towards the Manchurian nut, which is manifested not only in increased winter hardiness, but also low quality fruits.
A combination of both of these acclimatization methods is also promising. In addition, you can increase the winter hardiness of walnut seedlings and saplings by pinching - pinching (in late August - early September) the tips of non-lignified shoots, thereby stimulating the end of the growing season. With this technique, walnut seedlings and saplings can be accustomed to a shorter growing season, which will help create varieties that are quite winter-hardy in the middle zone and in the north-west.
As already mentioned, many forms of walnut are quite frost-resistant and can withstand temperatures down to minus 30-40°C. So the main problem in promoting this crop to the northern regions of our country is that, having become accustomed to a longer growing season, walnut trees do not have time to finish growing in a timely manner and prepare for winter. As a result, they freeze slightly. Therefore, early ripening forms and varieties are most promising for introduction. Those that ripen late, even very frost-resistant ones, are not suitable. If, based on a frost-resistant clone, a variety with an ultra-short growing season is developed, coinciding with our growing season, then the problem will be solved.
Applying phosphorus-potassium fertilizers under walnut trees in the second half of summer and autumn also helps to increase their winter hardiness. To protect against spring frosts, it is advisable to place seedlings in places protected from the winds, and cover them with non-woven materials, plastic film, tarpaulin or fabric at night. This operation must be performed before each frost, annually, until the trees reach a height of 2 m. However, the affected part of the crown is restored quite quickly, although this certainly affects the growth energy and development of the plant.
There are no walnut varieties for the central and northwestern regions of Russia yet, but work on their breeding is promising and can give real results. At the same time, the variety being bred must be late-flowering (not subject to spring frosts), early ripening, winter-hardy, and its fruits (nuts) should be as large and tasty as possible. Thus, the first successful experimental plantings of walnuts in the Leningrad region are already in the Otradnoye experimental farm on the Karelian Isthmus.
The creation of walnut seed plantations and fruit-bearing gardens on the ground is possible using two methods.
Walnut fruits collected from elite trees are sown on areas 1 m^2 in size, placing the seeding places at a distance of 6 by 6 m or 10 by 10 m. The middle of the rows is occupied, for example, by cherry plum and apple trees. 5-7 fruits are sown on one site. As the crowns close, the trees on the site become thinner; later, some of the extra pads are removed.
Long-term studies have shown that the yield of walnut orchards is much lower than the yield of trees in single plantings.
With another method, nut fruits are sown or planted in holes, 2-3 nuts or seedlings per hole; placement of holes 10 by 10 m. The middle spaces are occupied by fruit bushes. At 2-3 years of age, walnut seedlings are budded with varietal eyes. To grow seedlings, in all cases you need to use the best quality and largest fruits.
For best interspecific pollination, male catkins should be removed from mother trees as soon as they become clearly visible. To do this, it is necessary to establish, by observation over a period of 3-4 years, which trees of the species taken as a seed plant are male, which produce little or no fruit, which trees are female and produce the greatest number of fruits. If it turns out that there are too many male trees on the plantation, some of them must be removed so that at least 75% are female.
Thinning can enhance the fruiting of trees and improve the quality of wood and fruits.
S.Ya. Sokolov divides the areas occupied by walnuts in Kyrgyzstan into plantings in which fruit farming should be carried out, and plantings in which farming should be organized for the purpose of growing timber.
Plantings located in the upper parts of the mountains, where due to soil and climatic conditions regular and abundant fruiting is impossible, are allocated for timber cultivation. In such plantings, hawthorn, maple and other species that interfere with the growth of the nut are removed, using techniques used in conventional silvicultural felling.
Walnut plantings, especially those created in equal mixture with Amur velvet and shrub undergrowth, on fertile, moist soils can produce high-quality wood, as well as raw materials for obtaining vitamins (walnut leaves).
It is more difficult to carry out cuttings in order to enhance fruiting. Walnut trees in areas of older plantings subjected to thinning did not increase fruiting compared to trees growing in control areas.
A.F. Zarubin came to the conclusion that for trees to bear fruit well, they should be raised in a free state with early age. This conclusion is correct, and it is necessary to enhance fruiting on trees not that are old in stages, i.e., 100-150 years old, but on trees that are young in stages, at the age of 20-30 years, when their body is still plastic and can be rebuilt.
9. Achieving selection for walnut
Based on the results of many years of research, 19 varieties of Greek nut were created at the station using the method of individual selection. They are distinguished by their high yield - 122 kg per tree, significant kernel content - 53-47.1%, fruit weight - 17.6-10.8 g, ease of isolating the kernel from the shell and resistance to damage to fruits and leaves by diseases - marsonia. According to these characteristics, they are not inferior to the standard varieties of foreign selection. The practical use of these varieties leads to high competitiveness and production efficiency. Varieties and forms are isolated from the local gene pool as carriers of valuable economic traits, which is a prerequisite for their use in breeding - the creation of new varieties with predetermined traits by hybridization.
9.1 Characteristics of varieties
Bukovinsky 1. Created at the Transnistrian Horticulture Experimental Station, it is characterized by high and stable yields, and is relatively resistant to marsonia. The tree forms a moderately sized crown, with intensive formation of fruit buds. Fruits are formed not only on the apical, but also on 2-3 lateral buds of last year's growths. The fruits are of average weight (10.1-14.1 g), round. The shell is thin and easily crushed. The internal partitions are thin, the core is separated from the shell freely. Core yield 52.4%. The kernel contains: fats – 70.12-73.13%, proteins – 14.04-15.93%, sugars – 7.15-8.84%, organic acids – 0.38-0.51%, tannins – 0.27-1.33%, pectin – 0.31-0.94%, vitamin C – 2.8-4.4 mg per 100 g of air-dry mass.
Fruit ripeness occurs in mid-September.
Bukovinsky 2. It is characterized by stable, high yield and resistance to marsonia. The tree forms a large crown. The fruits are formed on the tops, last year's growths, large (13.7-15.4 g), elongated-elliptical in shape. The shell is of medium thickness, strong. The core makes up 48.08-49.24% of the weight of the fruit. The kernel contains fats 68.13-70.51%, proteins - 15-17.52%, sugars - 7.16-10.2%, organic acids - 0.39-0.48%, tannins - 0. 86-0.96%, pectin – 0.69-1.29%, vitamin C – 3.01-3.96 mg per 100 g of air-dry mass.
Fruit ripeness occurs at the end of September – beginning of October.
Bukovina bomb. It has a moderate annual yield and is relatively resistant to marsonia. The tree is vigorous. Female flowers bloom in mid-May, 5-6 days later than male flowers. The fruits are formed on the apical buds. The fruits are large (17.4-18.2 g), round-cylindrical in shape. The shell is thick, but crushes easily. The internal partitions are thin and easily separated from the core. The core makes up 47.5-48.2% of the weight of the fruit. The kernel contains fats 67.27-69.59%, proteins - 12.42-15.88%, sugars - 8.85-13.8%, organic acids - 0.38-0.46%, tannins - 0.57-1.43%, pectin - 0.31-1%, vitamin C - 2.58-3.74 mg per 100 g of air-dry mass. Fruit ripeness occurs in late September - early October.
Korzheutsky. A tree of medium vigor, with a rounded crown, of medium density. Blooms in early dates, usually at the end of April. The flowering type is protogenic.
Pistillate flowers bloom 5-6 days earlier than staminate flowers. The best pollinators are the Kostyuzhensky and Kalarashsky varieties.
The fruits are relatively small, the average weight of one nut is about 10 g. The shape of the fruit is cylindrical - elongata.
The apex of the fruit is slightly elongated, the base is flat. The shell is thin, loose, the surface is smooth or slightly rough, shiny, whitish-gray in color. The kernel is white, covered with a cream-colored skin, and is easily separated entirely. The specific gravity of the kernel is 48-50%, it contains 67.5% fat. The variety is characterized by increased winter hardiness and consistently high yield. With proper agrotechnical care of the tree, some of the fruits form clusters (7-15 pieces together).
Kalarashsky. The tree is vigorous, with a highly rounded, dense crown. Blooms in mid-season. The flowering type is proterandric. Staminate flowers bloom 5-7 days earlier than pistillate flowers. The best pollinator is the Skinossky variety.
The fruits are large. The average weight of one nut ranges from 15 to 19 g. The shape of the nuts is round, slightly ribbed. The apex is slightly rounded, the base is flat. The shell is of medium thickness, dense. The kernel is large; when the nut is broken, it separates entirely. The color of the core film is straw yellow. The kernel is oily, very tasty, makes up about 50% of the nut's weight, and contains about 68% fat (Fig. 6).
The tree has average winter hardiness and good annual fruiting. In years with high humidity it is affected by brown spotting.
Cossack. The tree is vigorous, with a highly rounded, dense crown. The variety is protogenic. Pistillate flowers bloom 6-7 days earlier than staminate flowers. The best pollinators are the Kostyuzhensky and Kalarashsky varieties.
Nuts are medium size (more than 10 g), cylindrical in shape. The top of the fruit is slightly convex, the base is flat. The shell is of medium thickness, dense, light yellow in color, smooth, the ribs are poorly defined. The kernel is large, fills the inside of the fruit well, making up about 60% of its mass. The color of the kernel skin is straw-yellow (Fig. 7).
The tree is resistant to low temperatures and diseases.
Klishkivsky. High-yielding, relatively resistant to marsonia. The tree forms a large crown. The fruits are formed on the apical buds of last year's growths. The fruits have an average weight of 10.9-13.3 g, elongated oval shape. The shell is of medium thickness, strong. The internal partitions are thin. The core makes up 48.85-49.96% of the weight of the fruit, contains: fats - 67.4-71.04%, proteins - 14.36-15.78%, sugars - 8.24-9, 6%, organic acids – 0.4-0.54%, tannins – 0.71-0.86%, pectins – 0.88-1.31%, vitamin C – 3.66-5.06 mg per 100 g of air-dry mass.
Fruit ripeness occurs at the end of August - beginning of September.
Kishinevsky. Tree of medium vigor, with a rounded crown; enters the growing season two weeks later compared to early-blooming varieties. Staminate and pistillate flowers bloom at the same time. The variety is self-fertile. The fruits are of medium size, the average weight of one nut is about 10 g. The shape of the fruit is rounded-oblong, the apex is slightly pointed, the base is rounded. The shell is thin, loose, the surface is smooth, shiny, straw-yellow in color, easily crushed. At the junction of the valves it forms small ribs. The kernel is white, covered with a thin light yellow skin, oily, tasty, containing more than 66% fat. The kernel makes up about 50% of the fruit's weight and is easily separated entirely.
The variety is characterized by high winter hardiness, good annual fruiting, and is slightly affected by brown spot.
Kostyuzhensky. The tree is medium-sized with a dense, flat-round crown. Blooms early, proterandric flowering type. Staminate flowers bloom 10-12 days earlier than pistillate flowers. The best pollinator is the Skinossky variety.
The fruits are large (14.5 g), almost round in shape, one-dimensional, slightly ribbed. The apex of the fruit is almost round, the base is flat. The shell is thick, rough, dull, light brown in color, of medium density.
The core is separated entirely, has White color with a yellowish tint, covered with a thin straw-yellow film. The specific gravity of the kernel from the mass of the fruit is more than 50%, the most significant economic importance has a fullness of nuts. More valuable are nuts whose kernel by weight is 50% and contains 70% fat.
The variety is characterized by increased resistance to frost, is slightly affected by bacteriosis, and bears fruit well. Nuts of high commercial quality.
Transnistrian. It is characterized by high, stable yields and is practically not affected by marsonia. The tree forms a very large crown. Fruits are formed not only on the apical buds, but also on the lateral ones. The fruits are of medium weight (10.8-12.8 g), round. The shell is thin and strong. The internal partitions are very thin and do not interfere with the separation of the core. The kernel makes up 52.88-53.7% of the fruit's weight. The kernel contains fats 69.59-72%, proteins 14.98-15.22%, sugars 7.49-9.72%, organic acids 0.4-0.59%, tannins 0.33-1, 01%, pectin 0.24-0.78%, vitamin C 2.58-4.95 mg per 100 g of air-dry mass.
The ripeness of the fruits begins at the beginning of the second ten days of September.
Prykarpatsky. It is characterized by high, stable yields and relative resistance to Marsonia damage. The tree forms a large rounded crown. The fruits are formed on the apical buds of last year's shoots. The fruits are of medium weight (11.2-13.5 g), round. The shell is thin and strong. The core is easily separated from the shell. Kernel yield 50-51.5%. The kernel contains: fats 67.97-72.94%, proteins 12.68-14.58%, sugars 6.99-12.55%, organic acids 0.35-0.53%, tannins 0.3- 1.02%, pectin 0.28-1.68, vitamin C 2.58-4.24 mg per 100 g of air-dry mass.
Fruit ripeness occurs at the end of September.
Skinossky. A tree of medium vigor, with a rounded, elongated crown. It blooms early, the flowering type is protogenic. Pistillate flowers bloom 6-7 days earlier than staminate flowers. The best pollinator is the Kostyuzhensky variety.
The fruits are large (12.5 g), ovoid in shape. The apex of the fruit is slightly oblong, the base is rounded. The shell is of medium thickness and density, smooth, yellow-gray in color.
The kernel is large and fills the inside of the nut well. It makes up more than 50% of the weight of the fetus and contains 69.7% fat. The kernel is easily separated from the shell, entirely. The color of the skin of the kernel is straw-yellow. The tree is characterized by sufficient winter hardiness and bears fruit well, but in years with high humidity it is slightly affected by brown spotting.
Toporivsky. It is characterized by high, stable yields and increased resistance to marsonia. The tree forms a large rounded crown. Fruits are formed only on the apical buds, of average weight (10.6-12 g), elongated elliptical shape. The shell is strong, the internal partitions are thin and do not interfere with the removal of the core. The core is easily separated whole or in halves. Kernel yield 49.8-54%. The kernel contains: fats 68.67-74.85%, proteins 11.77-13.98%, sugars 7.66-13.22%, organic acids 0.33-0.53%, tannins 0.3 -1.01%, pectin 0.32-1.43%, vitamin C 1.74-4.54 mg per 100 g of air-dry mass. Fruit ripeness occurs at the end of the second ten days of September.
Chernivtsi 1. High-yielding, regularly bears fruit, resistant to marsonia. The tree forms a large crown. The fruits are formed on the apical and lateral buds, round in shape. The weight of the fruit is 10.6-12.8 g. The shell is thin and easily crushed. The internal partitions are thin and easily separated from the core. Kernel yield is 50.7-54.6% of the fruit weight. The kernel contains: fats 68.42-70.8%, proteins 15.85-16.86%, sugars 7.02-9.37%, organic acids 0.38-0.43%, tannins 0.53 -0.64%, pectin 0.66-0.8%. Fruit ripeness occurs in mid-September.
Yarivsky(zoned in 2006). It is characterized by high stable yields and relative resistance to Marsonia damage. The tree forms a small rounded crown. The fruits are formed on the apical buds of last year's growth. The fruits are large. The shell is thin and easily crushed. The internal partitions are thin. Core yield 50-53%. The kernel contains: fats 68.22-70.76%, proteins 12.9-15.74%, sugars 7.9-11.7%, organic acids 0.36-0.54%, tannins 0.43- 1.17%, pectin 0.21-1.47%, vitamin C 3.01-4.37 mg per 100 g of air-dry mass. Fruit ripeness occurs at the end of September.
For many years, scientists have been conducting breeding work in order to develop the best varieties of walnuts. However, extensive experience in such work still indicates that the most valuable nut varieties are those that have fruits weighing 10-16 grams, with a yield of 15–40 kilograms per tree.
Such varieties are high-quality commercial products, in contrast to large-fruited varieties with thin shells.
Bibliography
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2. State register of selection achievements approved for use. Plant varieties (Official publication) / Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation Federal State Institution “State Commission of the Russian Federation for Variety Testing and Protection of Breeding Achievements”. – M., 2007. – P. 140.
3. Ibragimov Z.A. Walnut (Juglans regiа L.): biology, ecology, distribution and cultivation. Baku, 2007. 86 p.
4. Shchepotyev F.L. Walnut / Walnut-fruit forest crops. M., 1978. P. 5-93.
