PISTACHIO NUTS

Pistacia vera

These attractive and tasty nuts were photographed in a friend’s garden. The garden contains many plants of a Mediterranean origin

The glossy leaves of pistachios are very ornamental, the leaves become a red-bronze colour in autumn. The photo was taken in an arid part of South Australia

The weeping growth habit of an unpruned tree gives the appearance of a willow from a distance. This photo was taken at an orchard in South Australia

Fruit with husks bottom, without husks showing the shell left, fresh purple coated seeds

Autumn foliage of pistachio nut. This attractive plant was for sale in a retail nursery in Melbourne

Rootstock foliage and fruit

This most popular and delectable little nut has been on my must grow list for many years. The intense pine-like flavour leaves a strong after-taste demanding more. They are expensive to purchase and my only solution is to grow my own.

Choice Plant For Hobby Farm

A beautiful weeping plant with oval glossy leaves, the pistachio has few pests and diseases if grown in a suitable location. Autumn foliage is an attractive bronze colour and with minimal pruning the tree can be maintained to a height of 3 to 4 metres.

The tree is suited to Mediterranean climates, tolerating very cold temperature in winter, but requiring a hot dry climate in summer for fruits to develop properly. Most importantly however, is the need for deep well drained soil.

Select Pollinators Carefully

So far this sounds easy, but this plant is quite fussy when selecting pollinators. Being dioecious a male and female plant is required. Commercial growers use a variety of male plants in order to increase the availability of pollen. This problem can be overcome in the home garden if pollen is stored and females are hand pollinated. Pistachios utilize the wind for pollination and home gardeners need to keep a close watch to see that the male and female plants flowers at the same time.

Quality Checks For Home Gardener

The biggest problem in my opinion is the availability of quality plants for the home gardener to purchase. If plants are not grown in deep containers the tap- root is bound to be distorted and will not establish well on transplanting. The best option is to plant seedlings in the field and later graft these on site. Home gardeners will find this option difficult as grafting requires a high skill level. When purchasing a plant from nurseries check that you have a male and female or double grafted plant and make sure the plant is not over developed for the container.

When transplanting do not prune back the tap root, and ensure the root system is moist but not waterlogged.

Good Crops

Once established the tree is drought tolerant, however, a supply of moisture is needed for good crops Few varieties are currently available, growers appear to prefer the variety Siora as the nuts split more consistently. The nuts a smaller than the older variety Kerman, so some care to water and feed Siora is needed in order to compensate for the naturally smaller nuts. Siora also has a lower chilling requirement than Kerman and is more suitable if winters are not cold.

The home gardener should not be greatly concerned with rootstock varieties if the soil is well drained, and since any plants available are likely to be surplus commercial stock, they are now likely to be grafted on the most recent stock-Pioneer Gold (Pistacia intergerrima)

Ripened fruits will need to be dried and salted if their storage life is to be extended, these efforts will certainly be well rewarded.

I look forward to my first crop in 4 to 5 years time and also plan to double graft some trees for friends as this tree is bound to become more popular in the future.