This is the "rough shell" macadamia, a better choice for SoCal inland valleys. It's not the macadamia commercial growers use, but the nut...Read More is perfectly fine, and your friends will still love them. Just make sure you get a grafted variety.
A 5 gallon grafted tree took about 8 years before it reliably started producing nuts. The tree is about 30' tall now, and it seems to cycle with a heavy nut crop one year, then a light one the next year. Being over 20 years old, it's survived down to about 22 degrees and has no problem with the 5-10 typical 27-28 degree nights in the Escondido winter. The smooth shelled macadamias are more difficult in this area.
Fragant flowers start about April/May through June, and the nuts are usually ready mid December. Sometimes it flowers several times, so there have been years where we get multiple sets of nuts growing at different stages. The flowers are very attractive to honeybees.
This is the "rough shell" macadamia, a better choice for SoCal inland valleys. It's not the macadamia commercial growers use, but the nut...Read More