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Effect of pruning and thinning mature pecan trees on the nut production

Authors

A. Lagarda Murrieta, M.C. Medina Morales, J. Arreola Ávila

Issue

94V-3 (148-157)

Topic

Plant production

Keywords

Carya illinoensis (Wangenh) K. Koch), pruning, yield, alternate bearing, trunk cross sectional area

Abstract

Pruning treatments such as hedging and selective limb pruning was performed as well as a tree thinning out from a 13 year old Western Schley Pecan Orchard having 100 trees/ha.
The pruning on the pecan trees prometed in the next year a significant increment on the kernel production compared to the non prunned check trees (1,182 kg/ha); hedging pruning trees reported 2,056 kg/ha whereas those trees having selective limb pruning produced 2,058 kg/ha.
Kernel product on evaluated in a 3 year consecutive period showed that trees having selective limb had the greatest production 6,959 kg/ha/3 year; and an alternate bearing index of 24.4% among years compared to a 86.4% reported in the un prunned trees.
Thinning out trees from 100 to 25/ha had the best per tree production 47.5 in shell nuts kg/tree, however in order to keep the nut production in commercial levels, this practice should go to a reduction as high as 25% of the tree population per hectare; reporting additionally an alternate bearing index of 12%. The maximum pecan yields were achieved when the tree density accumulated 9 to 11 m² trunk cross seccional area per hectare.

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