Last year I bought a Monrovia Kadota and instead of mix the pot was filled with crushed nut shells(almost all english walnut with pecan shell sprinkled in). I was thinking of adding some to my potting mix to lower weight, increase aeration and drainage, and reduce compaction. Has anyone done this?

I have done a web search and it is readily available as pet bedding and as a blasting agent but I haven't seen it just slightly crushed.

Plan B is turface if I can find some.

Are you sure they are walnut shells. I have seen hazelnut/filberts used in potting medium but a walnut shell I am sure will contain Juglone. Google on juglone toxicity. Plants adversely affected by being grown near walnut trees exhibit symptoms such as foliar yellowing, wilting, etc... I have not seen Figs listed as tolerant or not, but I would not risk it.  I know black walnuts contain higher amounts, but all members of the walnut family contain it

I have heard of that but I thought it was the black variety. I guess I will look for something else.

I planted one fig inground near the walnut trees in my backyard last spring as a test.
It seemed to grow fine. no wilting, yellowing etc.
mulberries are resistant to the juglone; figs are related to mulberries, so they might also be resistant or immune.

Grant
z5b

Grant,

Black or English walnut?

Hi Jason,
we have about 20 black walnut in our backyard, and considering the juglone can be effective up to 80 feet from the tree, the whole yard would be pretty much under the influence.

I have heard that buckwheat hulls are a good way to add aeration to a mix. I could not find any around here but is is sold as mulch in some areas of the country.

I would use Perlite to me it does all you are asking for "lower weight, increase aeration and drainage, and reduce compaction"  and it really doesn't decompose much either and is relativly cheap. I think I pay $12 for a 4 cubic foot bag as it is readily available

I saw an add on Seattle Craigslist about 3 years ago for Hazelnut shells. I drive down to Portland once a year to pick up truck load.  the name of the place is ..get this. 'He Sells These  Shells'.

Jason,

I can't remember the name of the place, but it is about 20 miles north of Princeton off 206.  They sell (use to sell) Turface in bags. They also sell bulk soils and mulches if that helps.  If I remember correctly, I found Perlite at Rosedale Farms.

~james

Belle Meade Co-op in Hillsborough is the place I bought Turface.

Just remember this folks, place something heavy on top of the pots to keep them from toppling over on the windy days.
I use landscape rocks or bricks for mine. Either that or group them together so they can interlock.
I have had many good branches go to waste because of high winds and nothing to hold those light pots in place.

Alan,

Not sure what you are saying different about the level of Juglone then what I stated above, but pretty much every place I look does note that Black Walnut has significantly higher levels,  and I really don’t see much reference  lumping all members of Juglandaceae together in this aspect, but I do agree that I wouldn’t test on my one of my favorite figs. I would be curious where you found information about hundreds of black walnut sub- varieties, unless you referring to numbers of cultivars that are being  vegetatively  propagated. If that’s what you mean you might as well call every seedling  that has ever grown from nut a sub variety as they would all be unique to a small degree.

  I just didn’t want the poster to possibly mistaken hazelnut shells which I have seen used. Walnut shells might be used as well I just have not seen that.  With enough mixed shells I am sure you can have a fine amendment for your soil, but in 5 years I would not count on being covered up in nuts. I have not grown almonds but on the others in 5 years you will be lucky to have a handful of nuts from each of your trees. Even on grafted trees which the nursery listing of bearing age from my experience is very optimistic. If you are planting seedling walnuts, be they Carpathian, Black, Butternut, Heartnut etc… it could well be 15+ years to see your first nut. I finally got about a dozen butternuts from a mixed dozen of Black, Butternut, Heartnut that I planted in I believe in 1997 as 2 year old seedlings so hopefully I am getting close on the others. Your chestnuts and hazelnuts will be producing earlier,  at least mine have and at 5 years I probably got a handful of nuts, but on the Hazel it seems I rarely beat the squirrels to any.

First let me apologize to the original poster for taking his thread way off course, and the general forum for non-fig related topic.

My chestnuts are primarily Dunstan Hybrids, but I have a couple open pollinated Layeroka and Skookum seedling plants. I prefer my Dunstans which are actually a couple of select seedlings from a grove of a hundred grafted Dunstan trees I planted back around 1989 but I no longer have that property. If you are going to be grafting over your chestnut try to get a closely related seedling to the scion you plan on grafting. The best would be a seedling from the tree of the scion. Grafted chestnuts sometimes exhibit graft incompatibility that may not show up until years later. I don’t believe Bob Wallace of Chestnut Hill nursery even sells his Patented Grafted cultivars anymore mostly I believe due to the graft compatibility issues. Bob is the Grandson of Dr. Dunstan who developed them.

 The Hazels I have remaining were actually referred to as Filazel when I purchased them. A filbert hazel hybrid (Corylus Cornuta X Corylus Avellana) Purchased from now defunct Bear Creek Nursery.  They produce small nuts similar in size to our east coast  native Hazel (Corylus Americana). If I was planting Hazel now, which I plan too when I find a space I would definitely go with some of the OSU developed Eastern Blight resistant/immune varieties.  You can graft over your seedling hazelnut to a non-patented varieties but most hazel are propagated by layering/stooling or tissue culture.

 You could well be getting nuts from your Carpathian at seven years, but I doubt any number at that age to make a significant contribution as an amendment to your potting mix.  The Grafted Carpathian’s I am growing are “Lake” and “Stark Champion” and they are young and not producing yet.

A couple of the better nut trees sources are Cliff England and John Brittain and their nurseries are linked below. They are both very knowledgeable on nut trees. 

http://www.nuttrees.net/

http://www.nolinnursery.com/

I wouldn't recommend risking the use of any Black Walnut parts (nor placing Black Walnut trees) near any fig tree.  My father had about 8 fig trees (all Brown Turkey) which produced well for 20 years from the 70's to the 90's.  Then a Black Walnut tree was placed within about 100 feet, and although the trees survive, fig production dwindled dramatically to the point where no figs have been produced over the past 10 years or so.  Could be coincidence (and caused by something else), or it could be the juglone.  My father swears it's because of juglone.

Thank you. I have moved on to cocoa bean hulls in lieu of pine bark fines.

There is a product in the bird world called "Bird Walnut Bedding" and is used by people who don't want to put newspaper on the bottom of their cage or can't put newspaper because their bird tears it up.

Its very easy to clean and sifts with a fine mesh screen like cat litter.

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2753590

This is what I use to lighten mix (usually compost) in larger pots. It's easy to find in the 4 cubic foot bags, and is light to carry. I just purchased a bag a couple weeks ago and it was just under $15. I get mine in a local ag place, and called ahead to make sure it was in stock.

I would like to find a source for crushed shells of pecan, almond, hazelnut, pistachios, etc. but on the EAST-COAST, NYC area.  All sources seem to be centered on the West-Coast, and shipping prices are obscene.   The products that I want are crushed pieces of shell, not the gritty, particles, used for pets. 

Any sources?  I searched on the web, and could not come up with a supplier.

Thanks for the help.

Frank