Comparing Kanza and Hark nuts

   This fall I have been taking a closer look at the performance of Hark as it compares to Kanza. Earlier this Fall I collected a nut sample from a Hark tree and an adjacent Kanza tree. I weighed out these samples and cracked the nuts to determine percent kernel.
   As you can see in the photo above, Hark produces a nut that is slightly larger than Kanza. The shell markings on the Hark nut are very similar to its Major parent. Both Major and Hark shells are covered with many small black speckles. In contrast, the Kanza nut shell is light colored and has few black markings. Even though Kanza has Major parentage the shell of Kanza is more reminisent of its other parent, Shoshoni.

    This year my Hark nuts yielded more percent kernel than my Kanza nuts (photo above). Hark kernels also appeared larger. However, Kanza kernels were lighter in color and appeared more attractive than the Hark kernels. For the first time, I noticed that the dorsal grooves on Hark kernels are narrow and can trap packing material. In fact, if you look closely at the left dorsal groove of the left Hark kernel you'll see some trapped packing material.
   Even though Kanza still remains my favorite cultivar, I plan to graft more Hark into my orchard. Hark is scab resistant and a good pollinator for Kanza.

Kernel Filling: Kanza vs. Hark

Kanza, 6 Sept. 2018

    This fall I'm taking the time to closely compare the performance of Hark to Kanza. As readers of this blog know, Kanza is my favorite pecan cultivar because it produces high quality kernels, is scab resistant, and produces good pecan crops annually. Hark is a relatively new cultivar that has shown great promise. In comparison to Kanza, Hark has similar nut size, kernel quality, ripening date, and scab resistance. The importance of Hark is that it is protandrous and would be a prefect pollen partner for Kanza, a protogynous cultivar.   However, being a new cultivar, Hark does not have a long track record of performance. How will a 40-year-old Hark tree perform? It will be decades before we find out.

Hark, 6 Sept. 2018

   Today, I stopped by my Kanza and Hark trees to check on their kernel development. Seeing a good crop of pecans on both cultivars gets me excited for the coming harvest season.

    I pulled a cluster of Kanza nuts off a tree then collected a similar cluster from a Hark tree. Holding both clusters in my hand (Kanza on left, Hark on right), I photographed the nuts  to give you a good idea about the size of these nuts. In the photo above, it looks like Hark is a little larger than Kanza.

   I cut a nut from each cultivar to check on nut development (photo above). The shells inside reveal that the nuts are very close in size. But note the thicker shuck on Hark. This is why Hark looks bigger than Kanza while still green and hanging on the tree. I also noted that Kanza is a little behind Hark terms of kernel filling. However, with all the moisture we've received the past few weeks, both cultivars should have no problem packing the inside of the shell with kernel.  

The new pecan cultivar, 'Hark', looks promising

    We've had 9 inches of rain over the past week and I've found it hard to get out in the grove to look at pecan trees and take photos. Fortunately, the sun popped out today and I was able to take a quick look around a portion of my orchard. The nuts on most cultivars are fully sized with Kanza and Hark at full water stage. My oldest Hark tree has a trunk about 7 inches in diameter and has developed a nice full canopy (photo at right). This tree is located right next to a couple of Kanza trees so its easy to compare these two scab resistant cultivars.
    As a young tree, Hark is easier to train than Kanza. Hark seems to have a more naturally spreading growth habit and produces fewer stalked buds than Kanza. As you know, stalked buds grow into narrow-angled branches that are prone to wind breakage. Although Kanza is not a terribly hard tree to train, I do need to keep a close look out for stalked buds during the early years of tree development. 

    The 2018 crop load on Hark appears to be very similar to my adjacent Kanza trees. The nut yield won't be limb breaking but the 2018 crop appears "good" on both these cultivars. In fact, Kanza and Hark have the best nut set of any cultivars growing on my farm this year. Hark set nuts mainly in clusters of three (photo at left). This cluster size is similar to Kanza and to Major, a parent of both Kanza and Hark.
   With plenty of moisture available to fill out kernels, I'll be anxious to compare the nut quality of Kanza and Hark this coming Fall.