Horticulture

  • Water Split and Crop Progress

    As predicted we are seeing a banner year for water stage fruit split. We are currently seeing nut drop from water split even on varieties on which we don’t normally see it (such as Desirable). It has been abnormally wet this growing season and especially through the late water stage and early shell hardening phase…

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  • Leaf Scorch and Fruit Thinning

    We’re into late summer and seeing some leaf scorching out there. The two most common types I have had calls on this week have been from the scorching of young trees from heat stress. On older trees we are seeing a fair amount of terminal die back (Neofusicoccum). I went back and looked at the…

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  • Last year we received a grant from the Pecan Commodity Commission to plant a low-input pecan variety trial for long-term evaluation of scab in Southeast Georgia. The location of planting is at the University of Georgia Vidalia Onion Research Farm. I’m excited to say that we are finished with our initial planting and irrigation set…

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  • The temperatures over the Easter weekend dipped down a little further than forecast in a few areas in the state. April 3 saw the lowest temps of the weekend. While temps in Ft. Valley area reached 32, there were low lying areas that dropped down to as low as 26 degrees. UGA weather stations in…

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  • I just had an article appear in this month’s Pecan South magazine discussing ‘Avalon’ and ‘Zinner’. In that article it mentions Avalon as being a Gloria Grande X Barton cross. This is what Dr. Conner originally thought upon its release and this is what’s stated in the original literature on Avalon because that is the…

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  • Profitability of ‘Lakota’ pecan

    The top concern on growers’ minds right now is reducing the cost of production. Here in the Southeast, over 12% of the variable cost of production comes from the cost of fungicide to control pecan scab. Its the highest single annual expense outside labor costs. Fuel follows closely behind. If we could eliminate or drastically…

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  • Harvest About to Begin

    Pawnee nuts have been opening for a couple of weeks now, which means harvest is fast approaching. I have heard of one grower shaking already but I expect we will see the Pawnee harvest begin in earnest next week. If you are planning to shake Pawnee next week, it is recommended to turn the irrigation…

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