Pecans (Carya illinoensis spp.) can be planted and cultivated in any soil in South Carolina aside from poorly drained soil, hardpan or stiff clays, or thin sands with a high water table. Trees should be spaced at least forty feet apart to provide sufficient room for future growth, good air circulation and light exposure. When selecting a tree for your landscape, a cultivar with good disease resistance is the most important factor to consider. Other crucial considerations include yield potential, nut size and quality, bloom or pollination type, precocity or age the tree begins to bear, and time of nut harvest.
There are a multitude of reasons why a pecan tree may fail to produce either the quality and/or quantity of nuts desired. This fact sheet will cover the most common reasons for poor production (quality and quantity) of nuts.