What is the best time to plant pecan trees?
Pecans are the fruit of the American hickory tree and one of the world's top ten nuts. They are a premium walnut with high food value. At the same time, the pecan tree is tall with deep roots and lush leaves and a majestic form, making it an excellent street tree and shade tree with high ornamental value and good planting returns. So when should pecans be planted? And how should they be planted? The planting time and methods for pecans are introduced below.
Image: Pecan planting
I. Planting time for pecans
In the north, the sowing period for pecans is April 5-10, and in the south it can be moved up appropriately. Pecan seeds used for sowing must be fully mature, and before sowing it is best to carry out cold stratification or pit stratification. The stratification temperature is 2°C-3°C and the time is 60-90 days. The sowing density for raising seedlings is generally 50 cm between rows and 30 cm between plants, about 4,500 plants per mu, with a sowing depth of 5-7 cm.
Image: Pecan planting
II. Planting methods for pecans
1. Land preparation and fertilization:For pecan planting, choose a plot with deep, loose soil, sufficient water and a wind-sheltered, sunny location. A spacing of 4×5 m to 7×8 m between plants and rows is suitable. Planting holes should be 1-1.5 m in diameter and 1-1.2 m deep, with topsoil and subsoil kept separate. First place a layer of straw at the bottom of the hole, cover with topsoil to 20 cm, then add 50 kg of organic fertilizer, 20 g of Jiadi powder and 500 g of superphosphate, and mix thoroughly with the soil.
2. Transplanting and planting:Pecan transplanting is carried out after leaf fall or before bud break. Large seedlings should be moved with a soil ball, while 1-2 year old small seedlings must retain plenty of lateral roots and fibrous roots and be dipped in mud slurry promptly to prevent root dehydration from affecting survival. During the young tree stage, especially before the first winter after planting, measures such as burying the soil and building soil mounds should be taken to protect young trees from cold and from shoot dieback. Especially in the cold winter regions of North China and Northwest China, whitewashing the trunks of large trees (with lime) helps prevent frost damage to the trunks.
3. Pruning and training:Early pruning of pecans should be light, leaving appropriately more main branches so they bear fruit early. When pruning, the inner canopy of the crown should be kept ventilated and light-transmitting. In the early stage, shoots on the upper part of the crown should be retained as much as possible, while the lower part of the crown can be gradually thinned. When necessary, overly dense large branches can be sawed off, and the saw cuts must be smoothed flat and coated with a protective agent to prevent rot. After entering the decline stage, all parts of the crown above the point where renewal shoots emerge can be sawed off to cultivate the already sprouted renewal shoots, and all dead parts of the main branches of the declining crown should be cut off. When carrying out truncation renewal, it is best to combine it with deep plowing and fertilization.
4. Cultivation and weeding:Within 1-3 years of establishing a pecan orchard, crops such as soybeans, corn and Atractylodes macrocephala can be intercropped. During intercropping, the orchard should be cultivated and weeded, and appropriate amounts of organic fertilizers such as burnt mud ash, cake fertilizer and barnyard manure should be applied. In July-August each year, weeds, shrubs, thorns and vines in the woodland should be cut 1-2 times, and the cut weeds should be used to cover the woodland. In winter, the mulch should be plowed into the soil to increase soil fertility.
5. Fertilization and fruit retention:Each spring before bud break, apply about 30 kg of urea per mu to pecans; during the fruit swelling stage, apply 80 kg of special fruit tree fertilizer; and in autumn, apply 3,000 kg of base fertilizer. After entering the fruiting stage, increase fertilizer application according to the fruiting situation. Foliar fertilizer can be sprayed once about every 15 days together with pesticide spraying: spray 0.3% urea in the early and late growth stages, and spray 0.3% potassium dihydrogen phosphate in June-July. In winter, water thoroughly for overwintering and for bud break. In the rainy season, drain promptly to prevent waterlogging. Fruiting trees are fertilized twice a year: in February, open radial trenches along the tree drip line and apply 20 kg of corn stalks and 5 kg of manure per tree; in July, fertilization is mainly with a three-element compound fertilizer at 0.2 kg per sq m.
6. Pest and disease control:The main pests and diseases of pecans include hickory branch dieback, star longhorn beetle, Parasa lepida, coffee wood borer moth and so on. Focus on doing a good job of pest and disease control in the orchard in winter, and during the growing season carry out timely control according to the occurrence of pests and diseases. At the same time, strengthen tree vigor, prevent branch damage, and spray agents such as carbendazim or chlorothalonil during the disease period.
[Editor's concluding remarks]Pecans like a warm and humid climate and need relatively more water during growth, so special attention must be paid during planting. The above has introduced the planting time and methods for pecans for everyone, and I hope it will be helpful to you!