Although fall can be a rare season weatherwise in Texas, it is a season of great anticipation for pecan growers whether they have one tree or several thousand. Those of us who cherish such nuts know that the taste of that first fresh nut of the season (properly dried of course) is something to behold. However, many times the crop is lost long before we can ever harvest a single nut.

The pecan is a most unique horticultural crop in that it stays on the tree from May until October and sometimes longer ?? 6 months ?? half a year ?? that's a long time! Another interesting characteristic is how the nut develops, that is, the nut is full sized by the end of July with absolutely no kernel inside. Hence, if growing conditions are favorable early in the season, one will have large pecans ?? then, if it turns dry later ?? the nuts will be poorly filled. So, although there are years when trees have super good nuts regardless of what we do, there are a lot more factors involved in production than meets the eye.

If we have a very wet year the increased humidity from the rainfall can cause excessive disease problems, especially scab and downy spot. Those with disease susceptible varieties, such as Burkett, probably would not harvest a nut unless the trees were properly sprayed with fungicide. Also, there are many other problems which can occur over the 6 month growing season. To try to answer the many questions as to what happened to your pecan crop, the following summary of problems may be helpful.

Premature nut drop in summer may have been caused by a lack of pollination, insect damage and/or stress. Pecans require cross pollination, but with all the pecan trees around, it is rare for there to be a lack of pollen. However, unfavorable environmental conditions such as heavy rain or hot dry winds during bloom could cause pollination problems and result in nut drop when the nuts are small.

Another common cause of early drop is insect damage. The first generation pecan nut casebearer can cause a lot of drop. Nuts with such damage will be characterized by an exit hole covered by frazz. There can be as many as three generations a year. Usually the first generation causes the most damage, but this can vary from year to year. Other insect feeding on the nuts before shell hardening will also cause the nuts to drop. Insect puncture by stink bugs will cause interior nut discoloration and later drop. Nuts which drop with no interior discoloration is caused by physiological drop or stress, that is, not enough water or too much. However, once the nut shell becomes hard ?? the nut will no longer drop from stress, rather the leaves drop resulting in little to no filling of the nuts.

Shucks covered with circular, black to olive green lesions are infected with scab disease. Early infected nuts will drop if the problem becomes severe. Later infected nuts will have reduced nut quality and/or poor shuck opening. All filling of the nut must pass through the shuck several times. Hence, any damage to the shuck results in poorly filled pecans. Scab, as a disease, cannot be cured. Thus, it must be prevented and once one has the problem, it is hard to deal with, that is, sprays may hold it in check but once conditions become favorable (wet and humid), it will grow again. The best control for scab is to only plant scab resistant varieties. Many scab infected pecans were also covered by a white powdery mass called powdery mildew. Although classified as a minor problem, this fungus can reduce nut quality.

Another disease problem which can cause nut drop is stem end blight (SEB). SEB causes large, shiny, sunken lesions to form on the shuck. Such lesions are not to be confused with scab lesions which are much smaller. This fungus also causes internal discoloration and later nut drop. A fungicide application at the water stage of development will reduce but not prevent this problem. Unfortunately there are still a lot of things we don't know about this problem.

Poor shuck opening can be caused by either scab, shuckworm damage and/or stress. A common late season problem in many locations is shuckworm. Such nuts will have black lesions which can be spongy. When one cuts into the lesion, one will find a small white larva or worm tunneling in the shuck. Early damage will cause shucks not to open and later damage causes poorly filled nuts. An insecticide application at one?half shell hardening is necessary to hold this pest in check many years. Excessive feeding by stink bugs will also cause nuts not to open.

A similar shuck problem where the shucks will not open can be caused by stress. There are no apparent insect problems in the shuck and the kernel is usually shriveled. Such "stick?tights" are caused by drought and heat stress in September and October. Pecans require water right up until the time of shuck split to reduce this problem. Nuts sprouting in the shuck before harvest (vivipary) are also reduced by late season water and/or stress reduction.

A similar shuck problem where the shucks will not open can be caused by stress. There are no apparent insect problems in the shuck and the kernel is usually shriveled. Such "stick?tights" are caused by drought and heat stress in September and October. Pecans require water right up until the time of shuck split to reduce this problem. Nuts sprouting in the shuck before harvest (vivipary) are also reduced by late season water and/or stress reduction.

Black spots on the kernels are caused by stink bugs feeding on the nuts after the shell hardened. The black spots on the kernels are bitter and inedible and can be severe in some years. However, the damage is undetected until the nuts are shelled. Such nuts can be salvaged by breaking off the spot if minor.

Another common problem found at shelling is fuzz on the surface of the kernels. This fuzz is typically caused by stress such as drought. It is a very common problem on trees with too many pecans. Also nuts maturing on broken limbs generally have a lot of fuzz.
So, when one asks the question: What happened to my pecans, the answer is usually not simple. Rather it is a combination of factors which caused the problem or problems. Poorly filled kernels can be caused by all of the following: crowded trees, overloaded tress, shallow soil, late summer drought stress, shuckworm damage, stink bug damage, oversized nuts (Mahan) and poor nutrition. Thus, one can understand what a tremendous challenge pecan production can be for the commercial producers to produce quality nuts year in and out. Also, the price you have to pay for quality kernels should not seem unreasonable.

depth cultural information is available at the following sites:

• http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/homefruit/pecan/pecan.html
• http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/fruit/pecan1.html
• http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/fruit/pecanorchard/pecanorchard.html

If you want to actually see what the variety of pecan you are buying looks like, go to:

For the history of these pecan varieties, go to:
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/carya/pecans/cvintro.htm

Some of the major suppliers of pecans in Texas are Pape's Pecan House in Sequin and Bragg Pecans in Hondo.

The most important factors for the proper storage of pecans include adequate drying, proper packaging and refrigeration. Homeowners should store pecans in a polyethylene bag, either in?shell or shelled, and place them in the refrigerator or the deep freeze. At room temperature the shelf life is 4 months in the shell and 3 months shelled. In the refrigerator, the pecans will hold good quality for 18 months in the shell or 12 months shelled. Shelled pecans can be held in the deep freeze near 0 degrees F. for over 2 years with very little adverse affect on the kernel quality and indefinitely in the shell. For the best pecan recipes in Texas, see:
/Recipes/pecanrecipes/recindex.html
and
http://www.texaspecans.com/htdocs/recipes/recipe_parent.htm

Try the BEST PECAN PIE RECIPE ON EARTH at:
/Recipes/pecanrecipes/devinepie.html

Need more pecan information and SOME DELICIOUS RECIPES?