The latest issue of the annual proceedings of the NNGA(2003, I think - don't have it here at the office with me) has an article by Dr. Darrell Sparks, based on correspondence with L.D. Romberg, regarding cultivation practices and their effect on zinc deficiency in pecans(pecan rosette disease). It seems that soil cultivation, destroying the sod/thatch layer results in loss of Zn due to leaching, whereas established sod & decomposing sod residue tends to trap(chelate?) Zn, and make it more readily available for feeder roots of pecans - hence, native pecans often bore more heavily, and had less rosette disease than did trees in plantations, that were intercropped.Lucky Pittman USDA Cold Zone 6 AHS Heat Zone 7 Hopkinsville, KY
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