How to Plant Walnut Trees From Collected Nuts
- 1). Remove the outer husks of the collected nuts. Wear rubber gloves when peeling the husks from the hard inner shell. The oils in the green husks will stain your hands.
- 2). Place the collected nuts into a plastic bucket filled with water. Discard all nuts that are floating. The sunken nuts contain more nutmeat and have a better chance of germination.
- 3). Plant the good nuts in late fall. If you cannot plant in the fall, place the nuts into a plastic food bag. Set the bag into the refrigerator for 90 to 120 days to stratify the nut seeds. Stratification, or cold treatment, of the walnuts is essential for germination.
- 4). Prepare the nut planting area by breaking up the soil with the shovel. Cultivate a 12-inch diameter hole approximately 5 to 6 inches deep. Remove all weeds, roots and rocks.
- 5). Plant three to five nuts, 2 inches deep, at each permanent location seed area. Cover the seeds with soil. Once the seedlings emerge, allow the plants to grow until the following winter. Select the best seedling from the nuts that germinated. Remove the weaker plants by cutting them to ground level with the hand pruner.
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