By MINDY POEHL | Central Texas Edition

Attendants at the Pecan Field Day, held  in San Saba, investigate a pecan sheller, as well as other pecan machines that were on hand and used as demonstrations at the field day. — Photo by Mindy Poehl

May 11, 2006 - The pecan tree is the state tree of Texas, being native to about 150 counties across Texas. San Saba County is known as the Pecan Capital of the World.

Orchards throughout San Saba produce around 2 to 5 million pounds of pecans each year.

On Monday, May 1, a Pecan Field Day was held in San Saba, in which all aspects of pecans were covered.

Pecan trees are native to river and creek bottoms with soils that are deep, fertile and well-drained. 

“Pecan trees require at least 3 feet of well-drained soil above the minimum depth of the water table to develop a strong root system,” explained Larry Stein, Extension horticulturist. “Pecan trees planted on shallow soils having poor internal drainage never develop into large, productive trees.”

Pecan trees that are available at nurseries are either container grown, bare root or large tree transplants. 

“Purchase trees from a reliable nursery source and avoid "bargain" trees from outlets,” said Stein . 

Container-grown trees are usually smaller, can be planted anytime of year and are better at living and growing well. 

“Container trees are growing in popularity but they are less available,” stated Stein.

Bare-root trees are the most common pecan nursery trees in Texas. They can be difficult to transplant and need careful handling to prevent transplanting death or slow growth. 

“You need to protect their roots from freezing and drying, and the tree size is important,” Stein said. “Avoid bare-root trees that are smaller than 4 feet tall and over 8 feet tall.”

There is a significant number of large, mechanically dug, large tree transplants in Texas. 

“People usually buy these trees because they think they will provide instant landscaping,” Stein said. “These trees require excellent soil, frequent irrigation and seldom decrease the development time over bare-root trees. Plus, they are expensive.”

Ungrafted seedling trees make good landscape trees because they have strong, fast growth. The nut quality is variable, but usually decent. 

“Seedlings are usually better in structure and appearance than improved variety trees, but they rarely bear nuts as early as improved varieties,” said Stein.

If nut production and kernel quality are major objectives, plant grafted varieties.

Pawnee is a newer, extremely early-ripening variety recommended especially for the Texas Panhandle, although it is also common to Central Texas. It is a medium-size pecan with a good kernel quality and it has a natural resistance to aphids.

Caddo is an excellent yard tree for all parts of Texas. It has strong limbs, scab resistance, early ripening and attractive foliage. Its nuts are very small but have high-quality kernels. 

Cheyenne is a very productive, smaller tree which begins to bear a high quality nut in only 5 to 7 years. Cheyenne is susceptible to aphids and can be grown in all but the northern Panhandle area of Texas. 

Sioux is an outstanding yard tree because of its strong, easy-to-train limb structure and extremely high-quality, small nut. It has moderate scab susceptibility and will require fungicide sprays during periods of high humidity. 

Wichita is the most productive pecan grown in Texas and is ideally adapted to Central and West Texas. Although it has serious scab problems in the humid areas and freeze problems in the far north, the tree is very vigorous, productive and begins to bear in only 5 to 7 years. Wichita develops "V" limb angles that split and require careful training. It tends to be a poor-bearing, unattractive tree if it is not well managed.

Choctaw is a good yard tree because of its beautiful foliage, scab resistance and high yields of large, high-quality pecans. Unfortunately, Choctaw requires the very best soil and management; otherwise, it will fail. 

Kiowa is a newer variety that has good limb structure, attractive foliage and large nuts. It begins to bear at about 6 years of age and bears good crops, but the nut quality has been inconsistent. 

Forkert is an old Mississippi variety that is little known, but rapidly gaining popularity in Texas because of its excellent nut quality.