Pecan buds starting to push

     My pecan trees have been slow to break bud this year, but finally, I noted the first signs of new growth. Pictured above is a Kanza shoot with the two primary buds nearest to the terminal in the bud stage called outer scale split.
   After checking my Kanza trees I took a quick survey of my other cultivars and found that some had split open their outer scales while others still appeared dormant. The photos below show bud development as of March 31, 2019.

    The start of budbreak is the signal to get started with fertilizing my pecan grove. However, we just had 3/4 of an inch of rain and I still have several puddles of water standing in the grove (photo at right). Its not a good idea to fertilize into standing water, so I will wait a couple of days for the water to seep into the ground before spreading my fertilizer.