Monday, March 30, 2020

Pecan trees breaking bud

     Between rain showers, I noticed the slightest amount of green tissue emerging from the terminals of pecan tree branches. I decided to take a closer look to see how this Spring's new growth was developing on my trees. After a tour of the grove,
I found that some cultivars still looked dormant while others had broken open their inner bud scales. Posted below are photos of pecan buds that I took today (30 March 2020). Each photo is identified by cultivar and the stage of bud development. This year, bud break seems to have started about a week earlier than average.  If night-time temperature stay above 26 degrees F over the next three weeks, we should escape any freeze damage to emerging buds.

Hark, dormant, 30 Mar 2020
Kanza, Outer scale split, 30 Mar 2020


Greenriver, Bud elongation, 30 Mar 2020


Faith, Bud swell (protandrous cultivar), 30 Mar 2020

    
KT149, Bud swell (protogynous cultivar), 30 Mar 2020