Fresh pecans sure taste good. The fact that they do taste so good probably has some of you all thinking you would like to plant pecan trees so you can grow your own. That’s not a terrible idea, but before you dive in to growing your own pecans, there are a few things you should know.

Pecans are considered native to Oklahoma and are members of the hickory family. Native pecans can be found in most parts of the state with the exception of the panhandle. In the United States, there are over 200 varieties of pecans being grown, but in our area, there are two varieties that are most popular: Pawnee and Kanza.

You can basically group pecan trees into two categories. First there are the native varieties and then those called the improved varieties. A native pecan would be one that was grown from seed locally.

Improved varieties are created by grafting cuttings from one variety of pecan tree onto rootstock belonging to a different variety. If you are wondering why someone would do that, here’s why.

First of all, this is what you would do if you were wanting to grow pecans on a large scale and want your pecans to all be of the same variety. Also, by planting these grafted trees, you are getting the best of both worlds so to speak. You are getting a known type on top with a stronger, more dependable root stock, giving it a better chance of survival.

It’s possible for you to graft your own if you are so inclined. To do so, you will need to gather your grafting stock this winter while the tree is dormant and keep those cuttings in cold storage until April or May. If you are interested in doing this, we have information on our website (www.tulsamastergardeners.org) in the Lawn and Garden Help section/Fruit and Nuts.

We talk a lot about pollinating insects in our articles, but pecans are wind pollinated. Because of this, when planting pecan trees, you’ll need to plant at least two complimentary varieties. Here’s why you need at least two varieties.

Pecan trees are what we call monoecious which means that each pecan tree has both male and female flowers. On the surface this sounds perfect, but in reality, sometimes the male flowers aren’t ready to share their pollen when the female flowers are ready for pollination. To overcome this challenge, get a table, place the table in the area of your pecan tree, lay out a nice dinner, and maybe a little wine in hopes of getting the pollen and the flowers in the mood (if it were only that simple). Actually, you will need to plant a combination of varieties, some with early pollen shedding and some with late pollen shedding to increase the likelihood of fertilization.

If you want to try your luck with pecans, bare root trees should be planted sometime between mid-February and March. Container grown trees can be planted in October through May…in other words…now. Just remember that pecan trees can grow to about 70 feet high so pecan trees should be planted 40 to 60 feet apart.

You’ll want to fertilize your new trees in February through March. Typically, you will need to supplement both nitrogen and zinc but do a soil test to determine the levels of your soil nutrients. Again, information on soil testing is on our website.

As far as watering goes, you will need to plan on watering them weekly but there are a few critical times. First of all, they need to get watered well in the spring for good shoot growth, from May through July to help increase the size of the nuts, and then most importantly from August through October for nut filling.

As far as how much water goes, a 1-year-old tree will typically use about 6 gallons of water per day, but a 30 foot mature pecan tree can use about 100 gallons of water per day. This is true from July through September so if you’re not willing to do this, it might be a good idea to just purchase your pecans for consumption.

Pests are typically not a problem with pecans, but you will need to stay on top of the turf and weeds since they will compete with your trees for nutrients and water. Plus, turf and weeds release chemicals into the soil that tend to slow the growth of newly planted trees, so plan on using mulch and maybe garden cloth around pecan trees.

Now, if you’re not a patient gardener, pecan trees may not be for you since you can plan on waiting 3 to 12 years before you are able to harvest pecans from your tree. If you make it that far, you can tell it’s time to harvest when the shucks begin to split. This should occur sometime between mid-September and mid-November depending on the variety.

Sometimes you might hear people say that pecans are expensive. Knowing what it takes to get a good crop of pecans, I wonder if they are charging enough, especially when you factor in all those fancy dinners they have to stage for the pecans to get them ready to pollinate. See you in the garden!

You can get answers to all your gardening questions by calling the Tulsa Master Gardeners Help Line at 918-746-3701, dropping by our Diagnostic Center at 4116 E. 15th Street, or by emailing us at mg@tulsamastergardeners.org. Photo: Rebekah D. Wallace, University of Georgia, Bugwood.org