Black walnuts dropping early

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  • phylodog

    Grandmaster
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    59   0   0
    Mar 7, 2008
    18,747
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    Arcadia
    We're (un)lucky enough to have several black walnut trees in our back yard. At least one of them has been dropping a lot of immature nuts into the yard, about 1/2" to 3/4" in diameter. This is our 12th year in this house and I don't ever recall this happening before. Just wondering if this is due to some variation in this year's weather or if there is something wrong with the tree(s). Anyone else experiencing this?

    I'm not complaining, it won't bother me a bit to not have a yard full of rotting walnut husks this fall but I also don't want to see the trees go.
     

    lovemachine

    Grandmaster
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    17   0   0
    Dec 14, 2009
    15,601
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    Indiana
    We're (un)lucky enough to have several black walnut trees in our back yard. At least one of them has been dropping a lot of immature nuts into the yard, about 1/2" to 3/4" in diameter. This is our 12th year in this house and I don't ever recall this happening before. Just wondering if this is due to some variation in this year's weather or if there is something wrong with the tree(s). Anyone else experiencing this?

    I'm not complaining, it won't bother me a bit to not have a yard full of rotting walnut husks this fall but I also don't want to see the trees go.


    I'm not a tree expert, but if you decide to cut any down, I'd be interested in some wood :)

    I like to make nice bowls out of walnut.
     

    RandyMarlar

    Plinker
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    4   0   0
    Dec 2, 2008
    74
    8
    Zionsville
    I have about 50 of the darn things around my house. We always get a mid summer drop just like the apple trees. Spent all day yesterday cleaning empty walnuts out of the enclosed floor of our sun room where come to find out a Raccoon has been living. Didn't realize they ate walnuts. Three (yes 3) 15 gallon shop vac bags full. HVAC ducts chewed all to.... Stinks like ..... I really hate walnut trees after living with 50 for the last 13 years. Last to leaf out, first to drop.
    R :patriot:
     

    wabash

    Sharpshooter
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    8   0   0
    Apr 8, 2008
    665
    18
    SouthWest Indiana
    our walnut tree is slow to turn green in the spring. almost like it died over the winter,....... then here come the leaves.

    don't know if that is due to some biological adaptation/advantage. ?
     

    littletommy

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    Aug 29, 2009
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    A holler in Kentucky
    I bought a house in 1998 that had a large walnut tree in the back yard, I hated that thing, and wished I could get rid of it, but due to its location, it would have cost a fortune to have it taken down. Fast forward to Memorial Day weekend, 2004, when a tornado went through and took that tree down.....I was finally rid of that god forsaken tree......but was also in the process of moving my stuff out of the house thanks to a divorce! The tree actually damaged the box van I was using to move out!:):
     

    1911ly

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    Dec 11, 2011
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    South Bend
    I have had a few years in the last 20 where the trees did not produce any nuts. I have about 10 that the FIL planted back in the 60's for a rainy day fund if needed later in life. Hopefully the kids or grand kids will have a good pay day in the future.
     

    patience0830

    .22 magician
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    Nov 3, 2008
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    Not far from the tree
    June drop of immature nuts is normal. As mentioned, they're the last to leaf out and among the first to lose the leaves. Not an ideal landscape tree.Google "nut weasel" for a clean up tool. Looks like a mini golf ball retriever. Works better than crawling around on hands and knees.
    I ALWAYS do my best to bust as many nuts as possible with a rifle. Good practice for squirrel heads!
     

    bocefus78

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    Apr 9, 2014
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    Hamilton Co.
    From my limited experience it's somewhat normal. Especially with our dry conditions lately. It can also be the aborted nuts that didn't get pollinated from my very limited reading.
     

    Tactically Fat

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    Oct 8, 2014
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    Indiana
    There are a few of those trees in my 'hood as well - and I've seen plenty of quite small walnuts on the ground beneath them.

    We've had a lot of strong winds this spring. I'm blaming that.
     

    T.Lex

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    Mar 30, 2011
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    Just when I thought INGO had gotten beyond the black/white issue....

    (I keed, I keed.)

    :)
     

    Dave Doehrman

    Expert
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    Aug 17, 2010
    987
    18
    Fort Wayne
    I've got about 30 Black Walnut trees on the back half of my property. I promised the son of the previous owners that I wouldn't cut down any walnut trees unless I had to. His mom and dad loved them and planted a new seedling every year.

    My trees seem to run in cycles as far as producing and not producing nuts each year. 2013 I had walnuts almost the size of tennis balls. 2014 was ok, but 2015 and 2016 didn't produce many nuts. With all the May rain we had it looks like 2017 will be another good production year. There is a false belief that all Black Walnut trees are very valuable. Yard trees or fence row trees are not very valuable at all. The high value trees are out in the middle of the woods or forests where they are straight, tall, free of lower limbs and not full of nails, fence staples, BBs and .22 caliber slugs.

    I don't complain about the mess in the Fall. I have a 60" PTO mower on my tractor. It sounds like machine gun fire when I mow around the walnuts, but it is amazing how clean and polished the underside of my mower deck gets in the Fall. After I mow with the tractor, I take my zero-turn back and run over the area just to get the deck cleaned up on it too. It looks like I could prime and paint the decks without any further cleanup.
     

    gunworks321

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    69   0   0
    Nov 25, 2008
    1,077
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    Noblesville
    One thing that occurred this Spring was the late freeze in May. The pollination was taking effect around that time and the pollinating fronds on my English walnut trees froze before pollination was complete. Several weeks ago, the ground was literally covered with young walnuts and they have continued to fall since then. High winds didn't help the situation. I probably lost over half my crop this year. This happened about five years ago and the entire crop was affected.
    As an aside, if you go out I-74 by the first Brownsburg exit heading west and look off to the South you will see an impressive walnut grove which was planted somewhere around the mid 90's. I watched them being planted, growth has been steady and high winds don't seem to have had any impact. Might be worth a stop to talk to the landowner. I suspect it is for lumber harvest somewhere down the road.
     

    two70

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    Feb 5, 2016
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    Johnson
    One thing that occurred this Spring was the late freeze in May. The pollination was taking effect around that time and the pollinating fronds on my English walnut trees froze before pollination was complete. Several weeks ago, the ground was literally covered with young walnuts and they have continued to fall since then. High winds didn't help the situation. I probably lost over half my crop this year. This happened about five years ago and the entire crop was affected.
    As an aside, if you go out I-74 by the first Brownsburg exit heading west and look off to the South you will see an impressive walnut grove which was planted somewhere around the mid 90's. I watched them being planted, growth has been steady and high winds don't seem to have had any impact. Might be worth a stop to talk to the landowner. I suspect it is for lumber harvest somewhere down the road.

    Yes, incomplete pollination is the likely cause. In addition to the late freeze, most of the state received a lot of heavy spring rain which can also hamper and prevent complete pollination.
     
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