Orekha saplings Kocherzhenko, Chernivtsi region.

Among walnut growers, the Greek variety Kocherzhenko, orech, has recently been rapidly gaining popularity bred by the Kiev breeder I.E. Kocherzhenko. This tree, with a compact sparse crown, has won the sympathy of gardeners with its rapid fruiting and high yield. This is an early bird amongwalnuts: it begins to bear fruit already 2-3 hours after "birth", bringing large fruits with a thin, delicate shell. The kernel inside the shell is very tasty, because contains a lot of oil, up to 70%. The core of the kernel, covered with a thin, white-straw film, is full, voluminous, but at the same time it is easily removed from the flaps, despite its size. Many gardeners among the largestnuts necessarily will call the Moldavian Greek "bomb" variety. Its feature will be called the weight of its fruit - 30g. But Kocherzhenko also has its own secret peculiarity, which is hidden from our eyes: the weight of the "bomb" is achieved due to the thick, bumpy shell, which means that the nut itself looks much larger than the true weight of the kernel under it, but Kocherzhenko's nut, thanks to the thin-walled creamy-brown shell, looks a little smaller than the "Moldovan", and the weight of its kernel is the most nutty essence, not inferior in weight to the "bomb" - that's all the same 20 g! And there are a lot of such nuts on the tree, the variety delights with its yield! It is also easy to remove ripe nuts - the tree is not very tall, and although it is considered medium-sized, it rather belongs to low-growing trees. If one adds its frost resistance to all the above-mentioned characteristics, it becomes clear why the variety is considered one of the best early-fruiting, winter-hardy varieties of walnut. According to Kocherzhenko's description of the characteristics, this "Greek tree" is weakly sensitive to all diseases of fruit-bearing trees, even to such an abomination as brown spotting, so you can not worry about its regular high yield. Planting and compatibility with other varieties It takes root quite well in areas where the average annual temperature does not fall below plus 10 degrees, and in warm summer months it stays at plus 20 and higher. Due to its precocity, the variety has time to mature. In addition, the proterandric type of flowering, when the stamens in the flowers ripen faster than the stigmas of the pistils (namely, this type of flowering in Kocherzhenko), allows you to preserve the largest number of ovaries in case of sudden spring frosts. It should be remembered that any walnut tree has a wide and powerful root system (up to 12 m). Therefore, you should think about where to plant it, so that this power does not destroy your buildings on the site. Even when growing trees of different varieties, the planting scheme is the same for everyone: the distance between the trees should not be less than 5-6 m. One thing is certain - this Ukrainian variety will take its rightful place in the constellation of the best early-fruiting trees grown in gardens and plots.