Question
We have two wonderful pecan trees on some property my wife owns.
How do I go about germinating some of these nuts to grow this same tree on our property?
How do I get them to germinate and how should they be planted? Should they be grown indoors after gernination for rooting prior to being planted out doors?
I sincerely appreciate your assistance.
PS: Yes I understand that I may never benifit from the fruit of these trees but some one else will...!
Answer
Here is some information on germination of pecans.
J. W. Worthington in the Texas Pecan Handbook discusses pecan seed germination
Dry Storage is required for the nuts as soon as they are harvested. Kernel percent moisture needs to be reduced from 20 at harvest to 6, 5, or 4 before going into storage. The drying needs to be as fast as possible without using heat. Take the pecan nut out of the husk and store inside the house in a warm dry area or 20-30 days.
Stratification is the period of time from drying to planting. For pecans they can be stratified with moist chilling or dry chilling. The ideal temperature is 45 degrees F and in a polyethylene bag to allow oxygen and carbon dioxide movement through the bag, but no loss of moisture. Some stratify pecan seeds in poly bags with both pecans and a very slightly moist packing medium such as sand, peat moss, or vermiculite. Some stratify as nuts only with no medium. The temperature should never go below 35 degrees F because freezing will kill the embryo. Stratification should be from as soon as the nuts are dry until they are presoaked for planting in late February. Most people are now using dry stratification.
Pre Soaking is used to stimulate germination. The nuts are placed in a mesh bag, submerged in a water bath, and soaked in running water for one to four days. Barrels, irrigation canals, or rivers have been used, just so that the water is not standing still. Top quality seed will swell and split in only one day. These seed should be checked at least twice daily, handled carefully and planted immediately without allowing them to dry.
Seed Bed should be ready so that the swollen nuts can be planted immediately.
