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Pecan (Carya illinoinensis)

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MikeHardman

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Pecan (Carya illinoinensis)
« on: October 22, 2011, 06:24:03 PM »
Just an interesting little note in passing, gleaned from Patricia Jordan's column in Cyprus Living, Oct10, p.37:
Q. How to tell when to pick pecans?
A. Watch for the crows. They will be in there as soon as the shells start to crack.
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Mike
Geologist by Uni training, IT consultant, Referee for Viola for Botanical Society of the British Isles, commissioned author and photographer on Viola for RHS (Enc. of Perennials, The Garden, The Plantsman).
I garden near Polis, Cyprus, 100m alt., on marl, but have gardened mainly in S.England
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oron peri

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Re: Pecan (Carya illinoinensis)
« Reply #1 on: October 22, 2011, 06:29:24 PM »
Mike that is an interesting methood, but down here we dont pick the fruits, we collect it.
We wait for the fruits to fall on the ground, it takes only a few days and they are all ripen.
The tree is just too big for climbing...
« Last Edit: October 22, 2011, 07:01:00 PM by oron peri »
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Garden Designer, Bulb man, Botanical tours guide.
Living and gardening in Tivon, Lower Galilee region, North Israel.
Min temp 5c Max 42c, around 450mm rain.
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MikeHardman

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Re: Pecan (Carya illinoinensis)
« Reply #2 on: October 22, 2011, 06:35:07 PM »
Fair point, Oron. I guess Patricia may have experience of a large number of crows, such that there are no pecans left to fall to the ground?!
« Last Edit: October 22, 2011, 07:00:39 PM by oron peri »
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Mike
Geologist by Uni training, IT consultant, Referee for Viola for Botanical Society of the British Isles, commissioned author and photographer on Viola for RHS (Enc. of Perennials, The Garden, The Plantsman).
I garden near Polis, Cyprus, 100m alt., on marl, but have gardened mainly in S.England
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John J

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Re: Pecan (Carya illinoinensis)
« Reply #3 on: October 23, 2011, 07:14:23 AM »
I'm with Oron on this one, we have a large tree and I've never seen a crow anywhere near it in 20 years.
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Cyprus Branch Head. Gardens in a field 40 m above sea level with reasonably fertile clay soil.
"Aphrodite emerged from the sea and came ashore and at her feet all manner of plants sprang forth" John Deacon (13thC AD)
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oron peri

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Re: Pecan (Carya illinoinensis)
« Reply #4 on: October 23, 2011, 09:26:06 AM »
What do have a sever problem with are Rose-ringed Parakeet that go mad for pecans, they become real pest here.
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Garden Designer, Bulb man, Botanical tours guide.
Living and gardening in Tivon, Lower Galilee region, North Israel.
Min temp 5c Max 42c, around 450mm rain.
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MikeHardman

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Re: Pecan (Carya illinoinensis)
« Reply #5 on: October 24, 2011, 09:44:33 PM »
As well as killing branches on carob trees (by bark stripping), black rats also inflict the same damage on pecans. Here's a fine big pecan tree in Chrysochou, near Polis; the dying branches are shown clearly by the brown patches in the canopy. ...And an example of the culprit (Rattus rattus frugivorous).
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Mike
Geologist by Uni training, IT consultant, Referee for Viola for Botanical Society of the British Isles, commissioned author and photographer on Viola for RHS (Enc. of Perennials, The Garden, The Plantsman).
I garden near Polis, Cyprus, 100m alt., on marl, but have gardened mainly in S.England
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John J

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Re: Pecan (Carya illinoinensis)
« Reply #6 on: October 27, 2011, 02:40:16 PM »
To return to the subject of when to pick pecan nuts. First photo shows the outer husk splitting, that's when they are ready to be picked (crows opinion not required). Dry them in the sun for a couple of days and they will last through the year until the next harvest is ready. I'm not entirely sure but I think our tree is of the Mohawk variety.
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Cyprus Branch Head. Gardens in a field 40 m above sea level with reasonably fertile clay soil.
"Aphrodite emerged from the sea and came ashore and at her feet all manner of plants sprang forth" John Deacon (13thC AD)
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Alisdair

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Re: Pecan (Carya illinoinensis)
« Reply #7 on: October 27, 2011, 03:20:40 PM »
John, That's really helpful, thanks!
Next thing for us is to sow a few seeds, so I'll have to file that nugget of information away for a few years yet....
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Alisdair Aird
Gardens in SE England (Sussex); also coastal Southern Greece, and (in a very small way) South West France; MGS member (and former president); vice chairman RHS Lily Group, past chairman Cyclamen Society
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John

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Re: Pecan (Carya illinoinensis)
« Reply #8 on: November 01, 2011, 06:32:33 PM »
I find that one of the problems with walnuts and also almonds in the UK is that though they fruit well they often don't release the nut and they just go mouldy unless we have perfect weather which is unusual. Also here in London walnuts never actually reach maturity as grey squirrels get to them first. In this case I find it best to pickle them as they can be harvested before the squirrels are interested. I just had a thought, can you also pickle Pecans at the pre-shell forming stage?
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John
Horticulturist, photographer, author, garden designer and plant breeder; MGS member and RHS committee member. I garden at home in SW London and also at work in South London.
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John J

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Re: Pecan (Carya illinoinensis)
« Reply #9 on: November 01, 2011, 07:26:34 PM »
I've never heard of Pecans being pickled but immature walnuts are used to make 'glyko', the traditional sweet that is, or was, offered to visitors. Almost anything can be utilised to make 'glyko'.
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Cyprus Branch Head. Gardens in a field 40 m above sea level with reasonably fertile clay soil.
"Aphrodite emerged from the sea and came ashore and at her feet all manner of plants sprang forth" John Deacon (13thC AD)
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John J

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Re: Pecan (Carya illinoinensis)
« Reply #10 on: November 07, 2011, 11:31:54 AM »
Alisdair, you mentioned seeds of the Pecan earlier. I collected the nut in the photo today and when I took it out of the husk it was already sprouting.
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Cyprus Branch Head. Gardens in a field 40 m above sea level with reasonably fertile clay soil.
"Aphrodite emerged from the sea and came ashore and at her feet all manner of plants sprang forth" John Deacon (13thC AD)
*

Alisdair

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Re: Pecan (Carya illinoinensis)
« Reply #11 on: November 07, 2011, 12:09:50 PM »
Thanks, John; suggests it's one of those "the fresher the better" seeds!
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Alisdair Aird
Gardens in SE England (Sussex); also coastal Southern Greece, and (in a very small way) South West France; MGS member (and former president); vice chairman RHS Lily Group, past chairman Cyclamen Society
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MikeHardman

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Re: Pecan (Carya illinoinensis)
« Reply #12 on: November 18, 2011, 04:19:32 PM »
Some of the pecan trees around here are starting to colour-up now - a nice yellow.
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Mike
Geologist by Uni training, IT consultant, Referee for Viola for Botanical Society of the British Isles, commissioned author and photographer on Viola for RHS (Enc. of Perennials, The Garden, The Plantsman).
I garden near Polis, Cyprus, 100m alt., on marl, but have gardened mainly in S.England
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