I purchased some Kanza seeds from Burnt Ridge this year.
It’s my understanding that every seed has unique genetics. If I grew 2 seeds into trees, would those trees be able to pollinate each other?
Does a tree grown from Kanza seed stay relatively similar to the parent?
With pecan pollination there are two types. Type 1 and type 2. With a seed it will be unknown what you will get. Generally you will get traits of both parents but most people will get a named variety unless for grafting purposes.
i would say you have a 50% chance of this working. Since genetics are going to be a mix of the parents and you would have a Type I and a Type II for the parents, the seeds could grow and be either type. To hedge your bets, growing 4 would likely get you at least one of each.
The probability of getting a prtandrous that matches with a protogynous are 50/50. The more important question is whether or not it is a good idea to use closely related trees for pollination. The answer is no, it has been found that pecan benefits from being pollinated by an unrelated variety by producing larger, fuller, and better quality nuts. Also, I’ve grown a few hundred Kanza nuts into seedlings and had problems with vigor. Roughly 1/3 to 1/2 of the seedlings grow fast. The remainder should be culled. Then there is the “seedling” factor. Seedlings do NOT grow true to the parent. If you want a good productive tree, and particularly a pecan tree, it is best to graft with a known variety. There are suggested varieties for your climate if you care to look in the Pecan thread.
F1 Hark grow 2/3’s of its seedlings having double or near double vigor of F1 Kanza in this Stuewe product that are great for seed starting of any/all hardwoods: 6" x 17 Heavy Duty Flats
F1 Hark do the same in raised beds vs… a F1 Kanza.
@Cavedog might be able to tell us how Kanza direct sown grow with manure put on this year to soak in all winter…
I will report on difference between Kanza and Shepherd as direct seeded seedlings
I would like to try Hark, but it seems it is only recently commercialized and not many trees in production yet
Thanks…
The other folks here have more experience with grafting et al than I have, but they may also have different constraints and goals also. I am establishing a fairly large number of pecan trees and both from a cost standpoint and a water standpoint- it is important I direct seed rather than grow in pots and transplant
So, regarding culling of seedlings, I plant 2-3 nuts per location and cull all but the most vigorous at each location. When you direct seed vs transplant, you not only do not experience transplant shock, but the tree will survive without supplemental watering, which is a big deal for a few thousand trees. IDK what it is with pecans, but with other species I have grown, the transplant shock is so significant that by year 4-5, the direct seeded seedling has caught up with the transplanted seedling
Also, if no one has told you - do NOT use Roundup for weed and grass control. It messes up your trees. I use Prowl as a pre-emergent and Paraquat as post emergent. Paraquat requires a pesticide license, and you need to mask up around it so you may need to use something else. But don’t use Roundup
The Kanza nuts I am planting were pollenated by Pawnee. I am curious how they will grow
Fwiw
The thing I experience and maybe those chemicals will help (I don’t know) is planting multiple pecans and later selecting the one for grafting - I am still getting suckering from the other two seedlings that were in the hole. I hand dig them out of fear for (Round-up) passing thru the soil underground. I have so many dead trees (full size that) became affected with round-up I painted on trunks of other trees within their vicinity. Two or 2/12 years later now, I have a whole bunch of trees that have died the following year after round-up application, or, they died this year - two full years later.
Maybe one of your herbicides can control the suckering from the seedlings you’re going to cull? I hope so…
Prowl is real easy on trees as a preemerge
Paraquat you can spray on trees and it doesn’t translocate, but only spray hardened off bark, not green bark
There are some other herbicides for grasses that don’t require a license you can safely spray right over top of young seedlings as a post emergent
The post emerge grass herbicide you can spray safely over young trees is fluazafop-p-butyl. Aka, Fusilade. Only works of grass, smaller the better
I’m just wondering how you’re going to remove or kill 1000 trees with suckers coming up around all of them all/ around their trunks and right up against (a) trunk/tree (you’re keeping)…? that’s what I’m trying to get at.
Dax
Prune below soil surface. I don’t mind the suckers initially and they would eventually die out from repeated pruning
thanks, I’m working on it. The problem is that the cage is in place and I can’t get to them when the soil is dry cause I can’t pull the cage off. So, I do it once or twice a year and they return every year. “someday” right?
I’m doing exactly the same thing, with the Kanza nuts from the same source. So I’m following the replies as well. I do plan to graft some, but getting the seedlings is the first step. I plan to buy some deep tree pots, probably these:
Tree Growing Containers - Treepots (Tall) – Grow Organic
If you have any scion wood here is a very interesting video about grafting chestnuts to spouted seeds:
Grafting Chestnut Trees at Mountain State Chestnuts - YouTube
I have read of the same technique being used with high success in hazelnuts.
Good pot for ya.
fertilize as often as you can until mid-July and then stop. You want to keep the seedlings growing and you’ll need fertilizer to achieve this. If you don’t use fert., they’ll stop at a foot or less and will grow roots the rest of the year and you won’t see any active top growth until the next-Spring.
Graft onto hardwood. I’ve seen all this crazy root grafting and all that and if you want to play “scientist” and have all the time in the world… then go for it. Otherwise you’re completely wasting your time with these non-in-use practices… in real life.
You’d be much better off to direct sow your seed to the ground while not allowing the ground to dry up completely. You can keep the seedling growing all season from water alone. If you can at Fall, apply manure to seep in and leave it at that. Or, use artificial fertilizers to get them moving for in-ground sown seed(s) for the first 3-5 years should be adequate.
Thanks for all the advise! Pecans aren’t going to be easy where I am because of shallow soil and limestone, but Shagbarks do fine here, so I’ll try. It would be much better to direct seed since the roots will have a better chance to find the best purchase, so I will do some direct for sure.
I haven’t had a lot of experience grafting nut trees, and right now I have no rootstock so the idea of seed grafting seems worth a try. I expect once the plants are bigger I can try the usual grafting. I’ve read that warm weather is best for a pecan to graft to heal, but I’d be happy to hear from anyone who has had success.
Nope, I think you’ve got it figured out.
Take it easy,
Dax