Hi Paul.
In my region the climate is quite dry with little rainfall (null in the summer months, July, August and September), but this does not mean that I do not have water, since I have a very important water supply, and canalization of irrigation in all my fruit orchard.
I can grow all kinds of fruit varieties, except varieties that do not tolerate extreme sun and chalky soil (for example kiwi due to environmental dryness and scorching sun suffers from leaf scorch, chestnut due to high pH problems), and a little more .
The rest of the crops bear excellent fruit in my garden.
What varieties do I have in my orchard ?
Almost everything, in many varieties by fruit genus, and all of the highest quality.
- Peaches ( with red skin and white and yellow flesh, such as Pavias, the type of peach that you there call "cling peach"in the USA )
- Infinity of varieties of flat peaches
- Infinity of varieties of apricots
- Infinity of varieties of pluots
- Infinity of varieties of cherry trees
- Infinity of nectarine varieties
- Infinity of varieties of plum trees (both Japanese, European, and hybrid varieties)
- Infinity of varieties of persimmons
- Infinity of pistachio varieties
- Infinity of varieties of trellised apples (I have some classic varieties, but most of the collection are varieties of excellent quality recently obtained)
- Infinity of varieties of pears (both very classic French and Belgian varieties, obtained in the 18th and 19th centuries, as well as the most innovative varieties recently obtained).
Etc…
All this obviously cannot be grown without a good water support system (in my case the irrigation is automated).
As I mentioned at the beginning, due to the wastewater treatment station of my business (located next to my fruit orchard), I have all the necessary irrigation water.
For this reason initially ( and mistakenly), I was struck by the varieties of pecan whit large size of fruits.
But after reading and reading a lot, I have seen that I was totally wrong.
It is much more interesting to select varieties that meet these parameters:
- Very productive varieties in the short and long term
- Varieties resistant to fungal diseases
- Early to mid harvest season varieties (never late maturing varieties)
- Varieties with good taste qualities
- Make a good varietal choice based on its pollination (group and dates of of sending and receiving pollen )
- If after all this, a variety of good size fruit enters the group “it is very well welcome”
Darrell, thank you so much for letting me know about Fisher’s pollinator.
It is more than likely that I will have to request help from one of you, to send me cuttings of some good varieties for grafting, because they not will be available in Europe, and my objective is not commercial exploitation but simply to have one or two trees of each variety in my orchard, for family consumption.
Today it is raining precisely (a small summer storm), tomorrow when it will be sunny I want to take some pictures, so that you can see what my fruit orchard is like.
Darrell , "YES " hahahahahahaha, I know perfectly well that the grafting of pecan walnut is not a road of roses.
I have faced many times with such difficulties both in the grafting of the European Walnut, as well as in the grafting of the pistachio (the grafting of the varieties of pistachio on rootstock Pistacea terebinthus , is also quite delicate).
There is a lot of information regarding the grafting systems of pecan walnut, both with large-caliber rootstock, and in young seedlings of 2 to 3 years.
I have quite a lot of experience grafting (discarded cleft graft, I hate this grafting system due to poor union between rootstock and grafted variety).
I like much more systems such as whip and tongue, Patch budding with parallel knife, and especially the chip budding system with forced temperature, this last system gives excellent results in European walnut in young rootstocks of 2 years.
There is not much information about this pot grafting system for pecan walnut and I am sure it is a system that you will like a lot.
This article is from my friend Olivier, it is in French but you will have no problem making a “half decent” translation into English.
https://www.greffer.net/?p=719
And this is an article of mine regarding the grafting of pistachio in winter at forced temperature (it is also in French, but it is very easy to translate)
https://www.greffer.net/?p=793
Darrell, reading about the parenterals of Avalon (Gloria Grande and Caddo), reminds me a lot of a joke that is told a lot in my region, but they were not so successful in the crossing hahahahahaha.
This is the anecdotal joke:
There were two friends in a small town, who were peasants and lived by cultivating the land.
To till the land, one of the two friends had a mare that was very large in size and very strong, but tremendously coward and lazy, and the other friend had a small donkey, very weak, but tremendously brave and hard-working.
One day talking, the two friends decided to cross their two animals, in order to obtain a fantastic result, that is, a mule of great size and strength like the mare, and brave and hardworking like the little donkey.
But what they got was a mule of small size and weak like the donkey, and lazy and cowardly like the mare hahahahahahahahaha .
The crosses do not always go as one expects hahahahahahaha .
Tomorrow if there is sun I will show you some photographs of my orchard, and I think you will see how it is suitable for growing pecan.
Regards
Jose
