Germinating a Hazelnut

here is a picture of a typical hazel tree, the one I am referring to...

 

@miraflores - congrats on your new baby (tree). I would certainly bring it in at night, particularly when it's so young and to avoid any slight risk of frost. In nature of course it's tough outside, but I see no reason not to "molly coddle" them a little in their early days, then gently toughen them up. Give them every chance, etc. BTW, do you have yours in a deep pot? Mine are - the pot must be at least 20cm as both Horse Chestnut and Hazel (amongst many others) produce a long tap root - if that is confined in a short pot it will become deformed and not be able to properly support the tree when it is finally planted outside.

@Sian - so would you advise hardening them off so early in their lives? My Hazel is only a couple of weeks old, the Horse Chestnuts only 10 and 4 days old (approximately).

Thanks to both of you on the turning tip.

 

I would want to have them outside, maybe next to a wall, ASAP - as much for the natural light, as anything. Our human eyes are very good at coping with artificial and defused light, but plants need good light. Think how quickly they will lean towards a window.

The problem with them being indoors is that the growth will be too quick, too leggy, and too soft. In a bedding plant, this is less important, in that they are a short-lived plant. But your trees need to put down good strong stems, as these will be their trunks!

From what I remember when I was reading about bonsai growers, they keep their young plants outside as soon as possible.

We are due some relatively mild nights over the coming week (at least here in the Low Countries) as soon as the nights are in double-figures, I would hope that they will be happy enough outside thought the night.... I'm sure there are guides somewhere on the forum on how to harden off plants appropriately.

Anyway, time for me to tuck myself up for the night!

 

it is still soaking in water at the moment

 

Thanks Sian, from tomorrow I'll start taking them outside during the day and bringing them inside at night. Once the night temperature is forecast to be no lower than 10C I'll leave them out at night too. However, that does bring an additional worry - any rodents, etc that may fancy a nibble. There are fields close to my property so they will bring mice and rats - or don't they tend to nibble on young saplings?

Also, presumably there's no need to keep them out of strong winds? It gets very windy in my current location. Perhaps only bring them inside if there's a gale?

Finally, how about sunlight - I can put them in a location that gets the sun all day (when it's sunny ..... ), a location that's shade all day, or a location that's shade for half the day and sun the rest (and vice versa).

 

Ok...

i think they will have passed the main risk from rodents - ie they are no longer seen by wildlife as nuts! You may get a few aphids, but these are successful plants, that will regularly take over flowerbeds, field edges, and are very common in hedgerows...

Strong winds should only be a risk if the pot is in danger of falling over. So if using a plastic pot, make sure that there are crocks in the base to add stability, if it will be exposed to high winds.

I would go for semi shade.... This is more as a way of keeping the roots cool, and helping with the watering, more than the actual sun. Half a day of full sunlight would be great, because even when it is in shade, there will be more "useful" light getting to the plant than on an average windowsill. Whilst the trees will grow in full sun, full sun, with drying wind, and constricted roots would all put extra strain on the plant.

Looking forward to photo updates!

 

Thanks for the advice, much appreciated.

As for putting crocks in the pots - sadly I forgot to put any in one of the three plastic pots. Not sure that I want to take the risk of de-potting it to pop some in (I worry that something will go wrong and I'll end up breaking the tree - they are in long 20cm pots) so I'll have to find another way to anchor that one down in strong winds (or just move it to a sheltered spot when it's really windy).

I'll take some photos when the trees are a bit bigger.