Friday, October 24, 2014

Pecan cultivars ripening in late October

Maramec split 20 Oct 2014
   This week, the latest ripening cultivars in our trials split shuck. I don't even bother testing later ripening cultivars because there is a 10% chance of a hard freeze  (28 F) by October 22 at my location in southeastern Kansas. In fact, I have seen all four of the cultivars pictured here freeze in the shuck following a cooler-than-normal summer and early fall freeze.
    Although all of the photos in this post were taken today, several of the cultivars ripened earlier in the week. Maramec was shuck-split by Monday, Oct. 20. Caddo and Oconee were next, splitting open by Wednesday, Oct. 22. 
    And finally, there is Stuart. It took me a little while to find a Stuart nut cluster with split shucks to photograph. I estimated that less than 10% of the nuts on the tree had split shucks by today, Oct. 24th. Stuart might be one of the most widely recognized pecan cultivars in the world but is is definitely not adapted to growing in our northern pecan climate.

Caddo split 22 Oct 2014

Oconee split 22 Oct 2014
Stuart, 24 Oct 2014