Walnut · Ufa, Bashkortostan Republic, Russia
When to plant walnuts in Ufa
Main outdoor window
30 Sep - 24 Apr
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
8 May
In Ufa, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
1 Sep - 31 Oct
If you plant at the start of the window.
The average last frost. Half of all years are later than this.
Step by step in Ufa
Each window is a range, not a single day. Earlier in the range buys you a longer season; later in it buys you a safer one.
Plant the tree
30 Sep - 24 Apr
Any time the plant is dormant and the ground is neither frozen nor waterlogged: after leaf fall in autumn, or at the end of winter before growth restarts.
Harvest
1 Sep - 31 Oct
Walnuts through the year
Against the frost risk in Ufa
Why these dates
Plant dormant. Walnut leafs out late, which conveniently protects it from spring frost, but the nuts then need a long warm autumn to fill. Grafted named varieties bear years earlier than a seedling and are worth the extra cost.
The dormant tree is hardy to about -25C. The late leafing means frost damage to new growth is rare, which is unusual among nut trees.
Walnuts are planted once and then left in place, so there is no sowing offset to resolve. What matters in Ufa is the shape of the year: this crop is dormant through the winter and is planted while it sleeps, any time between leaf fall in autumn and the restart of growth in spring, so long as the ground is neither frozen nor waterlogged. That is why the window below spans the cold months rather than sitting in the middle of the growing season.
Ufa sits in zone 3b, which is colder than this crop is rated for, so it will need winter protection or a container that can be moved under cover. The dates below still describe the right time of year; the open question is survival rather than timing.
Do not expect a crop in the first year. A plant set out now should give its first worthwhile pick around year 6, and will then produce every year after that, which is what makes the planting decision worth getting right the first time.
Also in Ufa
Other nuts to time
Growing walnuts in Ufa
When should I plant walnuts in Ufa?
Aim for 30 Sep - 24 Apr in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 20 Sep - 11 May - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will walnuts be ready to harvest in Ufa?
Expect to start picking around 1 Sep - 31 Oct, based on 150 to 180 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will walnuts tolerate?
The dormant tree is hardy to about -25C. The late leafing means frost damage to new growth is rare, which is unusual among nut trees.