Black Walnut named varieties has a good bit of black walnut information. For your area, Cranz and McGinnis are the best choices with S127 and Sparrow as possibilities.
Thank you @Fusion_power, you’ve been really helpful!
I contacted Rock Bridge Trees to ask them about the hardiness of their pecan rootstock, and they said all their pecans are grafted to Giles, Kanza or Major. I wonder if I’m better off ordering from Grimo.
You’re fine. I never heard of Giles but anything on Kanza or Major in 5b is fine.
Kanza has lousy vigor as an F1 seedling so many will be culled to get the ones that have vigor.
Dax,
Here’s bundle of Bill Reid’s blog posts on Giles: Northern Pecans: Search results for giles
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Does anyone know where to find seedlings of “Major”?
Pecan rootstock in general seems to be a pretty obscure or nonexistent market- far more than pecan trees themselves. By contrast, It’s so easy to find readily available rootstock selections for fleshy fruits. Is there a reason for this other than the comparatively weaker popularity of nut growing?
I used to buy Major nuts to eat off eBay. You might check. Plop them in a raised bed and you’ll have super caliper seedlings in 1-year.
Pecans in raised beds require 24" of depth. I read a study one time. It was stated at that university that white rubber mulch in 24" raised beds w/o fertilizer is all it takes.
Or, grow in Treepots 12" tall or thereabouts. There are a few 4 x 4 inch (x) 11 or 12 or 12.5 sold thru Stuewe & Sons.
It doesn’t answer your question, however, I can confirm that no-one have I seen sells specifically Major seedlings.
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What pecan cultivars would this group recommend for Burnsville, NC 28714? This is a 6b hardiness zone with high humidity and a heavy clay soil. I would prefer trees that do not need sprayed. Is that possible? I bought several large hican trees from Nolin river nursery many years ago. In the 5 years I have had the hican trees, they have struggled each year and have never grown in size. I am hoping to have better luck with pecans.
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Gets pretty cold in Burnsville…I’d pick some of the IA or KS cultivars…but I’m no pecan expert.
Even your valleys are 3,000+ feet above sea level I think
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Yep, if that type of weather, you’d be best again with my two favorites for zone 5b IL. which are Hark & Kanza. You cannot go wrong! @Fusion_power is the one to say yes or no for sure though.
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Thanks for the recommendation. Do you know of a good supplier of these cultivars that would use an appropriate rootstock for my area?
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Yes, the best: Rock Bridge Nursery. He grows on northern pecan roots and in RootTrapper root-growth, bags. There’s no finer or better root-system in the world than these bags.
Call him about your soil. He’s always ready to talk to his customers. His name is David Hughes. He calls himself “farmer Dave” at this website.
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Best I remember Burnt Ridge Nursery has the very hardy northern types.
Yeah, no knock on BRN, but there’s no need for a NC grower to buy pecans from a west-coast nursery, when there’s middle TN guy with a much larger selection of varieties that’ll work well in his climate. Rock Bridge Trees is Agrexias’ best bet.
All I see in BRN’s offerings are Kanza (good), Pawnee(not so good, due to scab susceptibility), and seedlings(a genetic crapshoot).
Will be hard to go wrong with a mix of scab-resistant Type I & II northern/midwestern pecans…
Type I - Major, Hark
Type II - Kanza, Oswego, Greenriver, Lakota, Posey
There are likely some scab-resistant Southern pecan varieties that might also be worthy of consideration in a 6b NC setting… like Amling, Adams 5, etc. I’ll defer to ‘Farmer Dave’ and our own @Fusion_power, as I have no personal experience with them, though Jenkins & Syrup Mill are ripening nuts for me here on the 6b//7a interface in southern west-central KY
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Yes… it was jt13 that originally asked about the hardy northern.
I spoke to David at RBT last year… and for my TN ridge top location he recommended a combo of kanza and amaling… not sure of spelling on the last one.
If you have deep rich river bottom land many others might work… but if on a ridge top in middleTN the two he recommended to me should work.
Amling, Kanza, Hark, and Oswego would be first line choices. I have Adams #5 and would give it a high probability in his climate but don’t know of anyone who sells grafted trees. Adams #5 has delayed spring budbreak similar to Stuart but ripens the first week of October. It should be good for zone 6 though has not been tested in the climate.
Amling: (seedling TX). Type II. 60 nuts/lb. 53% kernel. This selection is recommended for yard tree use only, for which it is an excellent choice. Amling is among the prettiest trees for home use, with good tree vigor, and excellent foliage condition and appearance. If you want a beautiful pecan tree for landscape and home plantings, this is the best choice we can offer. This selection has inconsistent and low yields on young trees and would not be profitable enough in commercial orchards. The absence of overbearing ensures quality and reduces stress on yard trees, which cannot be mechanically crop thinned. Scab resistance is excellent, and foliage has been rated excellent in late season with no sprays. Nut quality is very good. Source: Bill Goff
Kanza: Orig. from a controlled cross (‘Major’ X ‘Shoshoni’) made in Brownwood, TX by L. D. Romberg. Cross made in 1955. Tested as 55-11-11 by T. E. Thompson, L. J. Grauke, Wm. Reid, M. W. Smith and S. R. Winter and released in 1996. Nut: ovate, with an acute apex and obtuse to rounded base; round in cross section; 77 nuts/lb, 54% kernel; kernels golden in color, with dorsal grooves that do not trap packing material. Released for its ability to produce good yields of high quality nuts in northern pecan producing regions (Zone 6b). Protogynous, with late pollen shed and early pistillate receptivity. Kanza has excellent scab resistance. Kanza is currently one of the most grafted pecans in the U.S. Source: L.J. Grauke
Hark: Hark is a high nut quality pecan that originated from a seed nut planted in Illinois zone 5b by Bill Totten from seed obtained at an orchard in Moberly MO. The ortet was killed by lightning in 2017. Hark is protandrous and a good pollinator for Kanza. One parent is likely Major as indicated by the thick husk with clamshell sutures. Scab resistance is good in northern areas where Hark originated but unproven for southern regions with high scab pressure. Hark runs 60 per pound with 56% kernel. Tree growth is upright with weak branch angles indicating need for pruning for stronger scaffold limbs. Source: Dax Herbst and Bill Reid
Oswego: Origin: Open pollinated seedling of Greenriver planted at the Pecan Experiment Field near Chetopa, KS. Named in 2011. Matures 13 days after Pawnee, Protogynous flowering habit, Scab resistant, Attractive kernel, shells well. Source: Bill Reid
10 yr. nut data
Average Minimum Maximum
Nut weight (g) 6.32 4.14 7.15
Percent Kernel 50.97 48.50 52.25
There should also be some discussion of rootstock. Given the stated clay soil, I would trial seedlings of Lakota if they were available because it produces extremely vigorous and fast growing seedlings. Since they are not available, it would probably be best to stick with standard northern varieties such as Major.
I have personal experience with Amling and Kanza and have observed Oswego in Auburn’s grove for a few years. I don’t have first hand experience with Hark though I have a couple of small grafts going.
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This is great information! I appreciate the detailed recommendations. I have late freezes that frequently impact fruit and nut production in most years. With a delayed spring budbreak, Adam 5 sounds perfect. They are out of stock but selling it at Rock Bridge Trees. I have requested to be put on their wait list.
Would you recommend getting pecans from a nursery this year and planting Lakota seedings to graft onto in the future? Or should I go all in on grafting and avoid the nursery due to my heavy clay soil?
I am considering getting all of the pecans you recommend. I love that there are several varieties that will likely survive in my environment. How would you rank these cultivars based on their flavor profile? Is it worth growing all of these cultivars or is the flavor profile similar enough that I should plant only a couple.
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The varieties listed are chosen for adaptation to your climate plus pollination compatibility.
Flavor in pecan is highly dependent on the amount of oil the kernel accumulates along with some flavor compounds that are generally described as having more of a hickory taste. The varieties above have good to excellent flavor.
Grafting pecan is difficult at best and usually better left to people who have more experience. If you really want to try grafting your own, there are some excellent videos and a couple of threads here on growingfruit that show how.
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Well… the sooner you plant 'em, the sooner they’ll start producing!
If you can afford the already grafted trees, you’ll be that much farther ahead. As to grafting… nut trees are tougher to do than apples/pears… I expect near 100% success with pomefruits, but still look at 25% success rate with nut trees as ‘smashing success’ that I hope I can achieve some day… and this, after working with them for over 25 years. But, I’d certainly recommend planting Lakota or Major seedlings for the future challenge of grafting varieties you want.
Flavorwise… following is my take, and I’ve included links from Dr. Bill Reid’s Northern Pecan blog about the following varieties.
Major and her daughters (Kanza, Hark, Lakota… as well as a number of lesser known selections like the Yates series, Pounds, Fred’s Major, Guston, etc.) are noted for excellent, bright kernel quality, and good cracking characteristics - as well as the trait of reducing nut size in drought situations, filling a smaller kernel instead of producing a full-sized shriveled, unfilled kernel.
Greenriver is my favorite, flavorwise… has a unique golden yellow nutmeat color. I suspect that Oswego will be similar.
Posey has a unique ‘buttery’ flavor that friends I’ve shared nuts with rave about. However, its nutmeats turn dark quickly… looking like last year’s rancid nutmeats(they’re not rancid!). Additionally, it’s not a heavy producer, but its lower production makes it less likely to fall into alternate bearing, so that it bears a decent crop almost every year. Northern Pecans: Posey pecan: early history and current observations
I’ve got minimal experience &/or no production yet from others already discussed.
If these do well for you, and you’ve got room and inclination to expand, and want to try other varieties, the following should have good scab resistance, and would possibly be worth trialing at your site: Warren 346, Shepherd, Yates 68 & 127, Gafford, Headquarters, Baby B, Syrup Mill, Jenkins.
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The mind blowing good thing about Major is how many good traits it contributes in breeding. Kanza, Lakota, and Hark all show the benefits.
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Thanks everyone for the advice and helpful recommendations.
Below are the cultivars David at Rock Bridge Trees recommended for my environment. For the interest of others I thought I would post them here. He mentioned that since I am in an area with no pecan history these are a guess. David did not recommend Arling and Oswego based on when they ripen at his orchard and my elevation. He thinks these cultivars will ripen too late for me. His orchard is a 5 hour drive from my house.
Is there any consensus on what would be the top 4 pecans to start off with from this list. I plan to start with 4 and work towards planting many seedings of Lakota to try grafting more cultivars onto in the future. I have several hundred different varieties of fruit and nut trees. Many of which I have grafted myself. This is a fun hobby and I don’t mind trying a challenging graft. In the end, I’ll graft all the pecans listed below and recommended above 
Type 1
- Campbell NC-1
- Hark
- Major
- Pounds
- Shepherd
- Warren 346
- Yates 68
- Yates 127
Type 2
- Deerstand
- Green River
- Kanza
- Lakota
- Lucas
- Norton
- Posey
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