BIO Hazelnut (Corylus avellana) HALL'S GIANT

Hazelnut (Corylus avellana) 'Hall's Giant' (Halle'sche Riesen)

A German classic and premier pollinator featuring massive nuts, excellent sweet flavor, and extreme frost hardiness.

The 'Hall's Giant' variety is a time-tested pillar of European gardens. This robust hazelnut, bred as early as 1788, stands out for its extraordinary vigor and yield stability even in more challenging conditions. Besides producing large, flavorful nuts, it performs an invaluable function in the orchard as a universal pollen donor – ensuring a rich harvest for almost all other hazelnut varieties in your vicinity. Thanks to its dense growth, it is also an ideal choice for edible hedges and windbreaks.

Main advantages of the variety:

• Premier Pollinator: Globally recognized donor of high-quality pollen for other varieties.
• Large Fruits: Massive nuts (4 – 5 g) with a full, distinctly sweet flavor.
• Extreme Hardiness: Both wood and catkins withstand frosts down to -30 °C (-22 °F).
• Long Shelf Life: Kernels hardly shrivel during storage and maintain their premium quality.
• Health Status: High tolerance to big bud mite and less susceptible to the nut weevil.
• Robust growth and exceptional longevity.

Origin and Breeding

• Origin: Germany (Halle). Bred by Amtmann Büttner in 1788.
• Crossing: An interspecific hybrid of Giant Filbert and Common Hazel (Corylus maxima x Corylus avellana).

Variety Characteristics

Shrub and Growth

• Vigor and Habit: Strong and massive growth, reaching a height of 4 to 6 meters. It forms a dense, upright, and wide shrub.
• Flowering: Blooms in February and March. Male catkins are highly frost-resistant and are a rich source of pollen.
• Pollination: The variety is self-incompatible. It requires a partner for its own crop (e.g., 'Cosford'), but it will pollinate almost any other hazelnut nearby.

Fruit

• Size and Shape: Large nuts (4 – 5 g) with a broad-conical shape. They grow in clusters of 2 to 4.
• Shell and Kernel: The shell is firm and medium-thick. The kernel is plump, sweet, and of excellent quality. Kernel yield is 42 – 45%.

Resistance and Requirements

• Frost: Excellent hardiness (down to -30 °C / -22 °F). It is fully adapted to the climate of Central Europe.
• Pests: Due to the firmer shell, it is less attacked by the nut weevil and shows high resistance to the big bud mite.

Harvest and Yield

• Harvest Time: Ripens from mid-September to early October.
• Yield: High, regular, and very stable regardless of weather fluctuations.