Pistachios are loved by most of the people. They can be combined with and added to numerous dishes. They also provide your body with certain vitamins and minerals. In case you planned on growing pistachio tree on your own, continue reading to find out how.
Climate
Climate is a pivotal factor when growing pistachio tree. This desert plant requires long, hot, and dry summers, and chilling in the winter. During dormancy, pistachios need about 1,000 accumulative hours of temperature at or below 45˚ F. Areas of high humidity aren’t good for pistachio trees. They also require spring and summer breezes because their flowers are the tree and wind-pollinated. San Joaquin Valley in California, southeastern Arizona, far west Texas and the high desert of New Mexico, are the places in the United States where these requires are met.
Soil
Pistachio trees aren’t very demanding when it comes to soil, but the best pick for them would be relatively deep, light, dry and sandy loam soils, with high calcium carbonate concentration. Well-draining soil is a must for them, and they also tolerate high levels of salinity in the soil. One thing that is really bad for them is wet, heavy soil.
Space
In case you are planting more than one pistachio tree, make sure you plant them about 20 feet apart. That will prevent the overcrowding and the mutual shadowing of trees, which would have a bad impact on the quantity and quality of production. It is important to plant the male trees so that the prevailing direction of the winds will blow the pollen across the female trees. It is usual to plan 1 male per 10 females.
Time
Growing pistachio requires time and patience because you won’t see your first pistachio until about year five. After 7-8 years you might receive a good yield of these desert plants, but it will take 15-20 years to reach peak production.
Harvesting
Summer is the time for pistachios to develop and ripen. To be exact, they develop in early summer and ripen in late August of September. Once the harvest season is close, the hulls aren’t longer green, and they take on a pinkish-yellow color. When nuts are fully ripe, the thin, elastic hull called the epicarp begins separating from the inner shell, and it is easy to be removed.
In order to maintain freshness and flavor, it is needed that you remove the epicarps within 24 hours. You can dry raw nuts and then roast and season them. If you are doing it for yourself and your family, that can be done in your kitchen, but in case you are doing it in a large orchard, commercial equipment will be needed.
