Walnuts washed up on the beach. Will they sprout? Let's find out?

Beachcombing is a favorite pastime of mine. Today I spotted a walnut mixed in with the debris.

"Alright," I said, "I'll give you a try." "And you, and you, and you..." until my pocket was full.

There was a good number of walnuts actually. We've had a couple typhoons and a heavy, heavy rain storm since I was last at this spot.

These walnuts could have washed down one of the many nearby rivers and then back onto the beach. Or they could have travelled many miles across the sea from a mysterious island full of heretofore undiscovered walnut species.

We'll just have to try and sprout them and see what they can do. I will start them a soaking and put them in the fridge for stratification. Will probably take them out around March, so stay tuned!

That's a fun idea. Keep us posted on how it turns out. Are walnuts normally grown in Japan?

Looking forward to the results! As said already please keep us posted.

I'm also interested on the outcome.

Mike Barkley wrote:That's a fun idea. Keep us posted on how it turns out. Are walnuts normally grown in Japan?

Yes, but underutilized.

hau Amy, what a fun experiment! I'll be watching for your additions to this thread to see how this project goes.

Redhawk

those have husk already removed, either they been washing for a while or popped out of a cargo container, or who knows or I don't know what I'm talking about
the walnuts that fall from trees in Appalachia  have very tough husks, that turn black,  outside nutshell. kinda like a coconut

This leads me to ponder weather walnuts have spread around the world, on ocean currents, the way that coconuts and sea beans have.

Ryan Hobbs wrote:I'm also interested on the outcome.

Mike Barkley wrote:That's a fun idea. Keep us posted on how it turns out. Are walnuts normally grown in Japan?

Yes, but underutilized.

As Ryan said, yes there are walnuts here. They are kind of reserved for special occasions like New year's. And it's something that is usually foraged.

Most nuts in the supermarket are imported and shelled, but my husband did find two different species of walnut for sale at an obscure farmer's market on a business trip. He snatched those up, and we sprouted some this year. We stratified too many so there are still a bunch in the fridge ....

bruce Fine wrote:those have husk already removed, either they been washing for a while or popped out of a cargo container, or who knows or I don't know what I'm talking about
the walnuts that fall from trees in Appalachia  have very tough husks, that turn black,  outside nutshell. kinda like a coconut

True, they are husked. I will try to keep my expectations low. I am hoping they were husked by the intense wave action on the rocky beach or by the river rapids on the way down.

There was some flooding also, so they very well could have washed out of someone's pantry.

I wonder how long they were wet for and if subsequently drying out again has made them unviable. Or maybe the saltwater is a deal breaker, although it rained a lot a couple days after the last typhoon. Maybe they got a good rinse.

I'll give them a taste before soaking and see if their shells taste salty.

those look like english/persian walnuts - they tend to fall out of their hulls, where our native black walnuts don't. being hull-less doesn't tell us much about these nuts specific history.

Dale Hodgins wrote:This leads me to ponder weather walnuts have spread around the world, on ocean currents, the way that coconuts and sea beans have.

Speaking of sea-beans, I cannot get the sea hearts (Entada gigas) to germinate! I have tried scarifying with a file, punching a hole in the shell with a nail, planting them intact (unscarified), soaking them in water for variable number of days, planting them without soaking -- always the same result. They just rot.

So they actually didn't taste salty at all, which makes me more hopeful.

Here's the gang all lined up. Above tape measure is from the beach. Below tape measure is from the farmer's market I mentioned for comparison. Tape is in cm.

interesting! some of those look more like J. ailantifolia (not surprising as that's the main native walnut in japan...).

Good news everyone!

Six weeks after planting, so far seven out of the twelve walnuts have sprouted!

very cool.

that is crazy