Northern Pecans

Time 2021-10-27 06:12:18

Web Name: Northern Pecans

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Northern Pecans

Observations on growing pecans in Kansas and across middle America

PagesHomePecan CultivarsPecan Pest ControlPecan Scionwood 2022 Monday, October 18, 2021 Fall pecan tree planting

Earlier this month, I drove over to Elsberry, Missouri to see my friends at Forrest Keeling Nursery and to pick up some of their container-grown pecan seedlings. This week the weather has been perfect for planting those trees.

The first step in planting a container-grown tree is to dig a hole about the same depth as the pot (photo at right). I also dig the hole larger than the diameter of the pot which ensures that I have plenty of room to pack soil around the root ball.

When planting container-grown pecan trees I always check for circling roots that have grown at the bottom of the pot (photo above). Allowing these roots to remain in a tight circle can cause major problems for the tree as it becomes re-established in the orchard. As the tree grows these circling roots can grow to girdle each other and cause slow tree decline.

Before planting the tree, I pull large circling roots away from the root ball and prune them off (photo above). Once the tree starts growing in the orchard, new roots will form at each pruning cut. These new roots will grow straight downwards into the soil and eventually form multiple tap roots.

Before setting the root ball in the hole, I shake off all loose potting soil. This will expose a lot of the root system's fibrous roots and force them to grow into the surrounding soil (photo at left). As I fill soil into the hole, I carefully pack soil all around the root ball. By shaking off all loose potting soil, the root ball appears to sit about 1 to 2 inches below the surface of the soil. Once I've filled in all around the sides of the root ball, I'll cover the root system with a 1 to 2 inch layer of soil. Covering the root ball with my native silt loam soil will slow water evaporation from the potting soil that's still clinging to the tree's roots.

I've learned that these container-grown trees are extremely attractive to deer for browsing. In the past, I've even had deer pull a freshly planted tree out of the ground. So before moving on to planting another seedling pecan tree, I cover the tree with a cage made of 4" x 2" welded wire fencing that is 4 feet tall (photo at right). To hold the cage in place, I tie it to a steel fence post. You might also note that I used all the loose potting soil that I removed from the root ball as a mulch for the tree.

Posted byWilliam Reidat9:57 PMEmail ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to PinterestLabels:tree planting Saturday, October 16, 2021 Fall fertilization: Fertilizer prices have skyrocketed!

This past week I applied my regular fall mix of fertilizers to my pecan grove-- equal parts of urea, di-ammonium phosphate, and potash. I am a firm believer in fall fertilization for reducing alternate bearing of pecan trees, but this year, I was shocked by the price I had to pay.

Late last Spring the price of fertilizer and pest control chemicals started to rise. Prices continued to rise all summer and now, this Fall, the same amount of fertilizer that I applied in Fall on 2020 cost more than twice as much in 2021. We've seen spikes in fertilizer prices in the past but I think this year must be setting a record for percent increase over the previous growing season.

After getting over my initial shock, I realized that, if I want to keep my trees on the road toward increased nut production, I had to invest in fertilizer even at inflated prices. I've been growing pecans for 40 years and one thing that I've learned is that a consistent fertilizer program is the most important input that can be made to ensure annual nut production.

Posted byWilliam Reidat8:43 PMEmail ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to PinterestLabels:fertilizing pecans Sunday, August 22, 2021 Spraying for weevil control

Its been a relatively dry summer this year so I decided to delay making my first weevil spray until after we got a good soaking rain. Well, during the early morning hours of August 21st we received our first good rain (0.96 inches) in several weeks. This rainfall event should allow pecan weevils to emerge from their underground cells and find their way to the nearest pecan nut cluster. The photo above shows both a female (longer snout) and male adult weevils.

The first order of business for these insects is to move to a pecan nut cluster in the hope of finding a weevil of the opposite sex. After mating, the female will start puncturing pecans to discover if the nuts are suitable for egg laying. She will not deposit eggs inside the nut until the kernel inside has entered the gel stage.

I cut several pecans open today and found that even early-ripening cultivars were still in the water stage (photo at left). As I mentioned in my previous post, pecan kernel development is much later than normal the year due to unseasonably cool Spring temperatures.

The combination of a concentrated weevil emergence due a triggering rainfall event and a nut crop not ready for weevil oviposition means that weevils will just keep probing nuts until kernels start to firm up inside the shell. A pecan that gets punctured during the water stage will drop off the tree (both weevils and stink bugs cause nut drop).

To prevent a possible significant amount of weevil induced nut drop, I decided to spray my orchard with and insecticide. In spraying the orchard, I started at dawn this morning (22 Aug 2021) and quit around 10:30 am as air temperatures climbed above 85 degrees F. The forecast for tomorrow is afternoon temperatures in the mid 90's (F), so I'll be getting up early tomorrow morning to finish the job.

With cooler temperatures and high humidity, early morning is the best time for spraying. The water droplets that blow out of the sprayer stay airborne longer and do a better job at coating all the surfaces of the pecan tree's canopy. For this weevil spray I used Warrior II insecticide. I'll probably spray again in 10 to 14 days depending on soil conditions and rainfall patterns.

Posted byWilliam Reidat9:25 PMEmail ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to PinterestLabels:pecan weevil,spraying Saturday, July 31, 2021 Checking pecan kernel development

Its that time of year when I really start to notice the pecan crop hanging on my trees. The photo at right shows a cluster of Kanza nuts as they appeared 30 July 2021. At this point in the growing season, pecan nuts are in the phase of rapid fruit expansion meaning that the nuts you see in the photo will almost double in size over the next 2 weeks.

To check on the development of the kernel inside the nut, I took samples from several pecan cultivars and cut them open (photo at left). The kernels were less than one half expanded and still filled with liquid endosperm. Compared to previous growing seasons, this year's pecan crop is well behind schedule. An early maturing cultivar, such as Gardner, is usually at full water stage by the first week of August. Since nut development is delayed this year, I expect pecan ripening (date of shuck-split) to be later than normal.

If you remember back to earlier this Spring, we had a much cooler than average month of May. This lack of heat delayed the pollination season and slowed the embryo fertilization process. The net result has been that the normal biological clock for kernel development got a very late start.

From a practical viewpoint, the delay in kernel development will impact the proper timing for crop load management and sprays for pecan weevil.

Posted byWilliam Reidat4:35 PMEmail ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to PinterestLabels:nut development Older PostsHomeSubscribe to:Posts (Atom)Author
For 37 years, Dr. William Reid was Pecan Research and Extension specialist for Kansas and Missouri. In retirement, he is tending his 30 acre pecan orchard and blogging his observations on pecan tree culture and management.
Contact Informationemail: wreid@ckt.net

Dr. William Reid
10331 SW 95th StreetChetopa, KS 67336
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