nick16 Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 The majority of our walnuts are fine. They burst out of their outer casings and have nice clean shells, but some stay on the tree with their casings turning black and eventually fall to the ground. If one has the patience to get your hands stained, they very often have the nut intact..I am told there is a small bug that bores into the shell and destroys the walnut.My questions are:1. Are the walnuts that are turning black on the tree already infected with something and starting to turn rotten?2. Does this little bug attack the walnuts whilst they are still on the tree, or wait until they are on the ground?3. How long can you afford to let the walnuts lie on the ground before they are past their sell-by date? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ukhostland Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 Hi from the Indre,I am spending a lot of time collecting Walnuts from trees around the village at the moment and have found many that are still in the outer fleshy case. The nuts inside have all been fine. Eventually the case dries and the nuts are less messy to get out.As this is the end of the season we are looking for nuts amonst the grass......many have clearly been there a few weeks but are still perfect.There is a weevil that effects Walnuts in the States but I've not come across it here: the squirrels and other pickers are the only problem here! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick16 Posted October 21, 2009 Author Share Posted October 21, 2009 Thank you for your reply,Yes we do get the squirrels, but the walnuts are worth the sacrifice. We definitely have a 'weevil' or similiar. You can see it's bore hole, smaller than a pin head, where it has entered. I'm think I'm right in saying that the hole is normally located at the stalk end of the walnut, which makes me think that they might do the damage whilst the nuts are still on the tree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
virginia.c Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 I find that a certain number of my walnuts are black and bad inside. Usually I can tell as I pick them up because the bad ones are much lighter than the good. I do get perfectly good ones from blackened outer casings and some bad ones from better looking green casings. This year the crop is huge - and I'm still picking a lot off the ground every morning. I haven't noticed any weevils/grubs, but to be honest, I launch them down the hill as soon as I spot a dodgy one. I have shelled a lot of the smaller ones for my bird feeders, too early to say if they are being enjoyed or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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