By Clint Thompson
Lenny Wells, University of Georgia Extension pecan specialist, reminds pecan producers that fertilizer applications are necessary but can be delayed.
Wells noted in the UGA Extension Pecan Blog that growers who consider making a second nitrogen application, that process can be done anytime from now through August. The second application will be mostly helping the tree for the following season, so timing is not critical. The delay may help growers save money with fertilizer prices.
“I was talking with a fertilizer dealer (recently) and he was saying that prices had dropped a lot just over the week before that. And he was suggesting that if you can wait, it may be a good idea to wait a few weeks and let it come down a little bit more,” Wells said. “I don’t think growers should be in a rush to make that second application right now. Pecan trees are buffered a little bit from these type issues because of being a long-lived perennial crop. They will store a lot of that from one year to the next.
“You’ve got time and anything you put out really anytime from now forward during the season, most of that’s going to go for next year’s crop anyway. You can afford to wait at this point and kind of see what those fertilizer prices do. Hopefully they’ll come down a little more.”