FRUITS AND NUTS

Michael W. Smith

Regents Professor of Pomology
Ph.D. - Michigan State University, M.S. - Oklahoma State University
Address: Horticulture and Landscape Architecture Department, 358 AG Hall, Stillwater, OK 74078- 6027
Phone: 405-744-6463

Teaching Activities:

HORT 3213 Fruit and Nut Production - Commercial production of fruit and nut crops with emphasis on pecan, peach and apple.
HORT 5233 Experimental Horticulture - Methods of conducting research for agricultural crops, field plot techniques, and data analysis using SAS.
HORT 5422 Flowering and Fruiting in Horticultural Crops - Environmental, chemical and cultural factors affecting flowering and fruiting of horticultural crops.

Research Activities: My research program deals with pecan management. The major problem associated with pecans is irregular bearing. Pecans are a masting species, a trait that is horticulturally undesirable. My research addresses plant nutrition, fruit thinning, ground cover management, and other strategies to reduce irregular bearing, improve orchard management, or develop low input systems for pecan. The pecan research team, composed of horticulturists, plant pathologist, entomologist, soil scientist, postharvest physiologist, food scientist, meteorologist, and agriculture engineer, at OSU is very active with several joint projects addressing issues from pest and disease management to new uses for pecans are in progress. Below are selected publications from my research program. Check out our Pecan Management page.

Selected Publications:

Smith, M.W and P.G. Mulder. 2009. Oviposition Characteristics of Pecan Weevil. Southwestern Ento. 34: 447-455.

Smith, M.W. 2009. Partitioning phosphorus and potassium in pecan trees during high- and low-crop years. J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 134:399-404.

Smith, M.W. and C.T. Rohla. 2009 Pecan orchard damage and recovery from ice storms. HortTechnology. 19:83-90.

Smith, M.W. 2008. Relationship of trunk size to selected canopy parameters for native pecan trees. HortScience 43: 784-786.

Smith, M.W., B.S. Cheary and B.L. Carroll. 2007. The occurrence of pecan kernel necrosis. HortScience 42:1351-1356.

Smith, M.W., B.W. Wood and W.R. Raun. 2007. Recovery and partitioning of nitrogen from early spring and midsummer applications to pecan trees. J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 132:758-763.

Smith, M.W., C.T. Rohla and N.O. Maness. 2007. Correlations of crop load and return bloom with root and shoot concentrations of potassium, nitrogen, and nonstructural carbohydrates in pecan. J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 132:44-51.

Rohla, C.T., M.W. Smith, N.O. Maness and W. Reid. 2007. A comparison of return bloom and non-structural carbohydrates, nitrogen and potassium concentrations in moderate and severe alternate-bearing pecan cultivars. J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 132:172-177.

Rohla, C.T., M.W. Smith and N.O. Maness. 2007. Influence of cluster thinning on return bloom, nut quality, and concentrations of potassium, nitrogen, and non-structural carbohydrates. J. Amer. Soc.Hort. Sci. 132:158-165.

Smith, M.W. and P.G. Mulder. 2007. Role of cover crops in the management of arthropod pests in orchards. p. 56-73. In. O. Koul and G. W. Cuperus (eds.) Ecologically Based Integrated Pest Management, CABI International, Cambridge, Mass.

Smith, M.W. and B.W. Wood. 2006. Pecan tree biomass estimates. HortScience 41:1286-1291.

Smith, M.W., B.S. Cheary, and B.L. Carroll. 2005. Temporal weed interference with young pecan trees. HortScience 40:1723-1725.

Rohla, C.T., M.W. Smith. and N.O. Maness. 2005. Effects of cluster size and shoot type on selected pecan characteristics. HortScience 40:1300-1303.

Smith, M.W., B.S. Cheary, and B.L. Carroll. 2005. Size of vegetation free area affects non-bearing pecan tree growth. HortScience 40:1298-1299.

Smith, M. W., B. S. Cheary, and B. L. Carroll 2004. Response of pecan to nitrogen rate and nitrogen application time. HortScience 39(6):1412-1415.

Acuña-Maldonado, L. E., M. W. Smith, N. O. Maness, B. S. Cheary, B. L. Carroll, and G. V. Johnson. 2003. Influence of nitrogen application time on nitrogen absorption, partitioning, and yield of pecan. J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 128(2):155-162.

Smith, M. W. 2002. Damage by early autumn freeze varies with pecan cultivar. HortScience 37(2):398-401.

Smith, M. W., B. S. Cheary, and B. L. Carroll 2002. Fescue sod suppresses young pecan tree growth. HortScience 37(7):1045-1048.

Smith, M. W., B. S. Cheary and B. L. Carroll. 2001. Rootstock and scion affect cold injury of young pecan trees. J. Amer. Pomological Soc. 55:124-128.

Smith, M. W., M. E. Wolf, B. S. Cheary, and B. L. Carroll. 2001. Allelopathy of bermudagrass, tall fescue, redroot pigweed, and cutleaf evening primrose on pecan. HortScience 36(6):1047-1048.

Smith, M. W., B. S. Cheary, and B. S. Landgraf. 2001. Manganese deficiency in pecan. HortScience 36(6):1075-1076.

Smith, M. W., B. L. Carroll, and B. S. Cheary. 2000. Mulch improves pecan tree growth during orchard establishment. HortScience 35(2):192-195

Smith, M. W. 2000. Cultivar and mulch affect cold injury of young pecan trees. J. Amer. Pomological Soc. 54(1):29-33.

Eric T. Stafne

Assistant Professor of Fruit Crops

Ph.D. - University of Arkansas, M.S. - University of Arkansas

Address: Horticulture and Landscape Architecture Department, 360 AG Hall, Stillwater, OK 74078- 6027

Phone: 405-744-5409

email: eric.t.stafne@okstate.edu

Research & Extension Activities: Dr. Stafne’s research and extension responsibilities currently lie in the areas of winegrapes, blackberries, and pecans. He has a 75% extension and 25% research appointment. His program addresses the applied aspects of grape vineyard and pecan orchard management, as well as important cultural management issues in other fruit crops. He also teaches the Grape Management Short Course and the Fundamentals of Pecan Management Short Course. More information on Dr. Stafne’s program can be found at www.grapes.okstate.edu.

Peer-reviewed articles

Stafne, E.T., C.T. Rohla, and B.L. Carroll. 2009. Pecan shell mulch impact on ‘Loring’ peach tree establishment and first harvest. HortTechnology Xx.

Stafne, E.T., W.G. McGlynn, and P.G. Mulder. 2009. Post-course evaluation of a grape management short course. J. Extension 47(3):Article 3RIB4.

Stafne, E.T. and B.L. Carroll. 2008. Pot production of pecan seedlings with 'Cynthiana' grape pomace. J. Food, Agric. & Env. 6:89-91.

Stafne, E.T. 2007. Indices for assessing site and winegrape cultivar risk for spring frost. Int. J. Fruit Sci. 7(4):121-132.

Clark, J.R., E.T. Stafne, H.K. Hall, and C.E. Finn. 2007. Blackberry breeding and genetics. In: J. Janick (ed.). Plant Breeding Reviews 29:19-144.

Stafne, E.T. 2006. 'Rubaiyat' and Oklahoma's winegrape legacy. J. Amer. Pomol. Soc. 60:159-163.

Stafne, E.T., B.D. McCraw, and P. G. Mulder. 2006. Evaluation of an e-learning online pecan management course. J. Extension 44(4):Article 4TOT6, available at: http://www.joe.org/joe/2006august/tt7.php

Stafne, E.T. and J.R. Clark. 2005. A retrospective of blackberry breeding and production in Arkansas. J. Amer. Pom. Soc. 59:68-71.

Stafne, E.T., J.R. Clark, C.A. Weber, J. Graham, and K.S. Lewers. 2005. Simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers for genetic mapping of raspberry and blackberry. J. Amer. Hort. Soc. 130:722-728.

Stafne, E.T. and J.R. Clark. 2005. PediTrack - an adaptable pedigree tracking program. HortTechnology 15:666-667.

Stafne, E.T. and J.R. Clark. 2005. PediTrack: Blackberry - a program for storage and display of genealogical and historical blackberry information. Int. J. Fruit Sci. 5(3):91-97.

Stafne, E.T. and J.R. Clark. 2004. Genetic relatedness among eastern North American blackberry cultivars based on pedigree analysis. Euphytica 139:95-104.

Stafne, E.T., J.R. Clark, M.C. Pelto, and J.T. Lindstrom. 2003. Discrimination of Rubus cultivars using RAPD markers and pedigree analysis. Acta Hort. 626:119-124.

Stafne, E.T., A.L. Szalanski, and J.R. Clark. 2003. Nuclear ribosomal ITS region sequences for differentiation of Rubus genotypes. J. Ark. Acad. Sci. 57:176-180.

Stafne, E.T., J.R. Clark and C.R. Rom. 2001. Leaf gas exchange response of ‘Arapaho’ blackberry and six red raspberry cultivars to moderate and high temperatures. HortScience. 36(5):880-883.

Stafne, E.T., J.S. Brown and J.M. Shine, Jr. 2001. A relational database for access to agronomic and genealogical sugarcane data: An adaptable prototype. Agron. J. 93:923-928.

Stafne, E.T., J.R. Clark and C.R. Rom. 2000. Leaf gas exchange characteristics of red raspberry germplasm in a hot environment. HortScience 35(2):278-280.

Faculty Page
Horticulture and Landscape Architecure Department
Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources
Oklahoma State University
September 2008 • 360 Agricultural Hall, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma 74078 • Phone: 405.744.5414
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