I want to grow some Filberts and get nuts from them. I know I have to both male and female. The main question is can they be grown in large, 15-25 gallon containers? I wish I was willing to plant them in the gorund but not owning the house has me not wanting to get them started and then have to leave them. Also, does anyone have any suggestions for the right ones to grow in Western Wahsington? I don't care how big the nuts just that they are edible and will tolerate this wet cold climate.
You sure know how to title a post to get a person's attention. I could see trees growing in 25 gal. containers, and you lugging them about! So, to satisfy my aroused curiosity, I found this article that may be of slight help to you: http://www.arthurleej.com/a-hazels.html It seems filberts are "a hazelnut with a college education." Read the article to find out more.
WOW, quite the article and not one that encourages any attempt to grow them in large pots for sure. Maybe if I kept them as smaller bushes they might do okay but 15-25 feet average for native species is quite large to even attempt. I think I would have to recruit half my fmaily to move a large one. That would be quite the site, 4 uncles, 10 cousins and whomever else holding long boards to try and transport this huge bushy tree full of unripe nuts!
Corylus was a flop for me as bonsai. Leaves are too big. Too multi-stemmed. My guess is your looking at a half-wine barrel for a planter. Making portability a problem.
Actually I was looking at half of 50-55 gallon barrels. Too large to transport without a forklift. I did get some good information from the local extension for some to try. Sounds like a good variety of hazels is best so that something is blooming when the catkins are throwing off pollen.
Just think if you bonsai other things they flower in normal size and fruit in normal size. I did 3 in 5 gallon pots. They are contorted. I had them in the pots for 18 years. I had catkins but never anything else. They were kept about 2 or 3 feet and did fine. Now after all that time, we planted them in the yard. I now have about 6 planted in the ground. (I love them) The new ones and the old ones are growing up all the same. I do keep them on the shorter side. I do that with my contorted willow also. It goes abut 5 foot. Barb in Pa.
