In early autumn, the main question that interests all walnut growers is when it is possible to collect walnuts. Some want to sell the crop faster or start processing earlier than competitors, others want to harvest the crop before unscrupulous people have gathered it. The reasons are different and most are justified.
Botanically speaking, walnuts ripen while still on the tree, before the green pericarp begins to crack. Outwardly, it is impossible to distinguish a mature unripe nut, therefore it is better to focus on cracking the green peel – if it begins to crack on individual fruits, then they are ripe and you can harvest from the whole tree.
Other signs of ripeness of the walnut:
– the shell is hard, the inner partitions have darkened and become brown, the kernel is heavy and moist;
– yellowed leaves (if it is not associated with diseases and pests).
Walnut ripens at different times depending on the region and variety of walnut. In the south, nuts tend to ripen earlier due to the warmer climate. Also, the nut can ripen in different ways if it grows in a city or in a field, on a hill or in a lowland. Therefore, no one will tell the exact timing of the ripening of the nut.
What happens if the nut is picked too early?
An unripe nut has an incompletely formed kernel, which threatens quality problems. With a high degree of probability, the kernel of an unripe nut will simply shrivel and darken during drying or storage. Buyers call such a kernel “confectionery” or “crackers” and pay little for it, or even do not buy at all.
If so, it happened that the walnut was harvested too early, it can be left to ripen in a dark, warm place. Of course, this applies to a small amount of nuts and in case this happened by accident or ignorance. It is not recommended to purposefully harvest unripe nuts, as this affects the quality and you can simply waste time and lose the harvest.
It is important to watch for signs of maturity, as the ripening of a nut is influenced by the nut variety, growing region and climatic conditions. The quality of the nut and its shelf life depend on the timeliness of the collection – too early collection threatens to dry out the kernel, and late – it darkens.
How do you determine the ripeness of a nut?
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