Last August we visited our cousin Juan Ángel who was in one of his fields where a few years ago he began the adventure of planting pistachios... he was carrying out grafting work. As we have already told you before, we are dedicated to the in olive tree growing, so pistachio is a fairly unknown crop for us.
When you plant pistachios, you have to choose between grafted and non-grafted plants... basically the big difference is the number of years required to be in production and, consequently, the price of each kind of plant. A grafted tree will be in production several years non-grafted plants. If we focus on price, we have these options:
- Rafted tree: € 15.
- 1 year old ungrafted plant: € 0.8.
- 2-year-old non-grafted plant: € 2.
- Non-grafted plant with UCB1 rootstock: € 7.
Regarding the rootstock used, the most common options are cornicabra and UCB1. Cornicabra rootstock is much cheaper. However, in recent years the most widely used is the UCB1 rootstock.
Concerning on pistachio graft, in our area grafting pistachio tasks are carried out, between the months of July and September and it is necessary to look for the best moment of sap in the tree. It will be essential to review the grafts after a few days to know the success. To be grafted, the tree must be at least 18 months old, or even older. Other than that, they should have a trunk thickness of 12 mm or more. The buds used for grafting are taken from older trees already in production or can also be purchased from garden centres. Juan Ángel likes to graft at a height that stays within the protector, because when the new stem starts to grow, it is always easier to guide.
I conclusion, the final aim is to obtain a pistachio tree of the Kerman, Larnaka or Sirora variety, which about 3 years after grafting will begin to produce pistachios in more or less important quantities.
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