Question: My pecans aren’t filled out well, and the pecans tend to hang up in the trees until December and later. What causes that?

Answer: Hickory shuckworms invade the developing pecans in August. They tunnel through the outer walls of the shucks, cutting off the flow of water and nutrients into the expanding kernels. The result is shriveled kernels, and pecans that don’t complete the maturing process normally. They’ll be late to fall, and they’ll be extremely light when you pick them up (as in, hollow). Spray with a labeled insecticide in early August, repeating two weeks later to prevent them, also to prevent damage of pecan weevils.