By Clint Thompson
Pecan producers in Alabama and Georgia need to stay vigilant with their scab management sprays this late in the production season. Lenny Wells, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension pecan specialist, said due to the crop lagging behind in development this year, growers will need to apply fungicides later than normal.
“The crop is a little behind what the normal timing is. They’re probably going to need to spray another week or two longer than they normally would,” Wells said. “I would say at this point if they’re spraying (last week), for most of our varieties, they would probably need to spray again two weeks later. That would probably finish it out.”
The lone exception would be the Pawnee, the earliest variety that is harvested in the Southeast. Farmers can be done spraying for it.
“Everything else is going to take another couple of sprays probably,” Wells said.
Scab is a fungal disease that infects the leaves or nuts of pecan trees. If it affects the nut early enough, scab can cause the pecan to blacken and fall from the tree. Some growers may spray between 10 and 12 times during an average year to fight scab, depending on how much it rains during the summer. Scab thrives on trees that have received moisture.