North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Lucky Pittman <lucky.pittman@murraystate.edu>]

At 10:03 PM 1/3/2006, Topgun wrote:
> Some
> commercial nurserymen just soak the intact nuts in water for 5 days. One
> says he does not change the water but I would recommend
> it.

That is what I do - I don't even bother stratifying pecans anymore; I
just store them in the barn, then when I'm ready to plant in the spring,
I soak the nuts for 4-5 days, changing the water daily.  I get good
germination rates - well over 90% .  
For whatever reason, though, shagbark hickory nuts handled in the same
manner usually give me very low germination rates - it seems that they
really need cold, moist stratification.

Dylan,
Your seedlings will be a crapshoot, of sorts, with regard to nut quality
&/or disease resistance - and you'll likely be waiting somewhere
between 12-20 years(or possibly more) for your seedling pecans to come
into production.  You could, however, plant them out, grow them for
2-3 years, then graft to named varieties that have been proven to be
productive in your area.  Doing this would give you nuts of know
quality in about half the time you'd have to wait for a seedling to
bear.
I have a friend in NJ who's got a big collection of pecans, hickories,
and walnuts.  He could give you good advice as to which varieties
would be your best bet for production on LI, as I wouldn't anticipate his
climate to be radically different from your own.

Lucky Pittman
USDA Cold Zone 6
AHS Heat Zone 7
Hopkinsville, KY