What's eating my pecan 'sumner'?

Pecan 'Sumner' is a large-nut, late-season Florida-adapted cultivar highly susceptible to pecan weevil and stink bugs, both of which peak in the window when Sumner's large shells are hardening. Aphids reduce late-season leaf function. Crows and boat-tailed grackles are notable crop raiders on exposed Southeastern sites.

Adults bore into the large kernel cavity at shell-hardening; the oversized nut of 'Sumner' provides an attractive host; larvae destroy the kernel leaving a wormy, worthless nut. Carbaryl applications at water-stage and shell-hardening are critical; supplement with kaolin clay throughout the late-summer vulnerable window; destroy infested shuck-nuts under the canopy.

Feeding at shell-hardening produces kernel spot — dark, sunken lesions that are bitter and shrink the kernel at center. Monitor orchard edges where stink bugs aggregate; apply bifenthrin or zeta-cypermethrin when feeding bugs are found; manage wild privet, kudzu, and legume borders.

Flocks crack husks and remove whole nuts at shuck-split; large-fruited cultivars are especially targeted; losses can be severe in flock flight paths. Propane cannons or predator decoys with regular repositioning; netting small trees; harvest immediately at shuck split to outpace birds.