Purdue Extension Service
Purdue Extension Service
Vanderburgh County, Indiana
Subject: HORT ALERT: Aw, nuts...what are we to do with those pecans?
9/22/2008
Last week’s brush with Hurricane Ike not only led to widespread devastation to homes, trees, and power lines, but it has also brought about a large crop of questions on what to do with pecans and other nuts that were ripening on the trees, and are now scattered all over the lawn. Apparently, we had a bumper crop of nuts this year, but they were knocked out of the trees prematurely.
Nuts will not “ripen” off the tree. However, they appear to be mature enough at this point that they can be dried and still used. According to Purdue Consumer Horticulture Specialist Rosie Lerner:
If the husks have not begun to split yet, it will be quite a tough job to extricate the nuts, but my advice is to try to cut open a few and inspect the nut meats. If the nuts have enough meat of decent flavor to make it worth the effort, gardeners will need to air dry them out of the husks as quickly as possible. It will likely take longer than the customary 2 weeks. They need to be in a warm (but out of direct sun), WELL-VENTILATED area, in shallow layers on drying screens, mesh bags, etc. [The nut-drying area needs to be protected from squirrels, too.]
Test the pecans for dryness periodically. The nut meats should snap rather than bend when dry enough. [For large quantities that need to be stored] long-term, I would freeze them (only after they are dry).
Bruce Bordelon, Purdue Fruit Specialist, reminded me that if the nutmeats are still green and immature, they will shrivel up to nothing, rather than drying into a usable product. I think, though, that we’re late enough into the season that the nuts are mature...just not as dry as they would normally be when they drop.
Another question I was asked about pecans was whether the husks could be composted, or used as a mulch in the garden. That’s a difficult question to answer. According to Purdue’s bulletin on Black Walnut Toxicity ( http://www.hort.purdue.edu/ext/HO-193.pdf ), pecans, hickories, and butternuts, as well as black walnuts, all contain a chemical called “juglone”, which is quite toxic to a number of garden and landscape plants, especially tomatoes, azaleas, and hydrangeas. Admittedly, pecans don’t contain quite as much juglone as black walnuts do, but a thick layer of pecan husks might cause a problem.
I definitely would NOT use them as mulch anywhere near sensitive plants (download the above article for a list). As to composting the husks, I’ll quote an article from Cornell University ( http://counties.cce.cornell.edu/yates/MG4.25.01.htm ):
Walnut leaves can be composted because the toxin breaks down when exposed to air, water and bacteria. The toxic effect can be degraded in two to four weeks. In soil, breakdown may take up to two months.... Sawdust mulch, fresh sawdust or chips from street tree prunings are not suggested for plants sensitive to juglone, such as blueberry. However, composting of bark for a minimum of six months provides a safe mulch even for plants sensitive to juglone.
To be on the safe side, composted material containing juglone should be allowed to break down over a period of time before use. This composted material can be used with plants that are not susceptible to juglone damage. If it is important to use it for general composting purposes, testing it first with a few tomato plants for a few weeks should reveal its level of toxicity.
I searched the internet for a bit, and found little definitive research on juglone breakdown in compost, or whether the nut husks should be used. My best suggestion for disposing of excess nut hulls would be to scatter them under and around the trees they came from. If the soil surface under your trees is already mulched (and if you’ve been reading my columns all these years, you know that you SHOULD have mulch over the tree roots), then the hulls can be added to the mulch with no difficulty. You could also probably scatter them around trees and shrubs known to not being sensitive to the juglone. Just avoid using them in any way that could eventually get the product in contact with sensitive plants.
If you lost apples during the storm, some of those may be usable. From a short article on when to pick fruit from Washington State, here’s how to tell if apples are ready:
Apples are often picked too early. Try tasting them. If they are not ready they will be puckery and have an astringent taste. If apples are picked too green, they will never really become sweet like they should, or develop a good taste. Except for solid red varieties, the ground color is always a good indicator of readiness. When this basic green ground color shows considerable yellowing, most apples will be ready. The seeds should have gotten pretty dark. Apples whose seeds are still green should not be harvested. Lift an apple and twist it slightly; those that are ready should separate easily for the branch and the stems should remain attached to the fruit. Apples which are to be eaten relatively soon should be allowed to ripen to the tree. Those to be stored should be picked a week or so before the ripe stage.
Sample some of your windfalls (you may want to wash them off first, though; if they landed in flood water, they should be discarded). Immature fruits may taste starchy, tart, or astringent; toss these, they are not likely to improve. Mature fruits are not astringent, but may still be somewhat starchy. These can be brought inside and allowed to ripen. Ripe fruits may be sweet and soft; these should be refrigerated, eaten, or cooked into pies/crisps/applesauce/butters immediately.
To be absolutely certain that the fruit was completely ripe, bring an apple pie or crisp to your local Extension office for sampling. Bring a half-gallon of vanilla ice cream, too, for a thorough test.
(Hey...it was worth a try....)
If you are still looking for information on repairing storm damaged trees, I have several good articles linked on my “Links” page: http://www.extension.purdue.edu/ces/Vanderburgh/horticulture/links.htm#storm .
Speaking of trees....There will be a Basic Tree Care Workshop on Thursday, October 2, at the Vanderburgh 4H Center. This program would be beneficial to both homeowners as well as professional tree workers; land use planners, elected officials, and other municipal tree workers would also benefit.
Agenda:
Cost of this workshop is $30.00 and includes lunch and breaks. Registrations must be received by 9/26/2008. In the event that we do not have 15 registered participants, the workshop will be cancelled and all monies refunded. Please make checks payable to: Indiana Urban Forest Council
Mail to: Attn: April Murray-Clayton IDNR, Community & Urban Forestry Natural Resources Education Center 5785 Glenn Rd. Indianapolis, IN 46216