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My friend was a fireman
for years and then became a teacher. Over time, his love for growing
pecan trees was always an escape for him. He is a Godly man. His faith
and his hobby helped him to cope with the sorrows in his life. With his
Oklahoma twang I so enjoy, he explained to me about planting pecan
trees. This is what he told me.
Pecan trees can be planted from the nut. You, first of all, soak the
nuts until they no longer float. If there are some that do not float
they are not good, so toss those. After the pecan has absorbed enough
water to sink to the bottom take them out. You have already found
places where you want the trees to grow. It should be in an area away
from live stock or anything that will eat them. Plant the nuts, three
of them, only 1/4 inch deep. Over where you have planted the nut, put
a large coffee can filled with mulch over them. This will help keep the
area moist. A tomato cage around that will be a good thing to do, so
they are well marked and not easily run over with a lawn mower.
When the trees come up and the trunk becomes, about the size of a
pencil, take a knife and scrape the bark, off the trees, in one
area. Tie them together where they are scraped and wrap them with
anything. Those two or three trees will become one tree and will have
an adequate root stock. You cut the tops out of the trees you don’t
want and save one tree.
After the trees are as tall as your head, then you will graft a good
variety of paper shell pecan branch onto that one tree.
He said that he could plant a pecan tree in a P.C. V. Pipe and it would
grow and could be planted without stunting its growth. A pecan tree
that is one foot tall has a four-foot long root and this causes a tree
to be set back when it is transplanted. By growing the tree from nuts
this set-back is avoided. Another interesting technique he developed is
the clipping of the long roots causing them to branch out into wider,
feeder roots which are quicker to grow and less likely to be set back
with transplanting.
My friend mentioned, that at our age we should get busy and plant the
trees and I had to smile. He married a special lady who made sure he
returned my call and I was thankful for the loyalty and kindness of
good people. |
