fruitnut Z7 4500ft SW TX, thank you very much for the advice, it's really appreciated. Now I know in what direction to move. And yes, there is one unneeded rootstock 4 feet away left after one apricot grafted on it died. I just didn't unroot the stock right away, wanted to see what are its fruits like, didn't realize it could hinder the pecan when I was planting the pecan nearby. Back then, I planned to unroot the rootstock in the future anyway because it's very thorny and, since is used as a rootstock, it isn't likely to bear quality fruits. And who knows how many more years it will take until it starts to bear?

Afterwards, there will be only about 9 feet of space to a peach tree, 13 feet to a weeping willow, and 11.5 feet to a plum.

By the way, is it true that if there is only one pecan tree in a large area, it will not set fruits? Are there some places in Texas where you didn't see fruits on any pecan tree just because it was growing alone?

I know also that zone 5b is a bit cold for pecans and they might stay without fruits for that reason. When do they bloom and when the nuts ripen in Texas (how many weeks do they need after blooming)?

You might get some pecans with one tree. But 2-3 would be better for pollination purposes.However that may mean nothing in your zone. To grow pecans there you need a very short season variety. That's not likely from a seedling.

There are pecans that are reliably productive in zone 5... but they are 'short-season/low growing-degree day' selections, with nuts much smaller than the Southern pecans most folks are accustomed to seeing in the grocery stores.

If your seedlings are not of appropriate heritage to mature nuts in your growing season, the trees may survive but be unable to mature nuts before freezes arrive.

Eh, I haven't seen any nursery transplants here in stores. Anyway, with the seedling, it is only an experiment - I don't expect too much from it. It will be great if it grows, as a start:))

Natasha,

You've not told us where you're located.

I've been seeing some containerized pecans at some of the 'big box' stores in the last few years - but they have invariably been either seedlings of Southern pecan varieties,like Elliott, that may not be able to mature their kernels in our growing season, or varieties like Stuart & Desirable which are not suitable for home growers because of need to spray for scab - as well as issues with length of growing season.

Lucky_p,

I'm in Russia and pecans are said to be very rare here, even in the southern parts with mild climate where I've heard some people grow them. Walnuts are way more widespread. Maybe sometime nurseries will get interested in pecans and they will appear in our stores... By the way, I once bought a paw-paw seedling here in a store, but it didn't make it, after 2 years of lack of growth (now I understand that the reason could be unfertilized soil or some other unknown reason - maybe white grubs ate the roots, since there are so many of them here and they are known to be very ravenous). I bought also 5 pawpaw seeds online, sowed them in fall in pots outside and none of them germinated in spring. Maybe I'll buy new seeds to try again sometime in the future:)

From Zone 5b in NY... Pecans are finicky - I planted two varieties in 2012 (Surecrop and Hardy Giant) and the Surecrop gave up the ghost last year, while the Hardy Giant only just started to pick up speed this summer. It's about 5 feet tall now, but from what I've read, it could be another 5 years before bearing fruit. Stark Bros has a pretty good article on things to consider:

Pecan Trees and pollination

Ian, you are right about their finicky qualities - until this discussion I would never think that pecans so much need fertilizers, even to the point of refusing to gain height like mine does. It's a pity that Surecrop died - it is said to make a good pollination pair with Hardy Giant. It's written also in the article that these two varieties withstand -18 and -20 degrees, which made me realize that -20 can be in my area too, but rarely (once in many years) and very shortly. Therefore my hardiness zone (Moscow) might be actually 5a, not 5b like some websites say. Anyway, it's good that hardy pecans exist which ripen in late September - early October.

Ian, unless there are other pecans in your area, you'll need to plant at least one other pecan variety with compatible pollen-shed/nutlet-receptivity pattern to your SHG, as it likely will not produce any (or, at best, very few) nut without a pollenizer.