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Coppicing before re-grafting a large pecan tree
Last year, I placed 9 bark grafts in a large tree in an effort to change a seedling tree into tree that would produce large, high-quality nuts (photo at right). Today, I spent nearly 90 minutes up...
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How long can I keep grafting?
This year, I made my first pecan graft on Sunday April 24th. Exactly three weeks later (May 15th), I checked on one of those early grafts and found buds bursting from the scion (photo at right)....
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Directive pruning a young pecan tree
I was driving through my orchard when I noticed a young, grafted tree that looked more like a tree straight out of a Dr. Seuss book than a pecan tree (photo at right). As strange as this tree...
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Tree training: Directive pruning now helps avoid major pruning later
Last month, I received my copy of "Pecan South" which featured a photo of a young tree on the cover (photo at right). One look at the photo and I couldn't help but think this tree had received zero...
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Forcing scion growth on new grafts
Its been a month since I started grafting pecan (and hickory) trees. So far, it looks like I have a perfect success rate with many grafts already pushing out new shoots (photo at right). One of...
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Pecan crop load and pistillate flower strength
Yesterday, I spent some time scouting the orchard to get a feel for the 2016 pecan crop. All of the pistillate flowers have been pollinated and I was encouraged when I found a cluster of five nuts...
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Trimming up the "pasture" pecan graft
A few weeks, back I showed how I converted a multi-stemmed "pasture" pecan tree into a single-stemmed grafted tree. Yesterday, I came back to this tree and found that the scion had budded out (green...
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Summer pruning: Techniques up close
I was working with my young pecan trees and was making some directive pruning cuts when I stopped to photograph a couple of the techniques I use in training trees. I always start at the top of...
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Spraying for pecan nut casebearer
We began spraying for pecan nut casebearer this morning (photo at right). After discovering 1% cluster damage yesterday and checking the weather forecast for the next week, I decided we better get...
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Training new pecan grafts
I set on a lot of bark grafts this year and the scions are growing like mad (photo at right). So far this year, I've already made one pass through the orchard to prune off trunk sprouts in and...
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First generation fall webworm hatching
Today, I spotted a newly hatched colony of fall webworm larvae on a young tree (photo at right). The larvae are so small at this time that are unable to chew up the entire leaflet. Instead, these...
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Galls on seedling pecan trees
I was trimming up some young trees when I came across a seedling tree that had leaves sprinkled with light green galls (photo at right). These galls are formed by the plant in response to the...
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Monitoring pecan scab and making the decision to spray
Last week I scouted the pecan grove for pecan scab. For the most part, our trees look pretty clean. I had a hard time finding scab lesions on any part of this year's new growth. However, when I...
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Don't let pecan trees get top heavy
Earlier this year, I showed you how to use directive pruning to prevent a tree from developing a bushy, leaderless top. The photo at right is a great example of what can happen when a bushy,...
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Be careful when pulling off stalked buds
Yesterday, I spent the morning trimming grafts and training the scion to a nice central leader. Just two weeks ago, I worked on these same trees selecting a single scion shoot and removing stalked...
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Preventing wind damage to new grafts.
Grafting pecan trees is one of my favorite parts of developing a new orchard. After years of practice, I can graft fairly quickly and I have confidence that the graft will be successful. The time...
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Hickory shuckworm, fall web and scab: Time to spray again
I've been watching the weather and monitoring our pecan grove trying to keep to top of possible pest problems. I'm really worried about scab get started on our nut crop. Scab infections can spread...
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Pecan fruit sizing during July
July is the month when northern pecans enter a period of rapid fruit enlargement. Even though pecans are a nut crop, we call it fruit enlargement because the shuck and seed within are collectively...
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Storm damages young pecan tree
A strong wind during a mid-summer thunderstorm can undo years of careful tree training.This was the case when I discovered a tree broken over and laying on the ground (photo at right). It seems...
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Pecan development: 28 July 2016
We received nearly 2 inches of rain earlier this week and I though that the sudden jolt of soil moisture might kick pecan nut development into high gear. So today, I collected some nut samples of...
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