How to Fertilize a Pecan Tree
In order to maintain health and optimize your crop, annual fertilizing of your pecan tree is essential. The best way to make sure the crop has the essential ingredients it needs to grow is to perform a soil sample test in cooperation with the instructions from your county extension office. In the absence of a soil test, however, a basic fertilizer can applied instead. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
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Time plays a crucial role in fertilizing your pecan trees. The first application should be applied in late winter or early spring. Most experts advocate February as the best time to apply pecan fertilizer.
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For young trees, apply 1 pound of 10-10-10 in a 25-square-foot area no closer than 12 feet away from the trunk. This application should be done immediately after planting and should be followed up with watering to ground the fertilizer.
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If young trees experience less than 2 to 4 feet of terminal growth yearly, apply 1 pound of ammonium nitrate fertilizer for each inch of trunk diameter. This application should be done in June or July.
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Zinc is very important for both bearing pecan trees and young pecan trees. For the first three years, an application of 1 pound of zinc sulfate per tree is recommended.
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Once your trees are bearing fruit, it is very important that you do not stop fertilizing them. Continued fertilization of pecan trees will insure steady crops. For adult trees, the application of the 10-10-10 fertilizer should be 4 lbs. for each inch of pecan trunk diameter. The fertilizer should be broadcast applied, beginning 3 feet from the trunk and extending just past the canopy. A second application should be done in June for bearing trees that have a particularly large crop.
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For bearing trees, apply 3 to 5 pounds of zinc sulfate. Zinc deficiency is a problem for pecan trees, and the best way to tell exactly how much zinc sulfate to apply is by obtaining a leaf sample. Kits and instructions can be obtained from your county extension office.
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Tips & Warnings
All the fertilizing you do won't help your pecan trees if they are not adequately irrigated. Make sure your trees receive adequate water for their age and size.
Resources
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Comments
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has anyone heard of any thing about thowing out ths shells of pecans in there yard. I have seen in alot of older peoples yards that they put them so far from the tree, maybe 50 feet. What does tis surpose to do?
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The pecan tree in my backyard is the largest I have ever seen. For many years, there were pecans all over the ground that I could not get them all, and saved them in the freezer, already peeled, all year long. Now, for the last 3-4 years, all of them that fall, are rotted out. What is happening? The tree is too large for me to use the zinc or anything else. I cannot even see the top of the tree, that's how large it is. I would love more home-made pecan pies, but refuse to buy them in the stores. I hope someone can tell me what to do now, in order to get them back.
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aberccn
Mar 18, 2010
Yes. Although if the metal doesn't include zinc, it won't help. In the "old days", people used to bury tin cans around their pecan trees. Later, experts discovered that the cans had zinc in them, which was released into the soil, thus fertilizing the tree. Zinc is a very important element in both growth and production when it comes to pecan trees. -
dave3920
May 18, 2009
has anyone ever heard of using metal shavings to fertilize a pecan tree?
