By Clint Thompson
Georgia pecan producers are on the cusp of harvest season. But that doesn’t mean management of this year’s crop has finished. For some it may be ensuring the trees have their water needs fulfilled. For others, it may be controlling insect pests like the black pecan aphid.
Lenny Wells, University of Georgia Extension pecan specialist, provided an overview of what growers should be doing this time of year.
“We should be done with fungicide sprays at this point. There’s been a lot of black aphids popping up. People have been spraying for those, so that’s something to keep an eye on,” Wells said. “This time of year with the other crops around pecan trees maturing, sometimes those stink bugs start to move from those (crops) to pecan trees. That’s something to keep an eye out on. You may have to spot treat for those between now and when you have shuck split.
“And then also watering. We’ve got another couple of weeks that we really need to keep the water going good to fill those kernels out. After that you can cut back on the watering, but you still need to make sure you don’t let it dry out too much, because those nuts do need water to help the shuck split and help those nuts open up like they should.”
Wells likes how this year’s crop looks, especially considering the amount of scab disease that has been observed in pecan orchards. The large amounts of rain this summer led to the disease being more prevalent in some areas than others.
“It’s kind of like what we’ve been thinking. It’s not a huge crop, but it’s a decent crop. We’ve had some scab to deal with this year. There are some around, but overall, I think growers have done a good job of managing that,” Wells said. “We’ve had some good conditions here late in the season that I think will go a long way towards helping us with quality. I think we’re in decent shape for this year’s crop.”