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nafex - Re: [NAFEX] Pecan trees too old?

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  • From: Lucky Pittman <lucky.pittman@murraystate.edu>
  • To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Pecan trees too old?
  • Date: Fri, 26 Jul 2002 16:25:39 -0500

At 10:00 AM 07/26/2002 -0700, Rob wrote:
the school went around (rightly or
wrongly) hacking a number of branches of all the old
trees.
Now I look at these trees, and wonder if these trees
are in a decline. They still produce a small amount of
nuts.
Will they soon need to be removed??

Robert,
Pecans have the potential to be productive for 75-100 years or more, though some varieties become less than profitable as they age, with some tending to overproduce or fill their nuts poorly.
I've seen photos and write-ups about rejuvenation of large, aged trees in Southern pecan orchards in order to boost production while newly planted trees are reaching production age. Looks pretty drastic, in that they essentially shear off all large limbs on one side of the tree in alternating years - north side one year, east the next, south, then west, etc. Shocks the tree and stimulates it to put on aggressive new growth, with a subsequent increase in bearing. Once the newer plantings come into production, the older trees are removed. Probably not aesthetically pleasing for a landscape specimen, but from a production standpoint, it works.
My parents' home(Auburn, AL) is located in a grove of old (100+ yr) pecans - a few identifiable grafted trees(Stuart & Mahan), and some that are evidently seedlings or perhaps unidentified grafted selections. They've really not been managed to any degree for nut production in 30 years or more, and had not really produced any significant nut crops for a number of years, but several years back, when Hurricane Opal came through, several of them were uprooted(as were many big mature pecans in orchards across AL & GA), and the others were 'shaken loose' enough that they all produced a bumper crop of pecans the following season.

Are the trees on your campus in decline, and will they need to be removed? Probably none of us here can make that analysis - that decision would probably need to be made by an ISA-certified arborist, particularly if they are deemed to be a 'hazard tree'.

You might visit some of the UGA pecan info online, and the links there. Dr. Darrell Sparks is one of the foremost pecan folks in the country. Here's a good place to start:
http://sacs.cpes.peachnet.edu/pecan/pecan


Lucky Pittman
USDA Zone 6
Hopkinsville, KY





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