I checked the pecan seedlings (grown in the greenhouse) today and found significant numbers of yellow aphids on the undersides of the leaves. I will spray for them tomorrow as I don’t want the plants stressed going into winter. We are less than 2 weeks from killing frost so it probably does not matter. It is interesting that they took this long to show up.
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How so? Flavor or appearance, both? I successfully grafted one from the scions you sent me. I’m not sure if I should give it a prime spot or not.
https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/carya/pecans/Apalachee.htm
http://pecanbreeding.uga.edu/cultivars/alphabetical-list/apalachee.html
From what I saw at Auburn, the pecans are small but very good quality, meaning the nuts are similar to the Schley parent. Use your discretion re placement of the tree.
‘Fred’s Seedling Major’ 2018 crop from Fred Blankenship its’ originator (F2 Seedling of Major)
Carya illinoinensis ‘Fred’s Seedling Major’
Carya illinoinensis ‘Fred’s Seedling Major’
Carya illinoinensis ‘Fred’s Seedling Major’
Carya illinoinensis ‘Fred’s Seedling Major’
Carya illinoinensis ‘Fred’s Seedling Major’
Carya illinoinensis ‘Fred’s Seedling Major’ & ‘Burton’ Hicans
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what’s the story on that one, Dax?
I’ve got Fred’s ‘Hickory’s Major’, a seedling of Major that Fred selected some years back, thinking that its pollen parent might be Burton hican, based on bark characteristics, but it appears to be all pecan. Cropping first time for me this year
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Lucky,
I actually was talking to Fred a few days ago and he told me ‘Hickory Major’ story… John Brittan uses or used to use ‘Major’ as seed for rootstocks and John had several he was going to toss away for some reason or another and Fred said do you mind if I take them home and he did. Fred looked at each seedling for lenticel count and planted a few of them and one of those seedlings is the original ‘Hickory Major’ (pecan) on Fred’s property. Fred didn’t mention anything about hickory influence and only said what I told you about (it) being a seedling of ‘Major’.
The story with ‘Fred’s Seedling Major’ is it’s another seedling that bore an excellent & large nut of flavor/kernel color/crackability. He entered it in a contest and it took second place to Hark (somewhat recently 5-8 years ago.) At that time Fred said the first nuts borne of ‘Fred’s Seedling Major’ were the same size as that of ‘Hark’. Now, they’re sizing up and are much larger.
Dax
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Yes, they are a tad larger, but the nuts I saw at Auburn were definitely on the small side compared with the pecans typically grown in this area. They were about 30% larger than Kanza but roughly half the size of Barton.
I need to watch the trees a few more years to give a good opinion. They had a good crop in 2017, but were distinctly light this year.
I discovered that there is one tree of pecan in my country, in our capital city, of unknown origin. The tree is big and old, this year when I went to pick up my friend at the airport I visited it. Grows in the area of the first sugar factory in Serbia. Then it had fruits but still green. I believe I have a pictures somewhere, when I find them I will upload it here. Today, my friend with whom I exchange plants, went to find some nuts. He found only two , others could not reach. And accidentally stepped on third one and that one had meat (or core, I do not know the correct name now).
Here’s the pictures he sent me. Maybe you recognize the variety.
He also took the trip and visited the arboretum of the Faculty of Forestry, where he found the nuts of carya tomentosa. Also the question now, can it be used as a rootstock for pecan? Here is a picture of the same
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I recommend using pecan seedlings as rootstock. Carya Tomentosa is a relatively slow growing tree that is always over-grown by pecan. Also, Carya Tomentosa aka Mockernut Hickory is a 64 chromosome species where pecan is 32 chromosome. Graft incompatibility can occur.
I have two large Carya Tomentosa trees growing in my yard that produce large amounts of nuts yearly. I do not pick them up because they are relatively bland. This varies by tree so I know of a few trees that have very good flavored nuts.
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All my pecan to Mockernut failed, which could be my own shortcoming. I enjoy the flavor of our Mockernut. It has the fruitiness of black walnut without the sharpness that turns many people off. My Mockernut are very difficult to shell.
that nut and kernel look far more like C.cordiformis, bitternut hickory, than C.tomentosa.
Good call, here are my Mockernut
I’ve looked at more hickory trees than I care to think about over the last 6 weeks. Mockernut has a huge range of diversity in nut shape. I found nuts that were oval and flattened, 4 sided and pointed like the nuts of BambooMan, large as a ping pong ball and 6 sided, small as a dime and 4 sided, and just about every variation in between. I also looked at hundreds of bitternut and saw much less variation. Bitternut shape is typically 4 sided (meaning from the husk sutures) and nearly round with relatively thin shell. There were some Mockernuts that I could not tell apart from Bitternuts except by cracking and tasting them.
I also found plenty of C. Ovalis aka Pignut hickory. I have been looking for C. Myristiciformis aka Nutmeg hickory but have not yet found a tree.
lilke, the nuts look very similar to Van Deman which you can see on this page. Would have to crack a few to verify.
https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/usda_pecan/plant_details.php?pid=Van+Deman&acno=793
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Only nutmeg hickory I’ve knowingly seen is in the Donald E. Davis Arboretum on the Auburn University campus(where my wife and I were wed 33+ yrs ago, by the way).
pig nut, to me, is C.glabra.
C.ovalis is red hickory, though also called sweet pignut…I have at least one tree on the farm here that I think is C.ovalis…looks like a hybrid of C.ovata and C.tomentosa…both growing in close proximity, but due to differing chromosome numbers, I suspect that hybridization of these species is unlikely.
the C.ovalis tree’s nuts look like a fairly typical shagbark nut, but they are darker brown like mockernut…this one cracks out about like an average wild-type shagbark…I only gather them when I’m short on good shagbark nuts.
It was Carya Glabra, not Carya Ovalis that I saw on Natchez Trace. I have not yet found Carya Ovalis though it is shown as occurring in this area.
Edit to add this information for a pecan tree that is growing in Florence, Alabama.
The tree is located in Florence, Alabama and is confirmed as a seedling by the man who planted it about 25 years ago. The pecans run about 58 per pound and 55% kernel. The tree had dropped about half its nuts on 2018/10/12. I watched birds and squirrels hauling away the pecans as fast as they could gather them. My best guesstimate is that the tree had 30 pounds of nuts this year. The man who owns it said it produced quite a bit more last year. I did not take a picture of the nuts, but they are very similar visually to Mahan just in a smaller size. They crack very easily with open grooves and clean appearance. I will be gathering scionwood this spring. Photos below.
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Fantastic tree!
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The foliage looks to be in pretty good shape for this time of year. How did you hear about this tree Darrel?
I had to make a phone call so pulled off the main road and drove down the side road looking for a place to park. When I saw the tree, it was loaded with pecans so I stopped and made my call. There was nobody home that day so I went back a couple of weeks later and met the guy who owns the place. He told me of planting the seedling roughly 25 years ago.
Here’s one Fred Blankenship sent from a planting in Evergreen Alabama: ‘Cramer’s Supreme’
Carya illinoinensis ‘Cramer’s Supreme’
From Fred’s orchard in Cecilia, KY. however this cultivars leaves are still green and the nuts get stuck up in the tree meaning not enough growing season there: ‘Bean’
Carya illinoinensis ‘Bean’
Carya illinoinensis ‘Bean’
Carya illinoinensis ‘Bean’
Bean is a really fat nut. I love its’ appearance.
Dax
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IIRC, Bean originated in southern IL or IN.
Here, it matures late and fills really poorly.
Glad I only have one tree of it.