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Pecan Orchard Establishment

Pecan Orchard Establishment. Making Your Orchard Yield Nuts (and $) as Soon as Possible. Richard Heerema Extension Pecan Specialist New Mexico State University. Goals. Long-term goal—maximize economic returns over the life of the orchard.

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Pecan Orchard Establishment

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  1. Pecan Orchard Establishment Making Your Orchard Yield Nuts (and $) as Soon as Possible Richard Heerema Extension Pecan Specialist New Mexico State University

  2. Goals • Long-term goal—maximize economic returns over the life of the orchard. • Short-term goal—reach economic production in the shortest time possible. • The kids gotta eat and bank’s gotta get paid!

  3. Important things I’m not going to dwell on today • Site selection • Pre-planting soil modifications • Nursery tree size • Potted vs. bareroot • Pre-plant tree care • Irrigation & nutrition

  4. Genetics: Cultivar Precocity • Precocity is the relative amount of time it takes for a tree to come into production. • Highly precocious cultivars have a tendency to over-bear once they are mature • alternate bearing • poor nut quality

  5. Genetics: Cultivar Precocity Precocious Very Precocious Non-Precocious ‘Bradley’ (‘Ideal’) ‘Burkett’ ‘Elliott’ ‘Hopi’ ‘Shawnee’ ‘Stuart’ ‘Tejas’ ‘Apalachee’ ‘Barton’ ‘Cape Fear’ ‘Cherokee’ ‘Cheyenne’ ‘Chickasaw’ ‘Mohawk’ ‘Shoshoni’ ‘Wichita’ • ‘Apache’ • ‘Caddo’ • ‘Choctaw’ • ‘Desirable’ • ‘Kanza’ • ‘Kiowa’ • ‘Lakota’ • ‘Mandan’ • ‘Nacono’ • ‘Pawnee’ • ‘Sioux’ • ‘Success’ • ‘Waco’ • ‘Western’

  6. Genetics: Rootstock Vigor • Generally, high vigor and precocity are considered linked in pecan. • High vigor: • Cross-pollinated nuts • Complete dichogamy • Southern parentage

  7. Genetics: Rootstock Vigor Higher Vigor Lower Vigor ‘Elliott’ ‘Moore’ ‘VC1-68’ ‘Wichita’ ‘Shoshone’ ‘Giles’ ‘Riverside’ ‘Stuart’ Moderate Vigor ‘Apache’ ‘Bradley’ ‘Burkett’ ‘Curtis’

  8. Planting Density • Initially, yield should be proportional to tree planting density.

  9. Planting Density *Hypothetical Example*

  10. Orchard Floor Management Foshee et al, 1995

  11. Orchard Floor Management

  12. Orchard Floor Management Smith et al., 2005

  13. Orchard Floor Management

  14. Training • Two truths: • Training young pecan trees is essential to growing a tree that is workable through the life of the orchard. • Pruning young pecan trees delays cropping. Prune young pecan trees, but remove as little wood as possible!

  15. Training Remove basal primary buds on central leader during dormant pruning. Photo courtesy of Monte Nesbitt Year 1 At Planting Year 2 Use a combination of winter and early-summer pruning to minimize the amount of wood cut.

  16. Thank You!

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