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Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Pecan cultivars spliting shuck in late September


Waccamaw, 28 Sept. 2015
    Over the weekend six more pecan cultivars started to open their shucks. Pictured at right is a seedling cultivar of unknown parentage that originated outside of Golden City, MO. The tree's owner named the tree Waccamaw, after a native American tribe that once inhabited coastal South Carolina. The Waccamaw River flows from North Carolina into South Carolina running parallel to the eastern seacoast. The Waccamaw produces a nut slighty smaller than Pawnee and yields 54% kernel. Waccamaw is scab susceptible.
City Park, 28 Sept. 2015 
   





     Another seedling pecan we have under trial is "City Park". Years ago, we planted a Giles seedling in Chetopa's Riverside Park. Eventually, the tree started to bear nuts. I was so impressed by the size of nuts produced by this tree that I grafted scions from the original tree into field trials at the research station. The grafted trees of 'City Park' have now matured enough to allow us to get a good read on it ripening date--about the same time as Kanza.


Kanza, 28 Sept. 2015









    Speaking of Kanza, our heavy crop of Kanza nuts have begun to split shuck. Spotting shuck split on Kanza is a little difficult. The shuck separates down the sutures but remain fairly tight around the nut. It will take a killing freeze to really open up the shucks and release the nut inside.

Hark, 28 Sept. 2015













     Like Kanza, I have a strong suspicion that 'Hark' has Major as one of its parents. As a result, the shucks of Hark split down the sutures but the shuck remains tight around the nut until frost.

Posey, 28 Sept. 2015
   















      Posey has a very distinctive shuck that is characterized by a rough surface texture and prominent wings along the sutures. At this time Posey nuts are about 10% shuck split.

Yates 68, 28 Sept. 2015


















   Yates 68 looks to be a Posey seedling and shares Posey's dark shell color and tendency for kernels to turn dark quickly after harvest.  Yates 68 was selected from a group of seedling trees planted by Ed Yates on his farm in Southern Indiana.