I've got this 16' pecan tree that hasn't grown much over the last 4 years. I know this is a slow growing tree and with poor clay soil I shouldn't expect rapid growth, but what can I do to help it out? Any specific fertilizers and watering regimen I should be following?

South DFW, soil is mainly clay.

Double bit axe will solve all your problems.

Growing pecans in poorly drained soil is a losing battle. That said, just because the soil is black doesn't mean that it doesn't drain well enough to grow pecans. I can think of areas around Taylor and Yorktown that have pecans in fine, black silty clayish loams but still drain fairly well.

If you can dig a hole, fill it with water, and 15 minutes later there is still a lot of the water in the hole, you have a problem.

Hard to pick pecans out of big, tall trees.

The crows and squirrels will take care of the ones you can and cannot reach

Screw all that. What's important is how you pronounce it...

pee-KAHN

pick-AHN

PEE-can

PEE-kahn

GIS is outdoors!

Best pecan orchards I have seen are in sandy river bottom type ground, but have seen good single trees all over. My old barber had a big peach, pecan and other fruit tree orchard. I had planted a pecan and asked him about the growth rate. I think he said they are resistant to magnesium, and to fertelize heavy with magnesium to speed growth. He passed and we sold the house before I could test it out.

Someone on here should know much more than this, good luck.

And blue Jays

Pecans need large amounts of nitrogen, best split into a spring and late summer application. Typical fertilizers would be ammonium sulfate 21-0-0 or similar broadcast under the entire canopy out to the drip line. Commercially, we would typically apply up to 100-150 lbs of nitrogen per treetop acre per season. Intensely managed orchards may use more. Liquids like URAN 31-0-0 would do just as well, but it is often difficult to apply liquids around tree limbs except in new orchards.

Pecans REQUIRE well drained soil; that is, they can grow in the cracks in limestone rocks in the hill country, but will fail to thrive in poorly drained clays. You get thin canopy/leaf growth, then the tips of limb start dying off when the tree is stressed. Pecans also respond well to foliar applications of zinc; they cannot effectively absorb it otherwise in commercially viable amounts.

A few years back I considered putting in some pecan trees. I have about 15 acres that would have served well as a small orchard. This particular ground is in west Wharton County and not in a river bottom although it is right next to where 2 creeks come together and eventually flow into the Navidad (if that matters).

I took some soil samples and sent them to A&M for analysis for the suitability of pecan trees. I received the attached but I never did anything with it because I don't understand what I am being told. The extension agent in the area told me over the phone that generally, my area was not conducive for healthy pecan trees so I dropped it.



Does the above report provide adequate information about whether the pecan trees would do well or not? I can't remember if I sent the extension agent this report or not. I know I sent him the lat/lon of where I wanted to plant them and I assume that he looked on a map to give me his recommendation.

AgEng06 said:

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I knew it, I'm surrounded by a**holes!

Pecans will grow just fine in the Blacklands. I can see from the pic that you have big time pecan rosette going on - a zinc deficiency common in high pH soils. Find a product called "NZN" (if they still make it) or find a foliar zinc to spray on it.

We had a commercial orchard near Belton with 400 trees for years.

Pecans will grow in golf balls if you water and fertilize enough. If you're in creekbottom soils near the Navidad you are good to go.

Now you just need an appropriate variety, adequate sunlight, spacing, and lots of moisture. I wouldn't be too afraid to plant a few Desirables if you can space them out and give them plenty of room and breeze to dry out and avoid pecan scab, especially in Wharton co. Getting the leaves dry ASAP every AM is a priority to avoid fungus growth no matter what variety.

Wichita, western schley, etc. will be no-go because of scab. You may ask local producers if they have any luck with Cheyenne or the newer Nocono.

Pecans will not thrive in poorly drained soils. Your orchard in Belton likely wasn't in your typical black, gumbo clay, but probably had a combination of being drained well enough and in a drier climate than Dallas or along the coast. B-1, you can notice the poor growth and performance (or death) of pecans at old home sites all along the farm country in the coastal bend. Just because the soil is fine Sandy loam there on the farm doesn't mean that it is permeable enough to be appropriate for pecans.

Of course, the moisture there causes other issues.

Will pecans live if you take care of them? Yes. Will they produce? You're likely to be disappointed.

Will another tree do many times better there with a fraction of the effort? YES.

Maybe it was zinc. I remember it was something common and easy to get but not often used. I was right though, someone on here knew a whole lot more about pecans than I do. I am just glad I remembered what I did. That was twenty years ago.

AgEng06 said:

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Screw all that. What's important is how you pronounce it...

pee-KAHN

pick-AHN

PEE-can

PEE-kahn

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It's Puh-con dammit!

And a Pee-can is something you have with you in your deer blind.

Blackland does not automatically mean poorly drained. Very slowly permeable and poorly drained are not the same thing.

No but they contribute to the same problems in pecans.

I'm no agronomist with a PhD; I only have a PdH... pour (water) down hole and observe how well it drains. Trumps a soil survey and lab testing every time.