Tag Archives: Currants

A New Home for Hazelnuts & Currants

hazelnut-springBoth the Corylus americana aka ‘American Hazelnuts’ and the Red Lake Currants are just now waking up. I decided to give them a more permanent home. The 3 gallon pots were ok for last year (I picked both up last spring) but they really need something larger if they are going to do anything.

I planted the hazelnuts rather closely, probably about 6′ apart. I am hoping to end up with an elongated patch. IF any nuts are to be had I expect they will go to the squirrels.

The currants are the same ones that I took some cuttings from that have recently rooted. A part sun/part shade spot near the back door should do them nicely. I added 1/3 worm castings to the soil that went into the hole for each. The rest of the castings I will save for some roses that are due in the next few weeks.

Update: Current Cuttings – Day 25

Good news and bad news. First the good news.

4 of the 6 treated cuttings and 1 of the 6 non-treated cuttings have several roots between 1/2″ and 1″ long. I’ve separated them out into their own pots. I did notice a couple of the non treated cuttings had what looked like bumps that will soon be roots. There is a lot of new growth and I’ve already had to pick off blooms.

Now for the bad news. I believe there is a fungus among us. The leaves started turning a bit dark and wilting on some of the cuttings, mostly the older leaves.. It happened almost overnight. I mixed up a peroxide/water spray and treated them. Not sure if it will make a difference or not. I should have opened up the plastic covers earlier. Some of the leaves got so big they were up against the plastic and stayed pretty wet due to the condensation. I knew better than to let that happen but ended up getting busy and forgetting I wanted to do something about it. The next time I try this I am going to use 2 liter soda bottles with the bottom cut off to keep the humidity up. I can leave the cap off and get more air flow.

I had ended up swapping out the 40 watt bulb for a 60 watt bulb in the rooting chamber. I was able to keep the soil at a pretty constant 72 F throughout.