Barkslip, Pecans can adapt but only to a limited extent. The timing of spring bud break is not readily adaptable as it is linked to number of chilling hours during winter. Fruit maturity date is genetically determined and will cause problems if it is too late. In very general terms, pecans adapted to northern conditions should be grown in northern conditions and most large fruited southern pecans should be grown in the south. Stuart is a rare exception that originated in the deep south but has been grown and found productive much further north than Biloxi MS. Stuart would never mature in your climate. The problem is not with ability to survive cold weather, it is the late maturity in mid-October that limits Stuart.
Hall originated as one of 3 trees set out about 1930 at Hall Crossroads near Monroeville AL, two trees died, the remaining tree produced the Hall pecan. Nuts run 60 per pound with 49% kernel and a high percentage of tri-lobe nuts produced. The sample I have runs about 1 in 14 tri-lobe. The tri-lobe nuts are often poorly filled. With good care, percent kernel would probably impove slightly. The kernel is fairly tighly bound into the shell but can be separated. The nut has acute apex with rounded base and is very close to being round in cross-section. Reported to have very good scab resistance. It is not known for sure if this is a seedling or was a grafted tree. I verified a list of varieties that most closely matched the characteristics and was unable to find a match. This pecan has 3 weaknesses; size is a tad small, shell is a bit thick resulting in low %kernel, and the kernel is bound a bit tight into the shell. Nuts provided by Mike Cartwright (Evergreen, AL Dentist and nut enthusiast) I generally agree that Hall is a pretty good pecan that may be capable of growing significantly further north than most southern pecans as shown by Fred growing it in KY. Whether or not it can grow and produce in your climate is yet to be determined.
Hall was kept going by a man - now in his 90’s - who got it grafted onto some rootstocks at his home in south AL. The original tree was 1 of 3 planted back in the 1930’s in a small community known as Hall Crossroads. It is not known if the original tree was grafted or a seedling. I tried to ID based on the nuts, but can only state that it is not one of the commonly distributed older varieties. As a variety, Hall would not get a second look from commercial growers here in Alabama. Small size, low percent kernel, and difficulty cracking make it a non-starter. From a home grower perspective, it has quite a bit of potential. When compared with most of the pecan varieties that can be grown in KY, Hall is very interesting. If you want to look back to Jan 12th, I posted about Hall in this thread.
