Unfortunately, budbreak is arriving much, much earlier than normal. I took the following photos in an Elliot orchard today. Elliot is one of the earliest cultivars to break bud and these were just appearing on some of the suckers growing out from the trunk but its an indication that spring is here. I didnt see this until about March 11 of last year and that was considered early. You need to be wrapping up pecan plantings if you haven’t already done so with the advent of budbreak here. Trees will be highly stressed when planting close to budbreak and will be likely targets for ambrosia beetles. Of course, the greatest fear is the threat of a spring freeze. Let’s hope it stays warm at this point.
