Nut · Juglandaceae
When to plant pecans
Needs a long, hot, humid summer to fill its nuts - roughly 200 frost-free days. Hardy well beyond the region where it will actually produce a crop.
First worthwhile crop
Year 7
After planting, not after sowing.
Hardy in USDA zones
5a to 9a
Winter cold sets the limit here, not the calendar.
Frost tolerance
Very hardy
How much cold the plant itself will take.
Those weeks become real dates once you name a place.
Timing, in frost-relative terms
Nothing about a standing crop is sown to a calendar. Once planted, pecans stay in the ground for years, so the question is not when to sow but whether your winter is survivable and your planting window is open. Both answers come from your frost dates.
- Expect a first worthwhile crop in year 7 after planting.
- Needs roughly 400 chill hours below 7.2°C (45°F)45°F (7.2°C) over winter to set fruit, which rules out the warmest climates.
- Hardy in USDA zones 5a–9a.
Getting the timing right
Plant dormant, and give it room: a mature pecan is a very large tree. Northern cultivars ripen weeks earlier and are the only sensible choice outside the deep south of its range.
Frost tolerance
The tree is hardy to about -25C. The limit on where pecans crop is summer heat accumulation, not winter cold.
Classified as very-hardy.