Pictured above is a section of the grafted heartnut nursery. The trees grow straight in the shelters.
The heartnut is a seed sport of the Japanese walnut. Rather than the normal egg shaped Japanese walnut shell, the heartnut is a flattened heart-shaped nut that readily splits in two halves. When rapped on the edge, it opens like a locket, easily releasing the kernel. All of our selections have rated highly for cracking quality, nut quality and productiveness. The heart shape with the good cracking quality may not come true in the seedlings as it does in the grafted trees. Heartnuts are generally hardier than Persian walnuts and have great commercial potential in the Great Lakes fruit growing region, a climate similar to its native Japan. In our test plots, our super selections have produced the equivalent of 1700 lb/acre at 10 years old. One young tree at 21 years of age produced 260 pounds. We estimate that at maturity, these trees are capable of producing an average of one to three tons per acre, equivalent to California walnut production. They are a low cost management crop, readily machine harvested, husked and cracked. If only two grafted cultivars are desired, be sure to order an early pollinator to match with a late pollinator for best cross pollination. Appropriate size Plantra tree shelters will help maintain upright form on 1-2 and 2-3 foot trees in the first year or two. Winter protect grafted area of the tree for the first 2-3 years in the colder zones of 5b-6a. Seedling trees are suited for zones 4b-7.