By Stephen Brueggerhoff, CEA – Horticulture, Brazos County AgriLife Extension; published 11/11/2025
All images unless otherwise noted by Stephen Brueggerhoff
Friends, relatives and neighbors have a personal connection with pecans, a highly nutritious and prized nut that is a treasured food in home life. Pecan (Carya illinoinensis) are indigenous to southern North America and northern Mexico, a staple food for ancestral Native Americans within the plant’s natural range and integrated into contemporary culture. Historically, pecan was not commercially grown until the 1880s and with the advent of improved varieties. Current statistics list the United States producing an estimated 80-percent of the world’s commercially grown pecans annually from New Mexico, Georgia, Arizona and Texas.
Cultivating Pecan Trees
Our personal connection with pecans is motivation for growing them at home. While they often become ornamental shade trees in time, they still require special annual maintenance for quality nut production. Be aware that grafted pecans can take up to seven years to bear nuts, and seedling trees much longer. If you plant a pecan tree into your yard, keep in mind you must give them room to grow. These stately trees naturally reach to 100-ft in height and spread 50-foot or more at maturity. A modest-sized lot in the city may provide enough space to grow a single pecan variety. For commercial production, establishing a pecan orchard takes focused planning that includes space consideration for maintenance and harvest. Planting densities can range from 12 to 48 trees per acre depending on spacing. Pecan trees can be planted from late November through February. Whether locating in the front yard or out in the pasture, ensure planting them in well-draining soil as they may fail if planted in soil that regularly becomes saturated. You can build up to 2-foot planting berms to compensate, but always best to locate them in a prime spot at the onset.
Pecan Varietal Choices
There is an estimate that over 500 varieties have been developed to date, with a handful of varieties that are appropriate for home or commercial production within our region and dependent on disease resistance, cultural and environmental conditions. Also consider their flowering structure when choosing a variety. Pecans are monoecious, meaning they produce separate male and female flowers on the same plant and, depending on the variety, from mid to late-spring. Male flowers are expressed on necklace-like catkins and pollen dispersal is by wind. Female flowers are produced at the tips of emerging shoots. Varieties are identified as Type I, those shedding pollen before the female flowers are receptive, and Type II varieties are shed after the female flowers are receptive. While some varieties are described as self-pollinating, it is always best to consider planting both types of trees in your orchard to enhance the chance of adequate cross-pollination. For example, Desirable is a Type I variety, producing a medium sized, soft-shell nut and ripening late October. You can increase production chances by pairing with a late pollen shedding variety like Kanza. Texas A&M Aggie Horticulture provides fact sheets that are an excellent source to identify pecan varieties that perform in our area, as well as planting and cultivation information. We offer professional advice for entrepreneurs considering commercial production, and Aggie Horticulture offers a world-renowned Pecan Orchard Management Short Course to provide an avenue of success growing pecans February 24 to 26, 2026.
Consider Entering a Pecan Show
You may be cultivating prized varieties on your property, gaining a reputation amongst pecan experts, aficionados as well as neighbors for being a source of the best pecans in your community. You can extend that pride and gain recognition by participating in a regional pecan show. The Extension offices in Austin County (Bellville) and Washington County (Brenham) annually host pecan shows, no entry fee for submission and open to the public and producers alike. Austin County is accepting submissions through December 1 and Washington County through mid-November. Take heart, Brazos County neighbors – you don’t have to be a resident of the listed counties to compete. Contact me via email at [email protected] to explore participating in their shows or check each counties’ website to submit prior to stated deadlines. Each county has similar rules for submission that include about 50 non-mixed varieties per entry. The competitions proceed with sorting and judging classic and new division, commercial division and native division. Each county hosts a public program soon after entry deadlines and identifies winning entries that are then sent to regional pecan shows for judging this coming January. All state regional winners will compete at the Texas Pecan Growers Annual Conference and Trade Show mid-July in San Marcos.
Enjoy Texas Pecans
Pecan harvest is in full swing, and fresh cracked and in shell pecans are available at local retail outlets. Except for November 28, The TAMU Pecan Orchard hosts a weekly pecan sale every Friday, from 8 am to 4 pm, at TAMU Research Park, 1500 Research Parkway, Lot 109 on campus until December 12. I encourage you to celebrate Pecan culture and bring attention to the diversity and health benefits of our native nut. Are you interested in learning more about pecans, fruits and vegetables, and best practices in horticulture and serving your neighbors with knowledge? I am accepting applications for the 2026 Texas Master Gardener Training program. We start the classes in January, have limited seating and would I would be delighted to help improve your gardening skills. Browse online to the Brazos County Master Gardener website, txmg.org/brazos, to find out more and contact me via email posted above. Enjoy your pecans, and I’ll see you in the garden.