How Many Years After Planting Do Large Hazelnuts Bear Fruit?

The hazelnut, also known as the mountain chestnut, sharp chestnut or chui nut, is the fruit of the hazelnut tree, a deciduous shrub or small tree of the genus Corylus in the birch family. So, how many years until large hazelnuts bear fruit?

1. How many years until large hazelnuts bear fruit?

Hazelnut seedlings grown from seed generally begin to bear fruit 3 to 5 years after planting, while vegetatively propagated hazelnut seedlings begin to bear fruit 2 to 3 years after planting. Both enter their full fruiting period after more than 7 years, and the life of a clump can reach more than 50 years.

2. Growth Habits of the Hazelnut Tree

1. Temperature: Different species of hazelnut trees have different temperature requirements. The European hazel prefers a warm, humid climate. It is suited to areas with an average temperature of 13 to 15°C, an absolute minimum of -10°C, and extreme high temperatures of 38°C. Ping'ou hybrids are more cold-resistant than the European hazel and are suitable for cultivation in areas with an average annual temperature of 7.5 to 13°C and a minimum temperature that can reach -30°C.

2. Light: The hazelnut tree is a light-loving plant and generally requires an annual sunshine duration of more than 2100 hours; otherwise, flower bud formation is reduced and yields are low.

3. Soil: The hazelnut tree prefers to grow on fertile, well-aerated sandy loam soil. Ping'ou hybrids in particular have high soil requirements; dry sandy soil, heavy clay soil, marshland, saline land and low-lying land are all unsuitable for establishing a hazelnut orchard. Ping'ou hybrids require a soil pH of 6.5 to 7.5, while the European hazel requires 5.5 to 7.

4. Propagation: The branches of the hazelnut tree root easily, and adventitious buds readily sprout into root suckers. Therefore, layering or grafting is usually used to propagate nursery stock. For early spring layering, use vigorous one-year-old sprouting branches; for June layering, use current-year young branches as material. For grafted seedlings, flat hazel (Corylus heterophylla) seedlings are mostly used as rootstock.

5. Characteristics: The leaves of the hazelnut are alternate, broadly ovate to broadly obovate, with irregular double serrations along the edges, hairless on the upper surface, and with short, soft hairs on the veins beneath, 5-13cm long and 4-7cm wide; the petiole is 1-2cm long and densely covered with fine hairs; the stipules are small and tend to fall early. The flowers are unisexual and monoecious; the male flowers are catkins, bright purplish brown, with yellow anthers; the female flowers are in clusters of 2-6 at the tips of the branches, and when flowering they are enclosed within scaly buds, so that only two red styles can be seen.

Hazelnut kernels are rich in nutrition and contain a variety of nutrients, whose components are mainly found in the hazelnut shell and the hazelnut kernel.