Beaumont macadamia nut tree
Question from Mary:
I have a Beaumont macadamia tree that’s about 8 years old. Not knowing better, I’ve waited until the nuts dropped to collect them until I read one of your books at the beginning of the year about picking all of the nuts in March. (I live about three miles inland from Del Mar.) This year I had my biggest crop and when I picked them all in March, the nuts were tiny whereas in previous years they had been big. If I keep picking them in March, will the nuts get back to normal size or what should I do?
Answer from Pat:
The small nuts you picked are called peewee’s. Try again next March. By then the nuts that grew this year should be larger since all the tree’s energy went into them which is the idea and works over time. The grower who told me about the importance of picking in March said that this way the nuts will be all be good size in March. He was very insistent on this point. In fact he contacted me for the express purpose of getting several technical points straight in my book. If your experience is different and if the nuts are not large next March, then if I were you I would go back to your old system. The advantage of picking them year round as you used to do is that for the home grower you just get a few nuts on a regular basis throughout the year but they are large ones and usually enough for a family. This system is not an advantage for a grower since they would rather harvest big ones from Beaumont all at once. I would certainly appreciate hearing back from you on this point since in future editions of my book I may clarify this point. You are the first person to write me about it and I am very glad you did. Many thanks!
Thanks for the reply! I’ll see what happen this March and let you know.
I also have a Beaumont. I picked the nuts the first week in March and most were good size and many were very large. When I dried them the nut meat shrunk to very small and hard. Master Gardeners told me I should have waited for the nuts to fall.
I’d like to know if Mary had any better luck this year.
Thank you for writing and sharing your experience. The fact that nuts were small and hard is indeed a sign of immaturity. Yes, the Master Gardeners were right. The nuts should have stayed longer on the tree. Nonetheless, though your harvest might not have been good this year,
by removing all the nuts at one time, you will most likely find that next year all the nuts will be good size. What worries me is that the weather—the sudden swings in temperature that we have had this year—might have upset even growth, and ripening. I suggest next year if nuts are good size pick a few in mid-March, dry them and crack them to see how they are, and then if they are not good, wait until they fall, as per the usual system. The problem is, however, that by waiting until nuts fall from a Beaumont tree, all the nuts on your Beaumont will eventually be small ones since that is the nature of the tree. I guess there are some problems that one cannot fix! Growers have always promoted Beaumont as a tree for the home gardener and not for the macadamia professional and the reason is that you get a few nuts year round and only a few big ones. Almonds grow best where summers are hot and the trees have some winter chill but no hard frost. South central Spain is ideal. I once knew someone who grew almonds in La Jolla up on the top of the hill. She said she got a few nuts every year. The best one for home gardens is “All in One Semi Dwarf” which has three varieties on one tree allowing for pollination.
Hi, I’m a Macadamia farmer in South Africa. The easiest way to tell if the Beaumont nuts are mature enough to harvest is to break off the green husk from the nut and check its inside color. If the inside of the husk is white/cream it’s immature and should be left longer. If it’s dark brown it’s ready to be harvested.
Thank you very much indeed for providing me with this helpful information so I can pass it onto others who follow this website.
Hello!
I have some questions and I hope you can give me a reply!
I live in center Italy, at about 200m altitude, with a Humid Subtropical Climate (Cfa) according to koppen&geiger and a 9a USDA.
I know that macadamia is cultivated, not commercially, in southern Italy, where there is a little bit hot summer and a dry climate compared to mine.
I have a medium-textured soil with a 7ph or a little bit lower and we cultivate, commercially, grapes, olives, peaches, apricots, kiwi etc.
About 700ml of rain per year.
I read that there are some cultivars of macadamia resistant to -4°C while I have a minimum during winter of -2°C, -3°C and sometimes, but rarely, we can have lower temperatures, but not lower than -7°C, that I know!
Anyway, here we grow citrus, not commercially, they make acceptable fruits (sure, not good as southern citrus), but when there are that rare freeze they could die!
So, I think that a frost resistent macadamia cultivar could make fruit in my place, but they would have the same problem of citrus!
Anyway I read that there are frost resistant cultivars, just like Macadamia Beaumont.
Please can you tell me a good cultivar for my purpose?
Thanks,
Mirko
Macadamia trees are tender tropical and subtropical plants. Young trees of all varieties should be protected from frost by covering them at night with a plastic-covered frame which can be opened up in the daytime so that foliage does not burn. Once a tree is more mature it will be more frost-resistant and will not need to be covered. ‘Dorado’ and ‘Waimanako’ are varieties that are said to be more winter hardy than most, but ‘Waimanako’ does best in a mild coastal climate and may not perform as well where summers are hot. ‘Cate’ is said to be moderately winter hardy. ‘Beaumont’ is a variety recommended for home gardeners in Southern California and thus is adaptable to many environments here. Once mature, it will survive the occasional frost. However, it is best in frost-free zones as are all macadamia trees.