My black walnut split in half is this supposed to happen? Is it gonna die? (((( Is it like a pea and it has 2 embryos inside?Chatgpt says no but I bet it doesn't know there's nobody talking about this. Those with walnut experience please help. Thank you for your time.
I don't know the answer Jessy. We had a similar discussion about split peas ( https://permies.com/t/272537/sprout-split-peas) and concluded that one half often is still viable. If I were you I would plant the half that looks like it has the growing shoot, it may well still grow. The other half is certainly compost though.
they do split open when the root first comes out. generally it stays as one piece so the young plant can continue to pull energy out of both halves of the nut.
I am curious about the angle of the root though. Was this black walnut planted in a pot? I used to pull up unwanted ones in the field and was amazed by the long tap root. The hull was split in half but I also pulled this from 2" deep.
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Black walnut sprout
Zone 6, 45 inches precipitation, hard clay soil
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