Pecans: Freeze, Pecan Scab, and Upcoming Lunch and Learns

by Dr. Jackie Lee, Fruit Research Station Director - May 3, 2021

Figure 1. Growth on Kanza Pecan on 4-25-21, in Clarksville, AR.

Pecans are one of the later budding trees out there, for good reason. It usually allows some protection against late freezes, but when we get multiple late freeze events like this year (April 21 and 22^nd), later than we have ever recorded in our area (Clarksville), pecans become susceptible to freeze damage. There was minimal damage though, and most new growth looks fine (figure 1). The catkins are formed and the trees are getting ready for pollination here in Clarksville. In locations where flowers had developed there could have been damage to them that would impact yield. You will need to scout your trees to determine if freeze damage occurred. Look for wilted or brown tissue.  It is important to remember one of the critical pecan scab management timings is a pre-pollination spray when leaves are about 1 inch in length. Trees have reached this point. Managing pecan scab is essential to produce a good crop and will require additional cover sprays every 14 days. Pecan scab was terrible last year! For a listing of Pecan scab products please review the MP154.

I am also trialing a new pecan scab management tool that will calculate how many pecan scab hours a location collects over time so that growers can better time sprays. Please tune in to the Pecan Series lunch and learns to hear more about this tool! It’ll be held on the second Tuesday of every month (with the exception of July) from 11:30a-12:30p, starting in May until November. I will be covering various topics on pecan production throughout the season, here is the schedule with the topics to be covered:

• May 11^th: Pollination, fertility & pest control
• June 8^th: Irrigation management & weed control
• July 12^th: Teaching farm & current research
• August 10^th: Common pecan problems
• September 14^th: Orchard establishment & renovation
• October 12^th: Varieties and marketing in Arkansas
• November 9^th: Harvest techniques & farm update

These meetings will also be recorded and available on our Arkansas SARE page as well as our new Arkansas SARE YouTube channel.

You can register for the webinars here: https://uada.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJMoc-GtqzovG9FIIqC6t2MvEcm-qaamPywa