![\"Desirable](\"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/pecan\/files\/2015\/08\/Desirable-scab.jpg\")
<\/a>\u00a0Pecan scab on \u2018Desirable\u2019 from UGA\u00a0Ponder Farm Variety Orchard 8\/24\/2015<\/strong><\/p>\nMost of the \u201cDesirable\u2019 nuts on these trees would look like the first 3. I would say 25% or less\u00a0(mostly at the top of the tree) look like the 2 nuts on the bottom. All of these nuts will make, although there may be a little bit of a quality drop on the bottom nut. This gives you a good idea of the scab pressure here with the spray program we\u2019ve used.<\/p>\n
With this in mind, let\u2019s look at a few cultivars I feel are at least worth taking a close look at:<\/p>\n
Three of the varieties I wanted to share with you are McMillan, Cherryle, and Nacono. We have recommended McMillan as a good choice for low-input orchards for quite some time now. It is a seedling selection from Alabama, has a rough appearance to the shuck, very low scab incidence, no problems with black aphids, very good, consistent yields, decent quality (50% kernel) and is large enough at 51-55 nuts per lb to go to the in-shell export market. The more I watch this cultivar the more I like it\u2014not just for low input orchards. This is a commercial cultivar in my opinion based on the current in-shell market. I consider it to be as good as Stuart with less disease and insect pressure. So, if you\u2019re tired of spraying fungicides 10-15 times, I would consider this one.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Cherryle (pronounced Cherry Lee) is another seedling selection originating in Grand Bay, Alabama. We keep waiting for something serious to go wrong with this cultivar but we have been\u00a0pleasantly surprised each year. Cherryle has an October 11 harvest date, large nut size (40 nuts per lb), excellent quality (56% kernel) and although its not really a precocious cultivar it produces good yields when it gets going. It also has good scab resistance in Tifton. I believe most locations in Georgia could\u00a0keep Cherryle\u00a0clean with 2 or 3 fungicide sprays. Perhaps less than that in middle Georgia.\u00a0This is one I would plant for trial myself. I\u2019m beginning to place almost as much emphasis on a cultivar that is not preferred by black aphids as I do on scab resistance. Like McMillan, Cherryle doesn\u2019t have problems with black aphids. There is really only one problem with Cherryle that I see so far and that is suture split\u2014a splitting of the shell when the nuts lay on the ground in the sun following shaking\u00a0, which can occur due to\u00a0the thin shell drying down faster than the\u00a0kernel inside, much like you can see with Schley from time to time. But, I consider this a minor problem at this point. The tree still produces good yields even with the suture split.<\/p>\n \u2018Nacono\u2019 is a nut that just looks ridiculously good this time of year. It produces big clusters of long, huge nuts that look like bananas hanging from the tree.<\/p>\n<\/a>\u00a0From left to right: McMillan, Cherryle, Desirable, Nacono<\/strong><\/p>\n