Almonds

Discussion in 'Planting, growing, nurturing Plants' started by frosty, Jun 2, 2008.

  1. frosty

    frosty Junior Member

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    Can you grow an almond tree from an almond ?

    common sense says it must grow but is there any special conditions needed?

    we already have 3 almond trees that struggle a bit and dont often bear almonds - we mulch arround them with straw and horse manure and water them with drippers in summer.

    yet down the road they have many trees and sell almonds locally - they dont water them and say they dont use chemical fertiliser. His trees look less healthy than ours.

    I am wondering if it is the type of tree so hoping to try and grow a tree or 2 from some of his almonds. THe added bonus is that his are soft shelled almonds called paper shell

    thanks
    frosty
     
  2. gardenaholic

    gardenaholic Junior Member

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    Re: Almonds

    This is from Jackie French's book, New plants from old.

    almonds need some chilling, a well drained soil and freedon from late spring frost. Sow the fresh seed where the tree is to grow. Graft onto the gowing seedling if you decide to graft.
     
  3. SueinWA

    SueinWA Junior Member

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    Re: Almonds

    Almonds need hot summers and cool winters, no temperatures below -17C, and no freezing temps after the flowers form. The trees are not self-pollinating, so you would need more than one variety. Bee hives are usually placed in each orchard during bloom for pollination.

    I'm guessing that your trees are all the same kind, and you need a compatible variety that blooms at the same time for cross-pollination.

    Sue
     
  4. colours

    colours Junior Member

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    Re: Almonds

    just regarding germination, I chucked 3 almonds in a pot, watered and covered in a bag. 2 germinated for me on mother's day and one germinated this weekend. All very strong healthy seedlings. I'm chuffed, cant comment on the fruit yet though. Might grab a nut from another source and so the same to provide for cross-pollination. They have grown about 15 cm in about 2 weeks.
     
  5. Comfrey

    Comfrey Junior Member

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    Re: Almonds

    Hi
    Almonds self-seed quite happily in the right conditions.
    Do you think it is possible the almonds might prefer less manure and water? Don't know what others think. Hereabouts we grow them with no watering and very hot, dry summers, cold winters. They like the mountain climate.
    Are your neighbours close? Bees may be cross-pollinating your trees and theirs in any case.
    As far as I know (just from observation of the few thousand trees I can see on my way to the veggie garden and a few chats with growers) the varieties that have the larger nuts produce fewer fruit, but that may just be something local to here.
    Also, it might depend on the age of your trees, they take a while to get going. If yours are young, they might be producing a lot of leaves and new growth, less fruit: looking better, but not producing so much.
    Do they blossom well?
    Finally, it might depend on how you prune them, if you are pruning them. Might be worth checking out what your neighbours do.
     

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