Root Pruning and Soil Type Affect Pecan Root Regeneration
Keyword(s):
Taproots of 2-year-old `Apache' seedling pecan [Carya illinoensis (Wang)] trees were pruned to 1 ft (30 cm), 2 ft (60 cm), or 3 ft (90 cm) in combination with wounding treatments consisting of no wounding, scraping through pericycle tissue on one or two sides of the taproot, or longitudinally splitting the taproot for about half its length. The trees were planted in a Port silt loam soil and a Teller sandy loam soil and grown without irrigation. At the end of the first and second growing seasons, top growth was measured, trees were dug and root system regrowth was evaluated. Tree root weight and number of roots per tree decreased with increasing taproot length.