Deep winter chill

    Winter has returned with a few inches of snow and bone chilling cold temperatures (photo above). So far this month, we have dropped to -3 degrees F (-19 C) and I've been wondering if we will see any cold damage displayed this coming Spring. Two types of pecan trees are most prone to winter injury: Vigorously growing grafts made last year and mature trees that produced too many nuts last Fall.
    For graft injury, it doesn't seem to matter which cultivar was grafted but rather, how late a graft grew into the Fall. Pecan shoots that don't harden off before a hard freeze seem to suffer the greatest amount of shoot dieback.
    Pecan cultivars that over-produce and have some southern blood are the most prone to suffering winter dieback. Shoshoni, Chickasaw, and Mohawk are cultivars we no longer grow because of over- production and subsequent cold injury. Last year, we made sure to summer shake our Pawnee and Lakota trees to prevent over-cropping and limit the possibility of winter injury.
    Thankfully, we have finished harvesting the 2017 crop and we are now cleaning the last few super sacks our pecans in a heated barn.