Author Topic: Got Macadamia Nuts?  (Read 5692 times)

spaugh

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Got Macadamia Nuts?
« on: April 24, 2019, 08:05:23 PM »
My buddies tree is flowering nicely, thought I would share a pic.  Im trying to grow some of his seeds. 


Brad Spaugh

starch

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Re: Got Macadamia Nuts?
« Reply #1 on: April 24, 2019, 08:14:17 PM »
Whoa, that is a beaut!! Is that Patrick's tree?
- Mark

spaugh

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Re: Got Macadamia Nuts?
« Reply #2 on: April 24, 2019, 08:15:40 PM »
Its a friend in los angeles county.  He isnt on the forum.  The trees is 30 years old. 
Brad Spaugh

Johnny Eat Fruit

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Re: Got Macadamia Nuts?
« Reply #3 on: April 24, 2019, 10:01:14 PM »
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

roblack

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Re: Got Macadamia Nuts?
« Reply #4 on: April 24, 2019, 10:01:44 PM »
looks like the Tin Man is hiding in the bushes

roblack

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Re: Got Macadamia Nuts?
« Reply #5 on: April 24, 2019, 10:02:22 PM »


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JoeP450

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Re: Got Macadamia Nuts?
« Reply #6 on: April 24, 2019, 10:02:54 PM »
I don’t have macadamia nuts yet... plan to put one in on my front island flower bed as center piece so it can grow large, the flowers are ornamental and smell great supposedly https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0O_weMo6gDg

Do you know which cultivars have the pink flowers?


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spaugh

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Re: Got Macadamia Nuts?
« Reply #7 on: April 24, 2019, 10:12:42 PM »
looks like the Tin Man is hiding in the bushes

Haha, stick your hand in there and grab some nuts.

Those keep rodents off the tree.
Brad Spaugh

strkpr00

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Re: Got Macadamia Nuts?
« Reply #8 on: April 24, 2019, 10:28:28 PM »
Too many squirrels for me to get a bag of nuts.  They like them in the forming stage, far too green to be useful. :'(

wslau

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Re: Got Macadamia Nuts?
« Reply #9 on: April 24, 2019, 11:32:58 PM »
I don’t have macadamia nuts yet... plan to put one in on my front island flower bed as center piece so it can grow large, the flowers are ornamental and smell great supposedly https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0O_weMo6gDg

Do you know which cultivars have the pink flowers?


-joep450


Beaumont is the variety with pink flowers.
Warren

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Re: Got Macadamia Nuts?
« Reply #10 on: April 25, 2019, 02:12:49 AM »
First year in ground
Bought from Atkins nursery. Dont know cultivar name




Jack, Nipomo

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Re: Got Macadamia Nuts?
« Reply #11 on: April 25, 2019, 09:15:51 AM »
M. tetraphylla varieties mostly have the pink flowers, M. integrifolia are white/cream.  Beaumont tends to drop nuts over the year, whereas others drop them at one time.  For me, the tetraphylla varieties are much more productive. 

Recent tour here found in our newsletter http://www.crfg-central.org/newsletters.html


Coach62

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Re: Got Macadamia Nuts?
« Reply #12 on: April 25, 2019, 08:35:15 PM »
Too many squirrels for me to get a bag of nuts.  They like them in the forming stage, far too green to be useful. :'(

Either bag them, or electrify some chicken wire around it.
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Bruce

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Re: Got Macadamia Nuts?
« Reply #13 on: May 03, 2019, 09:50:37 PM »
Brad - They are slow growing initially and then they get large. I have a few large trees and there are a few more around the neighborhood. Low water once established.

FV Fruit Freak

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Re: Got Macadamia Nuts?
« Reply #14 on: May 04, 2019, 03:46:02 PM »
Not yet...but I’ve got two Mac kids in the ground that seem pretty happy so hopefully next season or the next it’ll be raining nuts 🤞🏽
« Last Edit: February 22, 2020, 04:08:43 AM by FV Fruit Freak »
Nate

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Re: Got Macadamia Nuts?
« Reply #15 on: May 04, 2019, 04:35:14 PM »
I'm growing cate and cooper(cooper's nut house) both are excellent nuts and squirrels sometimes let me have a few @#$%ss

FV Fruit Freak

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Re: Got Macadamia Nuts?
« Reply #16 on: May 04, 2019, 05:42:35 PM »
First year in ground
Bought from Atkins nursery. Dont know cultivar name




Congrats on the flower! Maybe a Cate with the white flower, it seems a lot of nursery’s sell Cate’s in SD, I got my Cate from Clausen.
Nate

Johnny Eat Fruit

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Re: Got Macadamia Nuts?
« Reply #17 on: May 04, 2019, 10:28:25 PM »
Clausen only sells seedlings so it will be a variation of Cate.

Best to buy known grafted varieties in my opinion.

The two Macadamia Trees I have are from Atkins Nursery which sells Grafted Trees.

With Seedling, you take a chance and it takes 7-8 years to come into production.  My grafted trees started producing a small amount of fruit after 3-4 years.

Johnny

FV Fruit Freak

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Re: Got Macadamia Nuts?
« Reply #18 on: May 04, 2019, 11:27:33 PM »
Yep, a better variation! Haha ;) I bought the seedlings a couple years ago when I was still a rookie in this game and didn’t understand the whole seedling vs grafted/air layering thing, and of course the sellers didn’t “educate” me. You live and you learn...

Cheers
Nate

FV Fruit Freak

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Re: Got Macadamia Nuts?
« Reply #19 on: May 05, 2019, 12:03:49 AM »
Clausen only sells seedlings so it will be a variation of Cate.

Best to buy known grafted varieties in my opinion.

The two Macadamia Trees I have are from Atkins Nursery which sells Grafted Trees.

With Seedling, you take a chance and it takes 7-8 years to come into production.  My grafted trees started producing a small amount of fruit after 3-4 years.

Johnny



Would be interesting to compare the flavor of my seedling vs your grafted once my trees start to fruit, if you’re game.
Nate

Jack, Nipomo

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Re: Got Macadamia Nuts?
« Reply #20 on: May 05, 2019, 09:04:34 AM »
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.

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Re: Got Macadamia Nuts?
« Reply #21 on: May 05, 2019, 09:13:57 AM »
I used mechanics wire for slow girdling for grafting macs,it's on only for month or two at the most.

JoeP450

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Re: Got Macadamia Nuts?
« Reply #22 on: May 05, 2019, 12:12:43 PM »



New Beaumont planted out today, thanks for info guys.

-Joep450

Johnny Eat Fruit

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Re: Got Macadamia Nuts?
« Reply #23 on: May 05, 2019, 07:03:01 PM »
The two grafted varieties I purchased from Atkins Nursery are Beaumont and a new Cultivar called "Alba". Alba was developed by a guy named Snyder who is now passed away. The folks at Atkins renamed it Alba and I was told its main character is good production of large quality nuts. I can say also based on my experience that it also grows very fast. I planted my Alba in early 2015 and it is already nearly as tall and wide as my Beaumont that has been in the ground twice as long.  Both trees look quite different with the Beaumont producing red and pink flowers and new growth while the Alba is white flowers with green new growth (see the photos for comparison) Looking forward to tasting the Alba nut later this year and I will compare it to my Beaumont.

As for folks planting seedling Macadamia trees, they will have a long long wait for nut production with an untested variety. In my view, it's not worth the risk or long wait time.

The First photo is my Beaumont in April during flowering and the second photo I just took today of my Alba.

Johnny


Beaumont Macadamia


Alba Macadamia

FV Fruit Freak

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Re: Got Macadamia Nuts?
« Reply #24 on: May 08, 2019, 12:13:05 AM »
I suppose if the nuts are inferior I could graft a true Beaumont, cate, or whatever other cultivar I wanted onto the seedling rootstock, correct?
Nate