The US pecan crop is coming into focus as pecan flowers begin to form which will ultimately need to be pollinated. Growers intentionally place other varieties of trees within so many feet of another variety with the hopes of getting adequate pollination of each of the varieties. 

 

Pecan trees are only receptive to pollination at certain times of the season and each variety is different. With this in mind growers go about planting their orchards to allow for adequate pollination with varieties that will shed pollen during the same time that other trees are receptive to pollination. Dr. Wells and the pecan team at the University of Georgia have written extensively on the subject and have ample information about how to layout orchards correctly to allow for proper pollination. 

 

This is a crucial time of year for the pecan industry, as many growers have already begun to monitor and prevent scab disease, pollination will now begin to take place in many orchards, as many of the varieties are entering the pollination stages of their growth cycle. 

 

Pollination is very important to the pecan crop in determining the quality and size of nuts that the trees will develop over the next 6 months. While many other factors will come into play in determining the final pecan crop, pollination is a very crucial step in the process. 

 

Growers in the southeast have already begun treating orchards for scab as well as beginning foliar feeding the trees for nutrients. While other tree nuts utilize bees from all over the country to help pollination, pecans do not need imported beehives to pollinate, good orchard design allows for adequate pollination in pecans. 

 

The crop is beginning to form and growers across the southern US are gearing up for another season. As demand for pecans continues to rise, growers are again placing orders for the next few years plantings as certain tree varieties become more scarce at nurseries across the south.