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Bark graft snaps in the wind
One of the bark grafts I made this past Spring died suddenly (photo at right). The graft was still standing up straight and tall but all the leaves had turned brown. This warranted closer...
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A quick check of pecan kernel quality
During the past couple of weeks, I've been recording the date of shuck-split for several pecan cultivars and the trees in my pecan breeding plot (photo at right is KT149). On the day I find a...
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Dry summer changes pecan appearance
The summer of 2020 was hot and dry in S.E. Kansas. In fact, it was so dry that normal nut development was inhibited. This past week, I was collecting nut samples when I decided to see how much nut...
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Fertilizing pecan trees in the Fall
Long time readers of this blog will remember that I like to make two applications of fertilizer to my pecan trees each year. The first is applied in early spring when buds first show signs of...
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A good week for pecan harvest
Its not often that we see the golden yellow of pecan fall color but this year all the trees in my grove put on a beautiful display (photo at right). All week the weather was clear, dry, and...
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A good week for second harvest
This past week we had another stretch of dry weather so I took the opportunity to go back into the orchard to scrap pick any pecans I missed a couple of weeks ago. When I shook the trees back in...
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Fall tree planting
Now that my 2020 pecan crop is harvested, I have been able to spend a little time planting the seedling pecan trees I grew in containers over the summer. I actually prefer to plant container-grown...
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Checking for cold injury
This winter in SE Kansas has been exceptionally cold and snowy. Earlier this month, the temperature dropped to -16 F (-26 C) with several days below 0 F (-18 C). Since that week of bitter cold,...
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Harvesting pecan scionwood
All this week, I've been busy cutting pecan scionwood from trees that were specifically trained to produce long one-year-old shoots. The photo at right is just one of several scionwood trees I...
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Spreading lime in a pecan grove
Using soil tests, I discovered that the soil in my pecan grove was more acid than ideal (pH < 6.0). Pecan trees perform best in soils that have a pH above 6.5 but below 7.2. So, this spring,...
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Springtime fertilizing
Every Spring I fertilize my pecan orchard and today was the day I accomplished that task. Two factors go into my decision for timing the Spring fertilizer application. The first is bud development...
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Pecan trees breaking bud
Over the past week, I've been enjoying the spring weather by working in the pecan grove. Today, I collected terminal branches from several trees to illustrate the variation that occurs in time of...
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New pecan shoots emerging
With a week of cool days and even cooler nights, pecan shoot growth has slowed to a crawl. However, when I looked at my trees a few days ago I could already see new leaves and catkins emerging...
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Late Spring Frost Damages Pecan Trees
A strong cold front pushed its way across Kansas on Tuesday April 20. We even saw light snow showers during the daylight hours. But as nightfall approached the sky cleared off and temperatures...
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Grafting after a late season freeze
Most years I start grafting pecan trees around the first of May. The photo at right shows a young seedling pecan tree that is the perfect size to graft using a 3-flap graft. For field grafting, I...
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Grafting a frost injured tree
In spite of a cooler than normal Spring, my pecan trees have started to re-bud following the April 21 frost. The photo at right show the terminal of a young pecan tree that is pushing out new green...
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Pecan pollination underway
Kanza catkins and new growth During mid-May I scout my pecan orchard for the intensity of pistillate flower production on new branch terminals. If I find a flower cluster on nearly every shoot, I...
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Directive pruning is most effective way to train young trees
One rainy day in May, I was leafing through my pecan magazines when I came across a photo of a Georgia Extension agent discussing the pruning of a young tree (photo at right). To me, this one...
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Scouting for pecan pests
Every year I have inspected hundreds of pecan nut clusters in early June to determine the date of first significant nut entry by pecan nut casebearer. Casebearer has been a perennial insect pest...
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Weather dictates disease and insect control measures
During the last 5 days of June it rained every day for a total accumulation of over 5 inches. With all that rain, the Neosho river spilled over its banks and flooded my pecan grove. The excessive...
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