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Notes on pecan pollination
Last weekend I took advantage of calm winds and sunny skies to photograph pecan flowering and pollination. I also like to scout my orchard at this time of year to get a feel for this year's nut...
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Directive pruning last year's grafts
Once I finish up grafting for this year, I turn my attention to pruning last year's successful grafts. The photo at right illustrates the typical appearance of a young grafted tree in its second...
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Pecan nut casebearer arrives late
Every year I scout my pecan orchard for pecan nut casebearer damage to young nuts. Damage from this insect is easy to recognize by the pile of insect frass at the base of a nut and the silken...
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Young tree's growth response to spring time directive pruning
In previous posts, I've stressed the importance of practicing directive pruning during the spring flush of growth to encourage the development of a strong central leader. The photos at right show...
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Severe drought impacts pecan production
For the past 4 months, I have watched clouds pass over SE Kansas without dropping significant rainfall. According to the National Weather Service, my farm in Cherokee County (extreme SE corner of...
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Tree spacing influences nut production during drought
The other day I was scouting my orchard for pecan shuck split when I noticed a dramatic difference in nut size and ripening between a young grafted Caney tree and the mature mother Caney tree...
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Extreme drought impacts pecan shucksplit
During the first week of October, I usually note several pecan cultivars that have split shuck. However, this year, the extended drought has delayed the normal timing of nut ripening. The photo at...
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Erratic shuck-split during this drought year
Caney, 15 Oct 2022 Our local weatherman is predicting a strong cold front to drop temperatures into the low 20's by tomorrow morning. Once that happens, the 2022 pecan growing season will come to...
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Deep freeze blasts drought stressed pecan trees
Kanza leaves and shucks killed by freeze It has been over a week since a strong arctic air mass descended across the central plains and ended the 2022 growing season. I recorded 19 degrees F (-7 C)...
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Pecan Harvest 2022: Making the best of a bad situation
Following an extended summer drought and an early Fall freeze, the outlook for my 2022 pecan harvest season looked bleak. Staring up into the canopies of my trees all I could see were small black...
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Looking inside a pecan graft union
Whenever I remove a pecan tree, I like to save the portion of the trunk that contains the graft union. After drying a few weeks, I slice open the trunk with a band saw hoping to reveal the...
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Observing pecan budbreak
After a long winter, Spring finally arrived to the pecan grove. This year, I decided to photograph pecan bud development and leaf burst as it occurred during the month of April. Each week, I...
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Earlton: First cultivar to ripen in 2023
Earlton, 15 Sept. 2023 It has been a long hot summer with just barely enough rainfall to produce a pecan crop. Our dry summer weather has created smaller than normal pecans with some kernel...
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Strong thunderstorms roll through the area
During the summers of 2022 and 2023 we suffered through extremely dry conditions in our area. However, last night we finally received some much needed relief. This morning I dumped 2.98 inches of...
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Pecan shuck split dates for of early ripening cultivars
This fall, timely rain showers have helped pop open pecan shucks on a more normal schedule. Over the past week, I've been photographing each cultivar on the day I find at least 50% of nut shucks...
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Cultivars that ripen on the same day as Pawnee
Pawnee, 27 Sept. 2023. Pawnee is one of the most popular pecan cultivars adapted to short season climates (photo at right). Large nut size and early ripening are the main positive cultivar...
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Pecan cultivars continue to ripen as we head into October
Kanza, 2 Oct. 2023 This year I recorded October 2nd as the ripening date for Kanza. My Kanza trees have produced an excellent crop this year as you can tell by the photo at right. When Kanza first...
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Pecan cultivars that ripened in October
Jayhawk, 4 Oct. 2023 In my area of Kansas, pecan cultivars must ripen by mid-October to reliably split open their shucks before the first killing freeze in the Fall. Pictured here are some of...
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Thinning trees to maximize light penetration and remove problems
All summer long I take mental notes on tree spacing within my orchard. This past summer, I noticed several areas in my pecan breeding block that were becoming crowded. Limbs of adjacent trees were...
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Inspecting my scionwood crop
Today's bright sunshine and cloudless sky provided me with a great opportunity to photograph my pecan scionwood crop (photo at right). I've been harvesting scions from these same trees for over 6...
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Spring bud development 2024
Kanza, 8 Apr. 2024 On April 8th, while the nation was enamored with watching a solar eclipse, I was in my pecan grove watching new growth emerge from branch terminals in my pecan grove. It's the...
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Pecan shuck-split underway
Earlton, 13 Sept. 2024 Each Fall, I scout my pecan orchard to record the date of 50% shuck-split for each cultivar and breeding selection. As usual, Earlton was the first cultivar to split shuck...
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Pecan cultivars ripening in late September
I continue to monitor shuck-split for the pecan cultivars I have growing on my farm. Even though it seems like we are sliding back into drought conditions this fall, nut size and kernel quality...
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Fall color in the pecan grove
Kanza tree, 24 Oct. 2024 Most years we experience a hard freeze in late October that causes the complete defoliation of green leaves from our trees. This year, the combination of warm fall days...
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Picturing nut size
For the first time in 3 years, we have received enough summer rainfall to promote a more normal development of nut size. This fact gave me the opportunity to photograph all of the cultivars I have...
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