Pecans

Do you have pecan trees? I have two in my yard. Although I've watered them through droughts, otherwise they've had to manage on their own. They're in bloom now, and after reading this article - http://www.noble.org/Ag/Soils/FertilizingPecans/index.html - I'm going to give them a good meal. Yuska

In Florida you can send in sample pecan leaves to be analyzed for nutrition deficiencies, but if you've got only two trees it's probably not worth the trouble. Another thing that helps pecans is mycorrhizal fungi, which grow in symbiosis with the trees' roots, but they may already have those established naturally; in your climate and mine there are often spores in the soil anyway. One can buy powder containing the spores, but it may be superfluous.

One of the naturally occurring mycorrhizal fungi is the pecan truffle, which is of the same genus as culinary truffles, is edible and considered a lesser delicacy, and seems to help the trees as do the others. Problem is that these are usually not harvested at peak flavor (no trained dogs or pigs to sniff them out, as with European truffles) and are often disappointing to eat.

I've lost a few pecan trees due to neglect, and I haven't found a good source of trees near me. I'm in Florida's relatively small pecan country (Texas is the big dog on the block, Georgia second I think).

Mark.

My local co-op store has a fertilizer blend for pecan trees, I think it's basically 10-10-10 with added zinc. I use it about every other year. Last year my "Elliott" pecans were loaded, but they seemed to have lots of pecan scab so I just decided to let the squirrels have them. My really old "native type" trees haven't produced many nuts in several years, but I think it's related to the hurricanes in '04 and '05.

After reading this extensive article from Texas A&M, I realize I could have done a better job when I planted my trees nearly ten years ago. http://nueces-tx.tamu.edu/publications/pecans.pdf

They're too close, for one thing (not much choice in a suburban yard) and are crowded by a couple of cercidiums. Those will come out this fall. I'll pay more attention to possible insect/stress problems and take action as the article suggests. The varieties are Cheyenne and Choctaw, recommended for this area and compatible for pollination. I am glad they have done well, all things considered.

I feel very lucky to have some native pecan trees this far north. I have one pretty old tree, perhaps 100 years old. The nuts are disappointing though.. Therefore , I have studied and studied how to improve my production.. I also have 20 - 25 younger trees that I think are 15 - 20 years old.. Also natives with small nuts.. I am trying to learn how to graft so that I can graft better producing varieties on some of the smaller trees and also increase my pollination.

My first grafting project is pears. I tried my first graft and realized I needed a better grafting knife.. I thought they would ship it quickly, but no, it's on back order.

Texas Pecan Nursery sales 7" grafts February to April for $0.75 each or cheaper if more than 10. Their phone is 903-849-6203. Their web-site says wholesale to the trade only, but they are glad to help. They do have a $50.00 minumum order when shipping. They have good prices and they have descriptions of the types of pecans they sale and a pollination chart too. Hope this helps, Mike

I have never given one thought to a pecan tree except don't park your car under one. Where I am they just simply grow. Not much of anything stops them. Pollination is not a thing to worry about either because there seems to be pecans here and there all around the county.

I've always wondered how they get a whole nut out of a pecan shell. Anyone know?

The shell must be cracked gently, with no pressure on the nutmeat. Even then, the success rate is fairly low, so a package of whole halves is quite special and more costly. Certain papershell varieties such as Schley have very thin shells that crack easily.

CoreHHI, if the pecan trees in your area just grow, I'm guessing the trees are mostly native types. When I was growing up we kids earned our Christmas gift money by picking up the plentiful crops on our farm and along the public lands by creeks in our area of southern Oklahoma. Our best season was 1943 when we were paid a handsome 23 cents a pound. Later a commercial cracking device was invented that made natives much easier to shell, and the price and popularity rose sharply. Natives are considered to be more flavorful. They are recommended for people who have severe problems with arthritis, as some compound in them provides quick relief.

Good food for many reasons! Yuska

I shell many pounds of pecans every year that they produce. I use the Texan Nut Sheller and get around 95% halves. The sheller is mfg in San Angelo, Texas and is the best I have ever used. They even make fix-it kits so you can replace the blades and spring when they get dull. I usually only cut out the natives as I like them better. The improved pecans with the thinner shells would really be easy to get the halves out of. Even the harder shells are fairly easy. BTW I have no interest in the company that makes them. I have just used their good product for the past 20 or so years.

Thanks for that info, Patsy! I"ll pass the word to all my kith and kin and get one for myself. Yuska

Good info Pasty.