THINKING ABOUT GROWING PISTACHIOS? BEN THOMAS Ben Thomas Consulting - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

THINKING ABOUT GROWING PISTACHIOS?

BEN THOMAS Ben Thomas Consulting

CLIMATE CONSIDERATIONS

• Winter chill

– Winter chill needed to break tree dormancy and promote good, even and timely bud break. – Dynamic chill portions. Newsletters provided by PGA – Dormant winter oil applications

• Heat requirements

– Growth rate of plants depends on heat – Pistachios require sufficient heat to drive kernel development.

• Rain during harvest

– Increases risk of disease (e.g. anthracnose in 2011) – Delays harvest which can lead to more shell staining and downgrading of product

• Frost

– Pistachios, like other tree crops, are sensitive to frost close to or shortly after bud burst

Slide 2

DYNAMIC CHILL PORTIONS - MILDURA

Slide 3

CLIMATE CONSIDERATIONS

• Winter chill

– Winter chill needed to break tree dormancy and promote good, even and timely bud break. – Dynamic chill portions. Newsletters provided by PGA – Dormant winter oil applications

• Heat requirements

– Growth rate of plants depends on heat – Pistachios require sufficient heat to drive kernel development.

• Rain during harvest

– Increases risk of disease (e.g. anthracnose in 2011) – Delays harvest which can lead to more shell staining and downgrading of product

• Frost

– Pistachios, like other tree crops, are sensitive to frost close to or shortly after bud burst

Slide 4

POTENTIAL FROST DAYS

Slide 5

SOIL

• Soil requirements

– Pistachios often planted on less favourable soils – Like other tree crops, perform better with favourable soil conditions (i.e. neutral ph, >60cm potential root depth above restricting soil layers)

• Soil information

– Good general information available online. – Use soil surveyor to provide detailed soils information which can be used to design irrigation systems etc. – Poor drainage and waterlogging are key considerations

• Amelioration and preplant fertilisers

– Preplant soil analyses will indicate whether soil ameliorants (lime, gypsum,

• rganic matter) and/or preplant fertilisers are needed.

Slide 6

WATER

• Source of water

– River or bore – Pipeline and pumping costs – Water quality

• Irrigation requirements

– Theoretical water requirements based on evaporation and rainfall commonly 12 - 13ML/ha – Pistachios have a reputation of being drought tolerant but require considerable irrigation for optimal performance.

Slide 7

ROOTSTOCKS AND VARIETIES

• Rootstocks

– Most recent Australian plantings have used Pioneer Gold I (PG I) or UC Berkeley I (UCB I) rootstocks. – PG I is Pistacia integerrima whilst UCB I is a hybrid rootstock (P. atlantica

• x. P. integerrima)

– Pistacia terebinthus and P. atlantica are older rootstocks and were commonly planted in the early days of the Australian industry – The rootstocks vary in vigour, cold tolerance, susceptibility to diseases, salinity tolerance, micronutrient uptake efficiency. – Experience in Australia with UCB I is limited but it appears to be more vigorous than PG I.

• Varieties

– Sirora was bred for Australian conditions and is the main variety grown. – Kerman is the main variety grown in California.

Slide 8

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

• Juvenility

– Pistachio trees have a long juvenile period (6-8 years) before they start producing fruit

• Male tree percentages

– Pistachio is dioecious (meaning ‘two houses’) and so male flowers are borne on one tree and female flowers on another – Pistachio is wind pollinated and so male trees are interspersed through the

• rchard

– Initial plantings in Australia had high male percentages (8-12%) but given the amount of pollen produced, more recent plantings use 4% male trees

• Planting density

– Many growers are now looking at denser plantings to improve early production especially given the long juvenile period.

Slide 9

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

• Pest and disease

– Pistachio in Australia have few pests. Key diseases are anthracnose, Xanthomonas and Botryosphaeria shoot and panicle blight.

• Biennial cropping

– Pistachios will biennial crop meaning alternate ‘on-crop’ and ‘off-crop’ seasons.

• Hulling and processing

– Pistachios need to be hulled as soon as possible following harvest to maximise quality. There is one major processor in Australia based at Robinvale.

Slide 10

FIRST YEAR

• Good establishment

– Tree losses kept to a minimum. – Keep a close watch on irrigation.

• Solid but not excessive growth

– Key aim is having a rootstock that can be budded in January. – Ideal rootstock for budding is about pencil to little finger thickness. – Allow scion to grow for the rest of the season.

• Key management issues

– Water, wind and weeds! – Windbreaks – permanent or temporary? – Cover cropping – Staking options – Tree guards – Nutrition

Slide 11

FIRST YEAR – PLANTING AND ESTABLISHMENT

Slide 12

COVER CROPPING

Slide 13

WINDBREAKS

Slide 14

FIRST YEAR – GROWTH OF NEW BUD

Slide 15

FIRST YEAR – TRADITIONAL

Slide 16

FIRST YEAR – MODIFIED CENTRAL LEADER

Slide 17

SECOND AND THIRD YEAR

• Vigour and training – SECOND YEAR

– Traditional training – aiming to establish tree framework. Requires multiple training passes to develop primary, secondary and tertiary branches. – Modified central leader training – Trees at desired height can be headed in winter prior to second growing season. Minimal in-season training.

• Vigour and training – THIRD YEAR

– Traditional training – continue to develop tree framework. – Modified central leader training – Primary scaffold limbs selected in winter prior to third growing season. Minimal in-season training.

• Key management issues

– Water, wind and weeds! – Tree guards – Rootstock – Nutrition

Slide 18

SECOND YEAR – MODIFIED CENTRAL LEADER

Slide 19

SECOND YEAR – TRADITIONAL

Slide 20

NUTRITION - YOUNG TREES

• Macronutrients

– Nitrogen

• Small and regular feeds.
• Minimise potential losses of nitrogen via leaching etc.
• Which forms of fertiliser?

– Phosphorus

• Preplant applications
• Can consider small applications through fertigation in spring

– Potassium

• Preplant applications – often not necessary
• Can consider small applications through fertigation in spring
• More important once trees start cropping

Slide 21

NUTRITION – YOUNG TREES

• Micronutrients

– Zinc

• Young trees particularly susceptible.
• Zinc immobile in plants so regular zinc foliar nutrient sprays needed to

ensure new growth is treated. – Copper

• Have observed symptoms on young trees in recent seasons.
• Regular copper chelate foliar nutrient sprays appear to be effective.

– Manganese

• If mancozeb based disease management sprays applied, the young

trees should receive sufficient manganese. – Iron

• Common in spring especially if soils are wet.
• EDDHA-chelated iron applied through fertigation is best treatment
• ption. Iron foliar nutrient sprays not as effective.

Slide 22

COPPER DEFICIENCY

Slide 23

IRON DEFICIENCY

Slide 24