Hi there! I have a newbie question. Should i try to “release” roots from a potted pecan before planting it? Even cut some roots if they re to tight? Or should i plant it like it is?(Pistachio trees are planted like this…)
Thanks for your advices!
Get it in the ground and it will figure out the rest. If the roots are going in circles inside a container, try to pull them free and spread them out. If you can’t separate them, cut the roots so new roots can grow.
The behavior of the rootstock in pistachio and walnut/pecan trees is absolutely different.
Pistachio rootstocks do not have their roots trimmed, as they have a more open root system than that of walnut or pecan trees, which produce a huge taproot.
For this reason, it is advisable to cut the roots of walnut trees whit one or two years old in total vegetative standstill.
In this way, the rootstock is forced to develop a more open and extensive root system.
Regards
Jose
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Ok great thanks both of you! I wasn’t sure so better to ask 
Hello José, I wrote a message!
Thanks for the reply! Laszlo (“diospyros”)
Has anyone seen any reports of Major’s offspring in more alkaline soil? I am looking at ultra northern pecan for my area that has a lot of heat along the Yellowstone River but not sure what would be a suitable rootstock. Or is there any indication of hardiness of Riverside rootstock (if I could find it, no luck so far)
Try contacting this nursery. Doug Campbell is noted for growing pecans in and around Canada. This nursery has some of his cultivars.
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Elliott is the most alkaline soil tolerant of common varieties, however, it is not cold tolerant. Major to my knowledge has not been tested under controlled conditions in alkaline soil, however, it is a very good rootstock for most northern regions. Riverside is not adapted to cold climates though it is proven in alkaline conditions.
Hi everybody, someone from France (who has some pecans trees in the north told me that there is no pecan scab in Europe. Someone has any similar informations? Thank you!
I think that the execution of the 3 flap graft is very correct.
What do you think ?
Best regards
Jose
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I do not see a pic of the rootstocks before cutting. Best if they have 5 to 10 cm of growth before grafting. After grafting, ensure the rootstocks are watered daily. High moisture is required for good results with pecan grafts. Higher temperatures are beneficial with 25C near ideal.
I don’t know how much humidity you have at this time, but if it is low or very low, pecan grafts benefit from being wrapped with parafilm.
One concern I see is you appear to be touching the cambium when peeling back the bark on the rootstock. I’ve read that touching the cambium can cause graft failure. I use my knife to peel bark without touching the cambium.
I’ve had best results when wiping tools down with alcohol between grafts. It helps quite a bit with pecan.
It is normal to get 60% to 70% accepted grafts. Let the rootstocks of failed grafts sprout buds and grow. Plant them and a year or two from now you can do bark grafts.
I’ve had best results when a scion did not push buds until 3 to 4 weeks after grafting. Scions that push buds in 2 weeks are much more likely to fail. We can talk later about storing scionwood. How it is stored has a huge impact on successful grafting.
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Hi! I grafted my trees yesterday and put them in the greenhouse. I put an aluminium foil around the grafting union and use buddy tape instead of parafilm but i think it’s similar? During the day temperature in the greenhouse is around 30/31 degree is that too much?
Thanks!
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30 to 31 C is fine. Looks good!
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Great! Night still a bit cold(around 13/14) we’ll see… Thanks!
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Those look good - but for folks who’ve not seen or done the ‘banana’ graft, it might have been helpful for you to show the preparation of the scion before insertion and wrapping.
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I was alone and tried to graft as fast as possible, pecan wood oxyde pretty fast…
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Hi Lucky Pittman.
Yes, you are absolutely right.
But since the grafting of the pecan tree has to be done very quickly, due to oxidation of the wood of the cutting, I forgot to take photos.
Since I have to do many more pecan tree grafts, I will take those photos.
It’s simple, since you only need a glass of water.
Once the 3 bevels have been made, the cutting is placed in the water to prevent oxidation, and the cutting is subsequently shaken to remove excess water and placed properly in its grafting location and covered with the flaps.
But I’ll take some photos.
After wrapping the graft with flexiband rubber, it is not parafilm that I apply, since parafilm has an extremely rapid degradation, so I use original Buddy Tape from Aglis.
Best regards
Jose
There is no stop, stopping is prohibited 
.
Now almost every day the most vigorous Riverside pecan rootstocks have to be grafted.
Best regards
Jose
Hopefully Jose has success with his grafts. I thought I would post about my pecan grafts of which I made 30 this year.
Successful:
Ace 2024/04/25 healthy growth about 8 inches
Amling 2024/04/25 healthy growth about 12 inches
Avalon 2024/04/26 healthy growth about 12 inches
Baby B 2024/04/26 health growth about 8 inches
Cherryle 2024/04/25 healthy but just a small growing bud so far
Excel 2024/04/25 healthy growth about 15 inches
Gafford 2024/04/25 healthy growth about 32 inches, looking VERY good
Huffman 2024/04/25 healthy growth about 15 inches
McMillan 2024/04/25 small at 4 inches but growing rapidly
Nacono 2024/04/25 healthy growth about 14 inches
Oconee 2024/04/25 healthy growth still small at 6 inches
Sumner 2024/04/25 healthy growth about 12 inches
Syrup Mill 2024/04/25 healthy growth about 16 inches
Tanner 2024/04/26 small at 4 inches but growing rapidly
As you can see, I had 14 successful grafts out of 25 made. Here are the failures.
Apalachee 2024/04/25 broke buds very fast but died in a hurry when a few hot days hit
Elliott 2024/04/25 broke buds later but did not last
Florence 2024/04/26 did not break buds
Headquarters 2024/04/26 did not break buds
Hickory Major 2024/04/26 did not break buds
Kanza 2024/04/25 broke buds very fast but died in a hurry when a few hot days hit
Kiowa 2024/04/25 broke buds very fast but died in a hurry when a few hot days hit
Lakota 2024/04/25 broke buds very fast but died in a hurry when a few hot days hit
Morrill 2024/04/26 did not break buds
Oswego 2024/04/26 did not break buds
Tobacco Barn 2024/04/25 broke buds very fast but died in a hurry when a few hot days hit
My success rate this year was 56% which is a bit lower than I’ve had in the past. Every year brings a few challenges. Problems this year included a few sticks of low quality scionwood plus some very hot days a week after grafts were made. I also need to evaluate better ways of harvesting and storing scionwood. Some of my rootstocks were not in good enough shape. One thing I paid attention to is the quality of buds on the successful vs unsuccessful grafts. Plumper buds were hands down more successful. Bark grafts were generally more successful than whip & tongue bearing out similar experience in previous years. I usually set 2 scions for bark grafts. Several of this year’s successes were with one scion growing and the other failing. It is very obvious that more than 1 scion is the best practice for pecan grafting.
I used both bark grafts and whip & tongue where appropriate.
I also made 5 late grafts at my land near Hamilton, AL. I won’t know for sure if successful for a few more weeks. Three of them have opened buds and appear to be growing.