trees. Will they grow in Las Vegas?
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| Mark Ruben at the Gilcrease Orchard with peanuts. |
A. Filbert is a type of a hazelnut and will have a tough
time here. I have seen them growing in the mountains of the Caucuses where it
is cool rather than the lower, hot elevations of Armenia. There is a variety of
filbert called Willamette which tells you a little bit about what kind of
conditions (Willamette Valley of Oregon) they prefer.
two filberts (male and female) at the orchard several years ago. They were
given to me, reluctantly, by Dave Wilson Nursery to try after I pleaded several
times to obtain them for testing. They warned me that they would not work. I
pulled them from the orchard after the first season due to a lack of vigor.
trees were not in good shape when I planted them and they really struggled for
one season demonstrating leaf scorch and just some really bad stress even
though they were in the middle of the orchard, the soil was composted and
mulched.
have liked to try them again with some trees that were in better condition from
the beginning. This time I would put some shade cloth over them for the first
season until they got established and demonstrated some strong growth. Then I
would remove the shade cloth in the fall when it is cooler and let them
acclimate though the fall and following spring.
season, if they appear to be healthy, I would not put shade cloth on them
unless they looked like they lost some vigor. After the second season, it is “sink
or swim” and no shade cloth would be used.
Nuts which will grow in the Las Vegas climate include almonds, pistachios, walnuts, pecans, pine nuts (both from Pinon and Italian stone pine) and even peanuts! In our desert climate because of water issues and space limitations it is best to focus on the smaller nut trees like almond, pistachio and pine nuts rather than the larger types like walnut and pecan. Peanuts grow underground on a vine and grow well here.