✅ How to properly plant and grow almonds from a seed at home in a pot

Plant almond (Prunus dulcis) – is a small tree or shrub of the Almond subgenus of the Plum genus of the Rosaceae family. The subgenus includes about 40 species of almonds, but common almonds are most often grown in culture. Although almonds are considered a nut, they are actually a stone fruit. The almond tree originates from the Mediterranean and Central Asia - it appeared in these areas long before our era. Today, in addition to Central Asia and the Mediterranean, almonds grow in California, China, Western Tien Shan, Crimea, the Caucasus, in the vineyards of Slovakia, the Czech Republic and South Moravia.

The almond tree prefers gravelly and rocky slopes with calcium-rich soil at an altitude of 800 to 1600 m above sea level, although in Israel it grows much lower. Almonds are located in nature in small groups of 3-4 trees or bushes at a distance of 5 to 7 meters from each other.

Planting and caring for almonds

Planting: early March or last days of September.
Flowering: March or April, before the leaves appear.
Lighting: bright sunlight.
Soil: drained and breathable chernozems, loams, sandy soils with a high lime content and pH 7.7. Groundwater on the site should lie deep.
Watering: regular: with one bucket of water when the soil dries in the tree trunk to a depth of 1-1.5 cm. Seedlings are watered more often than adult trees. If there are difficulties with water delivery during a season with normal precipitation, two abundant waterings per season are sufficient: spring and autumn moisture recharging.
Top dressing: at the end of April or at the beginning of May, a solution of 20 g of ammonium nitrate in 10 liters of water is added to the tree trunk circle. In the fall, before digging, 1 kg of manure and 20 g of double superphosphate and potassium sulphide are added to the tree trunk circle.
Pruning: in the spring, before the start of sap flow, and in the fall, after leaf fall, sanitary pruning is carried out. Formative pruning is done after flowering.
Reproduction: by budding, shoots, layering, sometimes by seeds (seeds).
Pests: spider mites, almond seed eaters, plum moths, aphids, plum sapwood bark beetles and leaf rollers.
Diseases: cercospora blight, rust, moniliosis, gray mold (botrytis), scab, clasterosporiosis (hole spot).

Transplanting and placing a grown plant

The soil for an almond tree should be loose and nutritious. If you are planning to transplant the tree into the garden, it makes sense to use garden soil for a temporary container.

Heavy, acidic clay soils with poor aeration are not suitable for almonds. Good: light sandy and rocky soils. Sand and organic fertilizers can be added to clay soil. Good drainage is very important for plant health.

Place the container with the tree in the brightest place in the room. In a large volume of soil, the plant tolerates irregular watering well. There are recommendations for abundant watering once a week, until water comes out through the drainage holes. The soil should dry out a few centimeters before the next watering.

Almond tree - description

The almond tree reaches a height of 4-6 m, and the almond bush 2-3 m. The almond rhizome has no more than five skeletal roots, which penetrate to a sufficient depth so that the plant does not suffer from drought. The shoots of this branching plant are of two types: shortened generative and elongated vegetative. Almond leaves are lanceolate, with a pointed tip, petiolate.

How do almond flowers bloom? Light pink or white almond flowers up to 2.5 cm in diameter consist of five petals. Almond blossoms begin in March or April - earlier than its leaves bloom. The almond fruit is a dry, velvety oval drupe with a leathery green pericarp, which, after drying, is easily separated from a stone 2.5 to 3.5 cm long, which has the same shape as the fruit, but is often dotted with grooves.

Almonds begin to bear fruit from four to five years, full fruiting occurs in the tenth to twelfth year, and the tree bears fruit from 30 to 50 years. With good care, an almond tree can last 50 to 80 years in your garden, and some specimens can live up to 130 years.

There are two varieties of common almonds – bitter almonds, which grow in nature, and sweet almonds, grown in cultivation. Almond is a plant that requires cross-pollination, and in order for it to begin to bear fruit, at least three more pollinating almond varieties must grow in close proximity to it, the flowering period of which coincides. In addition to the wonderfully tasty fruits, the value of almonds is represented by its decorative qualities. Almonds are a wonderful honey plant that exudes a magical aroma during flowering. Since almonds are pollinated primarily by bees, they bear fruit best if there are 3-4 hives on or somewhere close to the plot.

The almond nut is a relative of such fruit trees as apple, pear, plum, apricot, cherry plum, peach, chokeberry, rowan, rose hip, hawthorn, quince and other cultivated representatives of the rose family. From our article you will learn how almonds grow in the conditions of the middle zone, how almonds are planted and cared for, what types of almonds exist, which varieties of almonds are more adapted to our climatic conditions, what are the benefits of almonds, and for whom and in what ways can the harm of almonds lies.

How to grow almonds from seeds at home?

The idea of growing almonds at home comes to those who learn about the benefits of nuts for the body. The easiest way to plant an almond tree is from a seed or seedling. When is the optimal time to plant? This activity will pay off with interest, all that remains is to get to work. The features of growing an almond tree from a seed are described in the article.

The photo shows an almond tree in a spacious pot. According to reviews, the tree develops well in a pot with a capacity of 80-100 liters

Planting almonds

When to plant almonds

Almonds can be grown from seeds, and we will tell you about this in the section on plant propagation, but it is best to grow almonds from an annual seedling. Seedlings are planted in the ground in early spring - early March - or autumn, in the last days of November. They choose a sunny area for almond trees, although they grow well in partial shade, but the seedlings must be protected from drafts and strong winds.

The best soil for almonds is water- and breathable chernozems, sandy or loamy soils with a high lime content - optimal pH 7.7. Acidic, chloride or saline soils are unsuitable for growing almonds, as are areas with high groundwater levels.

Planting almonds in autumn

Almond seedlings planted in the fall take root much better than those planted in the spring. In the area allocated for almonds, two weeks before planting, holes are dug with a diameter of 50-70 cm and a depth of up to 60 cm at a distance of 3-4 m from each other in the row and 5.5-6.5 m between the rows. A layer of crushed stone or broken brick with sand is placed in each hole for drainage and mixed with fertile soil consisting of sand, humus and leaf soil in a ratio of 1:2:3, 5-6 kg of rotted manure and half a kilo of superphosphate are added. If the soil is acidic, you need to add dolomite flour or lime in the amount of 200-300 g. After two weeks, when the soil in the hole has settled, you can start planting almonds.

How to plant almonds? Planting an almond tree is not much different from planting a plum or apricot. Dig a support in the center of the hole - a pole of such a height that it rises half a meter above the level of the site. Place a mound of soil in the center of the hole. Dip the roots of the seedling into a clay mash with the thickness of store-bought sour cream and place the tree on a mound so that the root collar is slightly above the surface level. Fill the hole with fertile soil, compact it and water the tree with 10-15 liters of water. When the water is absorbed, tie the seedling to a support and mulch the tree trunk circle with a layer of peat or dry soil 3-5 cm thick so that the mulch does not come into contact with the root collar of the tree.

How to plant almonds in spring

If for some reason you had to postpone planting almonds to the spring, you still need to dig holes for them in the fall. Lay a drainage layer of sand and crushed stone in them, add a layer of fertile soil mixed with fertilizers and leave the holes until spring. At the beginning of March, before the sap begins to ferment in the trees, almonds are planted in the same order as is done in the fall.

Best growing conditions

Important!

Almonds are a heat-loving plant, but can withstand winters with frosts down to -35°C. However, it does not bear fruit throughout Russia - in regions with harsh winters and long spring periods, its decorative varieties are grown.

Almonds are not demanding on the quality of the soil and can grow both on poor rocky and sandy soil and on chernozem, but do not tolerate nearby groundwater and acidic soil.

It should also be borne in mind that this plant requires cross-pollination to bear fruit .

Therefore, to get a good harvest, the gardener needs to plant 3-5 plants in a well-lit area, protected from strong winds, with light, fertile soil of neutral acidity and good drainage.

Growing almonds in the garden

Almond care

Planting and caring for almonds is carried out in accordance with the agricultural technology of the crop. You will have to perform procedures such as watering, loosening and weeding the tree trunk, pruning and feeding the plant, as well as prevention against diseases and pests. And if you do everything correctly, then you will reap a good harvest.

How to care for almonds? At the end of March, you need to make the first loosening of the tree trunk circle to a depth of 10-12 cm, and then during the growing season, carry out another 3-4 loosening to a depth of 8-10 cm. Keep the tree trunk circle clean, remove weeds in a timely manner.

Almonds are harvested when their outer green shell darkens and begins to separate easily from the kernel. The collected fruits are peeled and laid out in one layer to dry, after which they are stored in fabric bags.

Watering almonds

Despite the fact that almonds are a drought-resistant crop, they grow and bear fruit better under conditions of timely and sufficient irrigation. Almonds growing in sandy soil need more frequent and abundant watering than those grown in clay and loamy soils. When you find that the soil under the almonds has dried to a depth of 1-1.5 cm, pour a bucket of water into the circle around the tree trunk. Overwatering can lead to rotting of the plant's root collar.

Seedlings need more frequent watering than mature trees: maintenance watering should be carried out once every 10-14 days.

How to grow almonds in the absence of water? If you do not have the opportunity to irrigate almonds during the entire growing season, carry out at least autumn and spring moisture-recharging watering of the plant.

Almond feeding

Almonds in the garden are in need of nitrogen, so at the end of April or beginning of May, 20 g of ammonium nitrate diluted in a bucket of water is added to the trunk circle of each adult tree. During the autumn digging of the site, 1 kg of manure and 20 g of potassium sulfide and double superphosphate are added to the trunk circle of each tree. It is advisable to grow green manure in the spaces between the rows of young plants for the first 5-7 years of life.

Almond processing

Growing almonds requires preventive treatments of trees against pests and diseases. In order to destroy pathogens and harmful insects that have overwintered in the soil around the trunk and cracks in the tree bark, in early spring, before buds begin to open, treat almond trees with a one percent solution of Bordeaux mixture. And at the end of the growing season, after the end of leaf fall, spray the almonds in the fall with Bordeaux mixture or its analogues to destroy pests and pathogens that have settled in for the winter.

Almonds in Siberia

Despite the fact that almonds do not overwinter without shelter in the middle zone, there are frost-resistant plant species and varieties that are successfully cultivated not only in Vologda and St. Petersburg, but also in the forest-steppe and steppe parts of Siberia. Frost-resistant species include steppe almond, or low almond, or Russian almond, or bobovnik, or almond. This is a shrub up to 1.5 m high with brown or reddish-gray bark, lanceolate, leathery, shiny, serrated dark green leaves up to 8 cm long and up to 3 cm wide. Steppe almond is unpretentious, gas-smoke- and drought-resistant, completely undemanding to soil composition and easily propagated.

There are two garden forms of steppe almond: white-flowered and Gessler - with flowers of a bright pink hue. In spring, the flowering branches of steppe almonds amaze with their beauty. Based on the bean plant, breeders have developed such highly decorative varieties as Anyuta, Pink Flamingo, Mechta, White Sail, and Pink Fog.

The kernels of steppe almond fruits are edible and tasty. Another advantage of this species is that it quickly recovers even in cases where it freezes in the harsh snowless winter.

Almonds in Moscow and Moscow region

In the conditions of Moscow and the Moscow region, in addition to beans, three-lobed almonds grow well, which overwinter normally without shelter and quickly recover in case of slight freezing. The plant forms grafted onto a sloe rootstock turned out to be the most resistant in winter conditions near Moscow. Nevertheless, it is advisable to protect even trees of cold-resistant varieties from frost by covering their trunks with lutrasil. And in order to prevent the shoots from freezing, it is necessary to remove the apical buds at the end of July or the beginning of August - this procedure stimulates the rapid lignification of the shoots, after which the almonds will not be afraid of frost.

The best varieties for the Moscow region

The climate of the Moscow region allows you to grow the following varieties:

three-lobed;
terry;
dessert;
seaside.

These varieties may freeze in winter, but they recover quite quickly and bloom luxuriantly.

Terry is a decorative form of a three-lobed species, which has another name - Louiseania. Dessert and Primorsky varieties are varieties of the common sweet variety. The dessert variety is frost-resistant, the fruits are oval in a soft shell. It is pollinated by the Primorsky variety, so plant it nearby to get a harvest. The Primorsky variety plant blooms in April. The pollinator is Dessert. These varieties are self-sterile - plant two plants close together to get fruit.

We recommend reading about varietal almond trees.

Three-blade

Louiseania is an ornamental shrub that grows up to 3 m in height, has a spreading crown, large-toothed three-lobed leaves, and flowers 1.5 cm in diameter, arranged in pairs. There are two decorative forms of Louiseania:

Plena . It blooms in May, for 14 days after the leaves have bloomed. The flowers are composed of 40 pink petals 4 cm in diameter.
Kievskaya . Flowering is characterized by a large number of double flowers of pink or dark pink, 3.5 cm in diameter. Each flower has 12 petals.

Louiseania has many hybrid forms that differ in different flower colors and flowering periods.

Did you know? Spain is the leading producer of almonds in Europe and third in the world after the USA and Australia. Export revenue from the sale of 50 thousand tons of this nut is 260 million euros.

Terry

Terry Louiseania (Amygdalus Plena) is a shrub that can reach a height of 2 m. The leaves are three-lobed, wide elliptical, their length is 6 cm. The variety blooms from April to May, for 3–5 weeks. The flowers are double, bright pink, their diameter is 3 cm.

Louiseania terry looks very beautiful both as a single plant and in a group. It is used for landscape design of rocky hills and forest edges.

Dessert

Bred in Crimea by crossing Nikitsky-62 and Nikitsky-1. Dessert lends itself to the formation of both shrub and tree crowns. The drupes are large and ripen in September. When the tree reaches nine years of age, its yield is up to 7.6 kg of dry kernels per season.

Around April, the bushes are covered with a pink cloud of flowers. The height of the bushes reaches 5 m, the crown is rounded. The variety is frost-resistant, flower buds are not damaged by returning spring frosts. The fruits are sweet and contain a lot of oil and trace elements.

Did you know? Traditional medicine uses almonds as a remedy for pain, cramps, coughs, as well as to eliminate symptoms of anemia, and even to treat insomnia.

The Dessert variety is characterized by:

persistent period of rest;
relatively late flowering period;
weak damage to diseases and insects.

Seaside

The variety was developed on the Crimean Peninsula by crossing two hybrids - Nikitsky-53 and Princess-2077. The variety is characterized by late flowering and a long dormant period. The trees are short with a spreading dense deciduous crown, grow up to 3.5 m, resistant to fungi. Large round drupes ripen in September, 2–6 pieces each. in a whole soft shell. A harvest of up to 15 kg is harvested from one tree. The leaves are oblong, large in size, their color is dark green.

Almond trimming

When to trim almonds

Almonds need formative and sanitary pruning, and mature trees require a rejuvenating procedure. Sanitary pruning is carried out in early spring, before the sap begins to flow, and in the fall, when the almonds enter the dormant period, and formative pruning is done after the almonds bloom.

How to trim almonds

An almond crown is formed like a plum, apricot, peach or nectarine - three tiers of skeletal branches are produced. Immediately after planting the seedling, it is pruned at a height of 120 cm, while the trunk of the tree is formed with a height of 50-70 cm.

When thinning fruit-bearing trees, thickening the crown and improperly growing branches are removed. When flower buds freeze, annual shoots are shortened.

Almond pruning in spring

After winter, even before the buds begin to open, frozen annual growths of almonds are shortened, cutting them down to healthy tissue, and broken, diseased or deformed branches and shoots are removed. After the end of flowering, they begin formative pruning of the tree. A seedling planted in autumn or spring usually has at least three branches located at a distance of 15-20 cm from each other - they are shortened to 15-20 cm, and on the central conductor, over the next 2-3 years, new tiers of skeletal branches are laid, which should be one from the other at a distance of 20-30 cm.

Shoots that are unnecessary for crown formation are pinched out several times over the summer, and those that are needed are shortened no later than July, as soon as they reach 50-60 cm in length. In the second and third years of almond growth, unnecessary shoots are cut out and the rest are shortened. Upon completion of crown formation, the central conductor is cut so that the last skeletal branch of the almond tree is 55-60 cm below the conductor.

Trees that have entered fruiting with a formed crown almost do not need pruning, you just need to cut out fatty shoots into rings, and shorten broken shoots to 3-4 buds. Annual shoots that do not interfere with the proper development of branches do not need to be pruned.

Pruning almonds in autumn

In the fall, after leaf fall, sanitary pruning of trees and shrubs is carried out: dry, broken, diseased shoots and branches that thicken the crown are pruned. If you have to cut or saw down a thick branch, do not forget to treat the cut with garden varnish, and if for some reason you did not have time to trim the almonds before the beginning of winter, reschedule the sanitary pruning until the spring.

Benefits and Features

Almonds, as already noted, came to us from China. They love this tree very much there. After all, it attracts the attention of everyone during its flowering period. Usually, almonds are the first tree that signals the beginning of spring. Other trees had not yet had time to set their leaves when the almonds were already covered with a soft pink veil of small flowers.

Depending on the variety, and there are more than 40 species, almonds have different colors of their flowers. He can be:

white;
light pink;
dark pink;
crimson.

In addition to this palette, the leaves can also be green along with pinkish or even rich red shades.

Almond propagation

How to propagate almonds

Under natural conditions, almonds reproduce by seed, but in culture they prefer propagation by budding, since growing a tree from a seed takes too much time. Nevertheless, you should know how to grow almonds from a seed, if only because in this way you can grow a rootstock for a varietal cutting. To grow rootstocks you will need bitter almond seeds, but if you can't get them, you can use sweet almond seeds. In addition to these two methods, if your almonds grow not as a tree, but as a bush, you resort to propagating the plant by shoots and layering.

Growing almonds from seeds

Sow seeds in spring or before winter. If you decide to sow almonds in the spring, you need to subject the seed material to stratification - place them in the vegetable drawer of the refrigerator for 3-4 months. Almond seeds are sown in furrows 8-10 cm deep at a distance of 10 cm from each other, keeping a distance of 45-60 cm between furrows. The seeds will germinate next year, in April, and you will need to water them, weed and loosen the area. In July, when the seedlings reach a height of 50-60 cm, the side branches on the trunks below 10-12 cm from the surface level should be cut into rings with pruning shears. During this period, the thickness of the seedling stem in the area of the root collar is approaching 1 cm, which means that the tree can already be used as a rootstock, but first it must be transplanted to a permanent place and allowed to take root.

Almond grafting

Almond propagation is also carried out by budding. Not only almond seedlings are used as rootstocks, but also plums, cherry plums and sloe. It is better to carry out the procedure at the height of sap flow - in mid-April or at the end of August, in the cool time of the day - at 16:00 or early in the morning. Two days before the procedure, the rootstock is watered abundantly so that during budding the bark is well separated from the wood. For the scion, developed straight shoots with formed vegetative buds are selected. To prevent the scion from losing moisture, all leaves are removed from it, leaving only petioles no more than 1 cm long.

The bole at the grafting site is wiped clean of dust, then a T-shaped incision is made in the area of the root collar with a sharp knife and the bark is carefully folded back at the point where the perpendicular lines converge. A shield with a bud is cut from the scion of such length that it fits into the cut on the rootstock. When you cut the shield, use a budding knife to grab, in addition to the bark, a thin layer of wood and, trying not to touch it with your hands, insert the shield into a T-shaped cut on the rootstock, press the bark tightly against it and secure the grafting site by wrapping it with adhesive tape or plaster, but so as not to cover the kidney itself.

If after 2-3 weeks the rest of the petiole falls off and the eye is green, it means that the budding was successful and the patch can be loosened. If you carried out budding at the end of summer, then the fixing bandage should not be removed until next spring, and it is better to cover the root collar with the graft with earth. In the spring, when you are sure that the bud has taken root, free the root collar from the ground, and the grafting site from the plaster or tape, then cut the rootstock just above the grafting site, and if it is windy in the spring, then the cut should be made 10-12 cm above the grafted kidneys When shoots begin to appear from dormant buds below the budding site, they should be removed immediately, not allowing them to become lignified.

Propagation of almonds by shoots and layering

Almonds growing as a bush after pruning, as a rule, form shoots. In the second year, when the roots of the shoots become strong, the offspring are dug up and transplanted to a permanent place.

If you decide to try propagation by layering, choose flexible shoots for this, lay them on the ground, secure them in several places with wire pins and cover them with a layer of earth about 20 cm thick. The roots of the layering take a long time to form, and all this time you must water the layer and loosen it around soil and remove weeds. After about a year or a little more, when the cuttings have formed a strong root system, they are separated from the mother plant, dug up and planted.

When will the harvest appear?

It will take at least 4 years from the moment of planting until the first nuts appear. In order for flowering to bear fruit, you need either a couple of plants or special self-pollinating varieties.

I will write about transferring the almond tree to the garden in the garden section, where I will pay attention to growing, caring for and pruning the plant.

I have 2 almond trees in my garden. I use their fruits to make delicious desserts. Almonds take root in loose, fertile soil; the woody plant requires constant but moderate watering. I grew almonds myself from seeds. If you are planning to plant a crop in your garden, be sure to read this article!

Almond diseases

Almond diseases affect the plant in cases where the agricultural technology of the crop is violated or it is weakened by improper or untimely care. Most often, almonds suffer from scab, cercospora blight, rust, moniliosis, gray rot and clasterosporiosis.

Cercospora blight - This fungal disease most often affects almond leaves, but if the disease progresses, the petioles and shoots of the plant may also be affected. The first signs of the disease can be detected in June - round red-brown spots with a diameter of 2 to 4 mm appear on the leaves, and in conditions of high humidity a grayish coating forms on them. Over time, the leaf tissue in the center of the spots dries out and falls out, the plant has to grow new leaves, which consumes a lot of energy, and this negatively affects the development of the fruits. To combat the disease, as soon as its first symptoms are detected, almonds are treated with fungicides.

Scab - this disease affects not only the leaves, but also the flowers and shoots of almonds. As preventive measures against scab, one can consider growing disease-resistant plant varieties, digging up the area after leaf fall, preventative spring and autumn treatment of almonds with Bordeaux mixture, timely pruning and burning of diseased shoots and branches. Preparations from the fungicide category cope well with scab, as well as with other fungal diseases.

Rust - this disease manifests itself as small red spots on the upper side of the leaf blade, and brownish pads form on the underside of the leaves. The spots grow and merge, causing the leaves to dry out and fall prematurely. To combat rust, almonds are treated with an aqueous colloidal suspension of sulfur. As a preventive measure, it is necessary to remove plant debris from the site in the fall and dig up the soil.

Moniliosis - the causative agent of this disease penetrates through the pistil of a flower and affects young shoots, leaves and flowers of almonds. You can get rid of moniliosis by timely treating almonds with fungicides - for example, Horus.

Clusterosporiosis, or hole spot, affects all stone fruit crops. Almonds are no exception. Warm, rainy weather contributes to the appearance and rapid development of the disease. The disease affects leaves, flowers, shoots and fruits, but typical signs of clasterosporiasis appear primarily on almond leaves - small spots of red-brown, crimson or red-violet hue. They gradually increase in size, merge, and the tissue in their center dies, becomes lighter and falls out. A distinctive feature of the disease is a clearly defined dark border around the spots, which makes it possible not to confuse kleasterosporiosis with other diseases. With severe damage, gum begins to flow from the bark of damaged shoots.

To combat the disease, almonds are treated with Horus, Kuproxat, Skor, Topaz or Vectra, spraying the plant the first time at the beginning of flowering, the second time after flowering, then two weeks after the second treatment.

Gray rot, or botrytis, is manifested by the formation of brown spots on leaves and shoots that quickly increase in size. In conditions of high air humidity, the plant is covered with a gray fluffy coating consisting of fungal spores. This plaque is carried by the wind, and gray rot infects neighboring plants. To combat this fungal disease, fungicides such as Topaz, Champion, Kuproksat, Oxychom are used.

To avoid infection with gray mold, try not to create too dense plantings and avoid contacting the leaves with fertilizers with a high concentration of nitrogen. When symptoms of the disease appear, it is necessary to cut out the affected areas, and then treat the almonds with one of the indicated drugs. You can coat the affected areas by diluting 30-40 g of Rovral fungicide and 300-400 g of CMC glue in a bucket of water.

Nuances of growing

Planting is done in the spring. Now you need to resort to the rules of caring for the tree. You need to be circumcised every year. This procedure is carried out in the spring. Branches should not be more than 60 centimeters in length. Main purposes of pruning:

get rid of dry branches;
trim branches growing inward;
form a crown.

It is important that the sun reaches all the crevices of the tree. Only in this case will the entire crown bloom in the spring. During the flowering period, the tree loses a large amount of moisture, therefore, it should be watered abundantly. Every day, on average, it can take up to 10 liters of water to water one bush.

Almond pests

Of the insect pests, almonds suffer most from spider mites, almond seed eaters, aphids and leaf rollers.

The almond seed eater spends the winter in damaged almond fruits, which is why it is so important to remove plant debris from the tree and from the tree trunk in the fall. Carrying out preventive work (spraying trees with one percent Bordeaux mixture in spring and autumn) can also reduce the risk of almond nuts being damaged by the seed eater. To ensure plant protection, apply another treatment to the almonds immediately after flowering.

The leaf roller, or rather its caterpillar, feeds on leaves, while folding them. As a preventive measure, you need to cut and destroy the clutches of the leaf roller butterfly and the leaves rolled up by the caterpillars, and in early spring, when the temperature in the garden rises above 4 ºC, treat the trees with Bordeaux mixture or the drug Profilaktin, dissolving half a liter of the drug in 10 liters of water. If the caterpillars have multiplied, you will have to resort to treating the almonds with insecticides such as Actellik, Calypso, Fufanon, Ditox, Tagore, Zolon and other similar preparations.

How to grow almonds from seeds at home

Thanks to breeders and geneticists, we can grow the most exotic plants in mid-latitudes. Global warming is also working hard, so now you can even grow almonds in your garden in the middle zone. But first, let's try to grow an almond tree from a seed at home.

Almond orchard in Germany

How to care for an almond tree

Basic care for the shoots of an already planted almond bush consists of standard watering on a schedule, loosening the soil, weeding and removing weeds, fertilizing and pruning branches. It is imperative to treat the bush from parasites, rot and pests. Experienced gardeners recommend choosing standard complex fertilizers for such crops. They contain all the necessary nutrients and allow the plant to develop, bloom and bear fruit in accordance with seasonal cycles.

Almond tree care

The first years after planting, caring for an almond tree consists of regularly removing weeds from the tree trunk, loosening the soil in it and abundant watering. When irrigating, it is important to maintain the “golden mean”, giving the plant the required amount of liquid and avoiding stagnation with subsequent rotting of the trunk and roots. During this period, the seedling devotes all its efforts to strengthening the underground (root) part, so it hardly changes in appearance.

When the rooting process is completed, the phase of active growth of the above-ground part begins. The almond tree is rapidly increasing in growth and volume, producing more and more new shoots. Mandatory care includes regular application of fertilizers (a lot of them are needed, because a fast-growing tree spends a lot of energy and depletes the soil) and shaping pruning (without it, the crown thickens very quickly). If circumstances are favorable, already 5 years after planting you can enjoy the first harvest of delicious and very healthy almond nuts.

How to feed an almond tree in spring?

In spring, almonds need nitrogen more than ever. This microelement is necessary for the growth of shoots and the formation of buds. Fertilizing an almond tree with nitrogen is done in late April-early May by dissolving 25 g of ammonium nitrate in water and applying it to the tree trunk. Ammonia fertilizing can be combined with copper-containing fertilizer. To enrich the soil, saturating it not only with nitrogen, but also with oxygen, and also to attract pollinating insects to the almond trees, it is recommended to plant green manure (alfalfa, peas, mustard, lupine and other crops) between them.

Article on the topic: Caring for paniculate hydrangea: watering, propagation, pruning and shaping, feeding paniculate hydrangea

How to form an almond tree?

For the crop to fully ripen, sunlight is necessary, so it is important to understand how to properly prune an almond tree:

Almonds are pruned twice a year, at the beginning and end of the growing season. This allows you to save the strength of the tree and avoid thickening the crown.
After planting, the seedlings are pruned at a height of 1.2 m, forming a standard of 80 cm and a crown of 40 cm. On the standard, all shoots are cut into a ring, and in the crown area they are shortened by 2-3 eyes. The strongest 3-4 shoots are left; they will later become skeletal branches. This is how a bowl-shaped crown is formed over several years.
Pruning mature trees involves removing crooked, damaged and broken shoots.
Old and unpruned almond trees can be rejuvenated by radical pruning.

How to propagate an almond tree?

In nature, almond propagation occurs by seeds; in culture, vegetative methods are more often used: root shoots and cuttings. Standard decorative almonds can be propagated by budding using a plum as a rootstock. Let's take a closer look at how to grow an almond tree from a cutting:

Propagation material is prepared in July by cutting strong cuttings at least 15 cm long, with two nodes, lignified, but not yet lost their flexibility.
The cuttings are rooted in the schoolhouse, where they will overwinter. The soil there should be nutritious and loose (a mixture of fertile soil and peat). For the winter, the schoolchild must be protected from frost with lutrasil, straw or fallen leaves.