Got Macadamia Nuts?

[FV Fruit Freak]

Thanks Johnny for pointing that out (seedlings sold as named variety).  One nursery that sells through Home Depot sells macadamias labelled as "Cate".  In the small print on the label it says "seedling".  It is a shame that a professional nursery would sell seedlings with a known varietal name.  After 10 - 12 years of care for that seedling you do not know what you will end up with.  After 12 years and you have poor crops, deformed nuts, etc. then what?  As an experiment, growing out a seedling can be informative, for better or worse.  There is a reason credible nurseries sell grafted trees: predictable results.  A farmer would not make an investment in a grove of seedlings with unpredictable results.  To graft a macadamia requires girdling the scionwood months ahead of cutting to obtain good results.  That little grafted tree will be more expensive than a seedling.  4-5 years later with the grafted tree you should begin to see production.  Double that time with a seedling and add in water and care.  Then what?  Fortunately nurseries do not (yet) sell seedling apples, oranges, plums, etc as named varieties.  It would be easier and cheaper to just plant a seed and label the plant as a Red Delicious, for example. As in most things in life, you make a choice.  A seedling is a bad one.

Ever tasted a macadamia nut from seed Jack? Just curious. Thanks.

[Johnny Eat Fruit]

Grafting Macadamia trees is notoriously difficult. The scions must be prepared months in advance. This is why most young macadamia trees being sold today are seedlings which are way easier to grow. There is one guy at Atkins Nursery that does macadamia grafting well and has the experience. Getting grafted varieties is sometimes difficult as inventory is often low but it is worth the effort. Cate is also a good tree and is heavily planted in California due to it's high adaptability and consistent production qualities in this mild Mediterranean climate. I have no idea how many of these trates will be passed on to Cate seedling trees as there are many variables.

Also Macadamia trees do not like heavy clay soil so if you have this type like I do then you will need to replace the clay soil or heavily amend it with pumice to help break it up and improve permeability. Replacing a large area (48" X 48" x 16 Deep) with new Sandy loam soil is the preferred method. This also applies to most sub tropical fruit trees, including mangoes,  based on my experience.

Johnny

[zands]

I have been told they are hard to shell  and you will spend all day shelling them like black walnuts. So turn on your boob tube or (I suppose) NPR. Buy a steel dental pick or two on ebay to pull out the itty bitty pieces

[Jack, Nipomo]

I have 45 or so macadamias, about 5 are seedlings. The rest are grafted with around 15 varieties.  Some seedlings do well, have good taste, good production, etc.  Some do not.  Lots of time invested in these trees to experience the final outcome as to whether it is a good tree or not.  Some have been cut down (shell does not close completely leaving opening for bacteria/fungal infection...happened twice).  Nuts fall, dry, and are easy to crack.  Fresh nuts are edible, tasting somewhat like coconut, not firm in texture.  Fresh nuts are more difficult to crack as the shell yields to pressure.  Dry, no problem.  A vise, vise grips, hammer works well.  There are special crackers with leverage due to the hard shell.  In no way are they like a black walnut as the round kernal comes out in one piece.  Don't know how or why you would use a dental pick.  Hard shell is a fact, but crack easily if they are dry, or roasted.  A very nice evergreen tree with few pests.  My biggest problem is tree rats that also enjoy the nuts being able to gnaw into the shell when it is soft.  Screened (for birds) rat traps in the trees are effective.

[zands]

I have 45 or so macadamias, about 5 are seedlings. The rest are grafted with around 15 varieties.  Some seedlings do well, have good taste, good production, etc.  Some do not.  Lots of time invested in these trees to experience the final outcome as to whether it is a good tree or not.  Some have been cut down (shell does not close completely leaving opening for bacteria/fungal infection...happened twice).  Nuts fall, dry, and are easy to crack.  Fresh nuts are edible, tasting somewhat like coconut, not firm in texture.  Fresh nuts are more difficult to crack as the shell yields to pressure.  Dry, no problem.  A vise, vise grips, hammer works well.  There are special crackers with leverage due to the hard shell.  In no way are they like a black walnut as the round kernal comes out in one piece.  Don't know how or why you would use a dental pick.  Hard shell is a fact, but crack easily if they are dry, or roasted.  A very nice evergreen tree with few pests.  My biggest problem is tree rats that also enjoy the nuts being able to gnaw into the shell when it is soft.  Screened (for birds) rat traps in the trees are effective.

Vise grips are the best. A south Florida friend got minimal actually retrievable and edible nut-meats out of his Macadamia tree. It was tedious. The professional Macadamia growers in Hawaii + elsewhere must irrigate and fertilize maximally for larger nuts that can be cracked open and intact on an industrial scale.

But in good news pistachio trees have been over planted in California, rains have been good and prices are down. Down $2 from last year...at Aldi

[FV Fruit Freak]

I have 45 or so macadamias, about 5 are seedlings. The rest are grafted with around 15 varieties.  Some seedlings do well, have good taste, good production, etc.  Some do not.  Lots of time invested in these trees to experience the final outcome as to whether it is a good tree or not.  Some have been cut down (shell does not close completely leaving opening for bacteria/fungal infection...happened twice).  Nuts fall, dry, and are easy to crack.  Fresh nuts are edible, tasting somewhat like coconut, not firm in texture.  Fresh nuts are more difficult to crack as the shell yields to pressure.  Dry, no problem.  A vise, vise grips, hammer works well.  There are special crackers with leverage due to the hard shell.  In no way are they like a black walnut as the round kernal comes out in one piece.  Don't know how or why you would use a dental pick.  Hard shell is a fact, but crack easily if they are dry, or roasted.  A very nice evergreen tree with few pests.  My biggest problem is tree rats that also enjoy the nuts being able to gnaw into the shell when it is soft.  Screened (for birds) rat traps in the trees are effective.

Thanks a lot for all the info Jack, much appreciated! Looks like I’ve got some Vegas odds to deal with on these seedlings. Happy growing mate.

[Jack, Nipomo]

Not an issue, if your tree is producing inferior nuts, top work it.  The growth from the mature rootstock will cause the grafted scions to take off incredibly.  Couple of years (maybe less) you have a different tree producing known nut quality.  I do have several seedling trees that provide quite decent nuts, so there is still a good chance.

[mangoba]

Yea, Macadamia Trees are very Pretty when they put out new flowers.

Here is a photo of my much smaller and younger (8 years) old Beaumont Macadamia Tree.

Should have some nice nuts in the fall.

Johnny


Beaumont Macadamia Tree, April 2019

Johnny, my tiny seedling shows similar yellowing, is yours caused by salt burn?

[mangoba]

Brad, have you planted any macadamias yet?

[spaugh]

Yeah i got a seedling going thats like 15ft tall already and I topped already a few times.  Its pretty vigorous.  No flowers but Im think this year will be the year. 

Its planted out in a far corner of the yard and doesnt get any attention at all.  Just water and I threw a handful of avocado fertilizer on it once a year.  Its 3 years old now and its gotten really large already. 

[Johnny Eat Fruit]

My Beaumont Macadamia nut tree grew well in 2022. Just put on a new flush recently. My tree is now 10 years old.

I watered the tree very well this year. Also applied mealworm castings and azomite; the growth has been lush green. In previous drought years when I did not water enough the growth as not as good and was pale green. 

Johnny


Beaumont Mac Tree, October 2022