Posts by Lenny Wells | UGA Pecan Extension

About Lenny Wells

I am a Professor of Horticulture and Extension Horticulture Specialist for pecans at the University of Georgia. My research and extension programs focus on practical cultural management strategies that help to enhance the economic and environmental sustainability of pecan production in Georgia.

Summary of Low-Input Pecan Trial

Mar 24, 2023 | Written by Lenny Wells

For the last 5 years, we have been conducting a study on the performance of three low-input pecan cultivars—Lakota, Excel, and McMillan—at the UGA Ponder Farm near Tifton. As we have managed this particular orchard, low input in this case, refers to the absence of fungicide applications. The trees received…
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UGA Pecan Beginners Class & Georgia Pecan Conference

Mar 15, 2023 | Written by Lenny Wells

The UGA Pecan Beginners Class will be held this year in conjunction with the Georgia Pecan Conference. The Conference will be held March 28-30, 2023 in Perry, GA. The Beginners Class is held on March 28 and will include the basics of pecan production form start to finish. See below…
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Do You Really Need a Herbicide Strip?

Mar 13, 2023 | Written by Lenny Wells

With increasing production costs and lower prices last year, growers are looking for creative ways to reduce the cost of production. With this thought in mind, more than one grower has asked me recently, “Do I really need this herbicide strip all year long?” If you’re talking about an orchard…
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Early Budbreak is Here

Feb 28, 2023 | Written by Lenny Wells

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…
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As a Potentially Early Budbreak Draws Near, Be on the Lookout for Ambrosia Beetle on New Plantings

Feb 22, 2023 | Written by Lenny Wells

As Andrew mentioned in the last blog post, Dr. Barman has been seeing consistent flights of ambrosia beetle for several weeks now. We are starting to get calls about hits on new plantings. Budbreak is looking to be early this year. Reports of early budbreak of many plants throughout the…
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Hedging and Shredding in Pecan Orchards

Jan 12, 2023 | Written by Lenny Wells

We have been busy over the last week hedge pruning our orchards and research plots at the UGA Ponder Farm near Tifton. Hedge pruning generates a lot of limbs that must be disposed of. This practice is often time consuming and the limbs are piled and burned. There may be…
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2023 UGA Extension Pecan County Meetings

Jan 3, 2023 | Written by Lenny Wells

January 25 Appling County February 1 Grady County February 2 Coffee County February 7 Toombs, Treutlen, Montgomery Counties Frebruary 9 Peach County February 13 Candler/Evans/Tatnall County February 14 Laurens County February 16 Colquitt County February 21 Crisp County February 23 Thomas County March 1 Cook County March 2 Sumter County…
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