A storm severely permanently bent this young Mahan pecan tree. It’s about 10 years and 6 inches at its base. I really do not want to keep this tree as it is now but what are my options?
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Use an anchor and a piece of heavy wire (#9 or larger diameter) to pull it back up straight. Alternatively, leave it for 10 years and it will straighten up on its own. I prefer to pull trees back straight as new growth will be at odd angles until the tree corrects its posture. I planted a pecan seedling in 2001 that had a literal “S” in the trunk. In 10 years, the tree had corrected itself so the trunk is now completely straight.
Betweentwoponds, Campbell NC4, Lucas, and Warren 346 are your best options. Rootstock is critically important. I would use Major if possible.
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That may work.
An 80’ large red oak tree with about a 4’ diameter base blew down almost with its top touching (in fact it did a little) the pecan tree. You can see some of the top of the oak tree just to the left of the pecan tree in the picture.
What sort of an anchor are you suggesting? A thought that I have is that I may get a tractor in there to pull it straight (although the top of the oak tree is sort of in the way - I have not started to cut it up yet as it is one of many blow downs). Maybe tie the wire 10-12’ up the pecan tree? Probably a heavy rope or belt would be better.
Maybe a psychology class…so you can 
accept things that aren’t perfectly straight?
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Thank you, I see grimo recommends hilling to the graft union, any other site/fertilizer recommendations?
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I’m guessing that y’all are diligently watering your pecan trees now. It’s easy to forget.
I need to tie a string around my finger.
I don’t yet have bearing age trees though a couple may start next year. I am watering a few seedlings set out this year. After a year of growth, they can usually survive on their own.
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I been wondering about Is it better to give a pecan one big through watering once a week or give several smaller waterings on consecutive days?
I don’t have a functional soaker hose. Just a hose with an ordinary end.
I noticed today that my 13 year old Sumner branches has been sort of spreading out in a kind of downward tilt much more than it was when it was younger. It was in a more of an upward growing tree. I guess this is normal.
I don’t have a pecan tree, but I will chime in. This is a long thread and I don’t know if you mentioned how big/old your pecan tree is.
A small tree perhaps can be watered a few times a week as the roots are shallow and not to extensive. A bigger tree I believe would benefit from a long soaking less frequently. Better soil penetration of the water for a more expansive and deeper root system of a larger tree.
Living in south Louisiana we have pecan trees all over, from individuals back in the day who planted them to the left over orchard trees. Of course rainfall ‘usually’ isn’t a concern as we are not often in drought.
This year is an exception, but very large trees seem to fair quite well with their established roots.
I mentioned in another thread that pecans are grown commercially in New Mexico along the Rio Grande river. Since natural rainfall would never get it there, they use flood irrigation from the Rio. It’s practical and fascinating… I’m sure you could call flood irrigation the original ‘sprinkler system’ as many cultures around the world figured it out many thousands of years ago.
So again a slow deep soak is better than more frequent shallow ones, assuming the tree is not just planted or in its first few years.
IMHO
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Drooping branches are typical for pecan. My AG instructor 50 years ago told us about pecan’s propensity to droop. He said he had pruned a tree in his yard so no limbs were within 15 feet of the ground. 5 years later, it was again touching the ground.
Question- Next spring I’m grafting a pollinator onto my solo pecan. Should I graft the top of the central leader? It has about 3 branches, but I think the central leader would have better odds. What’s your take?
All depends on how you prune the tree. If you keep the other limbs from overgrowing, the central leader would be a good choice. I’m worried though by your description. If the fork is weak, eventually a wind storm will take out one or more limbs. If this is the case, corrective pruning should be applied before grafting.
I try to keep the squirrels out my pecans by wrapping the trunk with roll flashing and keeping the branches off the ground, but this year is going to be a challenge.
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Diligently watered my pecans yesterday. Used to use a cheap soaker hose but they only last a couple of years at best. The problem with a regular hose on uneven ground is it tends to not distribute the water evenly around the trees. So, some of the water goes to waste when the water is left on for a couple of hours. I’m happy that it is said that there are trillions of gallons of water underground here.
Missed out on several of the rainstorms that has come thru the county in the last month or so.
Probably just trying to fatten up the squirrels with the watering though. 
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Webworm season is here. I sprayed these with Triazicide using an end-hose sprayer. Works okay but the worms at the top of tree are nearly impossible.
Here is what a couple of the Sumner look like now. Some scab but not too bad. I could reach a lot of the pecans with an end-hose sprayer. I can only wonder how effective and worthwhile that would be?
Some squirrel cutting around supposedly Cape Fear tree. Wrapped trees with roof roll flashing and watered. I cannot remember to wrap soon enough.
Time to oil shotgun. Need recipe for squirrel dumplings. 
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This from the Georgia Pecan Grower magazine on irrigation for October. I don’t see how the commercial guys can afford it, much less the small guys like myself.
- 90-140 gal/tree/day
- 1080-1680 gal/acre/day
- 35-40% full capacity
- Drip Cycle: 90%
- Sprinkler (in/acre): 1 in
- Turn irrigation off for three days when receiving >1 inch of rain.
- Sandy Soils: Use the higher end of the rate
- Clay Soils: Use the lower end of the rate
- 1- to 3-Year-old Trees: Stop Irrigating
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It is better to give a long, slow watering than more frequent small ones. I set my hose with a very slow flow and let it go for several hours for an individual tree.
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Know I’m watering just to help the squirrels. A few cuttings around base of Sumner. Think they’re getting to the pecans from an oak tree. Can’t do much about the oak tree. Possibly could shorten a pecan limb to keep them out. Then they would possible just jump from the ground into a low drooping limb. They would only have to jump maybe 4 feet. Problems!
I’ve kept them out of this tree before. Just how high do those tree rats jump?
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Squirrels have been documented jumping 5 feet high.
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Not easy to do I’m finding out. Borrowed a come along from nephew. Worked with it yesterday. Can only attach to the tree about 12 ’ up. I’m not great with a come along. Had trouble with getting it to release when the first try to get enough bend did not work. I’ll give it another try again today.
Don’t have much faith in the tree straightening itself out. I have an elm tree in backyard that got bent severely over in an ice storm. Never has been straight after about 12 years.
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