Chandler

The Chandler walnut tree (Juglans regia, (regia = royal)) is one of the most popular, prolific and widely planted walnut varieties in the world. It delivers bountiful harvests like hardly any other variety.

The Chandler walnut was introduced to the market in 1979 by the University of California and named after W. H. Chandler, the U. C. Davis pomology professor. Today, Chandler is one of the best walnut varieties because of the late budding, the high yield security, the high nut quality, very tasty nuts, and because of the pronounced disease resistance.

Growth / crown

Chandler is a medium-growing walnut tree that widens towards the top to a spherical, robust and harmonious crown that grows moderately vigorously. Chandler usually reaches a height of 10-20 meters.

The Chandler variety has a medium crown volume and develops a semi-erect crown. The diameter of the crown is more than 18-20 m. The Chandler walnut is suitable for high-density planting e.g., at a distance of 5 x 6 meters.

Chandler can be pruned to keep the tree small. A pruning of this walnut tree is necessary every year in the early growing season. Usually the branches of the tree are pruned to keep it about 5 meters wide.

Chandler is characterized by strong branches densely covered with leaves. The leaf has an elongated elliptical shape. The individual leaves are 7-10 cm long, leathery, somewhat oily-sticky, shine dull and bright green on top, with a bitter, tart taste. An interesting feature is also the light balsamic scent that emanates from the leaves - if you want to know more about it, rub a leaf between your fingers.

Flowering time / leaf sprouting

Chandler emerges late and flowers late. The flowering period usually occurs in parallel with the foliage of the tree, usually this time falls between April 23rd and May 1st. (depends on geographic region). The flowering period lasts an average of 15 days.

The flowers are distinguished by their small size and green color. Chandler is a protandrous variety (male flowers bloom first). Male flowers are collected in the axils of the leaves, while female flowers are usually solitary, forming at the top of annual branches. The first flowers can appear in the first year after planting.

Since Chandler sprout late in spring, the walnut tree is very resistant to spring frosts and is therefore well suited for locations at risk of late frost.

Chandler is a heat and sun-loving walnut variety that does well in calcareous and nutrient-rich soil and at altitudes of up to 1200 meters above sea level.

Pollination

Chandler is self-pollinating − but Franquette and Fernette are preferred pollinators for better fertility. In a walnut orchard, 90-97% of the trees should be Chandler and 3-10% of the trees should be Franquette or Fernette.

photo from our client, reg. Ruse,

Chandler - first year after planting

photo from our customer, Croatia, Chandler - first year after planting

photo from our client, reg. Blagoevgrad, Chandler - first year after planting

Yield

Chandler has the highest kernel yield of any walnut variety. This walnut tree has early onset, regular and bountiful walnut yield.

Chandler belongs to the laterally bearing varieties, which means the fruits are formed not only on the tips of the shoots, but also on young branches. Due to its lateral fruit set, the walnut tree bears nuts on the entire branch. This leads to a particularly high harvest.

80-90% of the walnut yield comes from lateral fruiting. This enables the walnut tree to bear nuts as early as the third or fourth year after planting. A walnut orchard in full production often yields up to 4-5 tons of dry nuts per hectare with records exceeding 10 tons.

A gardener can collect 25-30 kilograms of walnuts from a young tree (5-7 years) and up to 40 kilograms of walnuts from an older tree (9-10 years). A 15-20 year old tree can yield up to 150 kilograms of walnuts per tree.

Years after planting	Walnut Yield (kg)
1	-
4-5	✓
6	20-25
10	40

Nut quality

The fruits of the Chandler walnut tree are among the most beautiful and best of all. The walnut kernels have a grape-like shape and weigh an average of 6.3 grams. The colour of the kernel is a wonderful light cream colour. The conspicuously light nut kernel completely fills the husk (kernel proportion 55%). The shell is very thin, grooved with an elliptical shape, easy to crack and gut and feels correspondingly smooth. The light and smooth-shelled, oval nuts reach a weight of 13-15 grams.

About 50% of the kernel weight is oil. The walnuts produced by the Chandler are both unique and highly sought after and highly marketable. The tasty nut kernel has a very fine, pleasantly nutty aroma and convinces with its excellent taste.

Because of the very tasty nuts, the Chandler walnut is one of the most popular varieties for plantation cultivation.

Harvest time

The best time to harvest walnuts of this variety is when the outer green husk opens to reveal the woody fruit. The harvest time usually takes place between end of September (from September 23rd) and the beginning of October.

Disease resistance and frost resistance

Chandler is a walnut variety with good disease resistance. The walnut tree adapts perfectly to the local climate and is practically resistant to bacterial blight and anthracnose. Chandler has a good resistance against frost and is a walnut tree largely resistant to late frost, is heat tolerant, drought tolerant and hardy.

Planting scheme

Chandler is optimally planted at a planting distance of 5 x 6m. This is a planting scheme used in the hedge planting system. Here the distance between the walnut trees in the row is small and there is enough space between the rows for enough light to enter. The slightly larger distance between the rows is also very useful for the use of technology and easy access (mowing, harvesting, etc.). This walnut planting system, especially known from intensively cultivated plantations, has the great advantage of being able to achieve high yields early on.

With a recommended spacing of 5 x 6m, 300/330 trees are planted per hectare.

With the following tool you can easily calculate how many trees fit on your area.

Rootstock

Our walnut trees are exclusively grafted on Juglans regia. This rootstock is particularly good for grafted walnut trees, as they are the most resilient to a variety of diseases.

Height & Growth	moderately vigorous, semi upright
Tree crown	Chandler is suitable for high density planting such as 6 x 5 meters spacing.
Flowering	late leafing and blooming. This is an advantage, because late leafing varieties are less likely to be affected by frost, walnut blight and codling moth.
Flowering type	Protandrous
Self fertile	self pollinating
Pollination	Chandler is a self pollinating tree, it can yield walnuts without a pollenizer. But it can give you higher yields when used with a pollenizer. Franquette, Pedro and Fernette is used as pollenizer with Chandler trees.
Terminal or Lateral	70-80 % lateral bearing variety
Fruiting	very early fruit bearing, very high yield, undemanding in terms of climate and soil. Chandler is a highly productive variety - 90 percent of its lateral branches being productive.
Fruit	large (13-15 gr.), 1-4 fruits per batch, elliptical shape
Shell & pericarp	very thin shell, light color, ridged, easy to crack and clean, becomes stronger in older trees
Kernel	very light-colored kernels, naturally light (similar to the Hartley), 95-100 5% whiteness, weight: 6.3 g., kernel fills shell fully, easy to remove from the shell and easy to crack out into halves, excellent taste
Harvest	September 23rd - 2 days after Hartley
Oil content	high oil content of 50% percent
Kernel %	55%
Winter hardness	resistant
Frost susceptibiity	very hightly resistence to late spring frost
Sensitivity to bacterial blight and anthracnose	practically resistant to anthracnose and to bacterial blight

Walnuts Bulgaria has many years of experience in planting and growing walnut saplings. To help with your plans and goals, we provide you with this online calculator. Please note that it is recommended to use 3 - 10% (of the total amount of trees) of the pollinator varieties Franqutte or Fernette.

Please enter the land size in hectares below to calculate the number of trees you can plant.

Land size: (hectare)

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