This message has been edited
i have some growing but they have never fruited. How do you harvest them?
Jose…
I googled your region Castilla la Mancha is described as being Mediterranean with greater extremes… In other words, it says your area sees temperatures below zero (Celsius).
A nursery here in the U.S offers pistachios from Uzbekistan, but they are unsexed seedlings. There are other nurseries selling pistachios, but they make no claims about the hardiness of their plants (most likely zone 8 here)
How cold do your trees take? How long is it til they bear? I would love to be able to grow them, but I’m definitely in too cold a zone for anything but the Uzbecki ones and I don’t have the room to grow them out long enough to find out what sex they are.
Welcome. What else besides pistachios are you growing? Are there any special requirements to growing pistachios?
Scott
I think there are some sales in California, but not elsewhere. They should do well in high desert regions of Southern Arizona and New Mexico—but nothing is available.
This message has been edited
1 Like
Now you’re making me wish I could find pistachio trees here to try growing!
Thank you for that excellent information and such thorough answers, Jose.
This message has been edited
1 Like
I have thought about growing them but there aren’t any proven varieties for my area. This guy is trying to breed a more cold hardy reliable cultivar. That part of Utah would be a zone 7 by the lake down to zone 5 farther away. I think the biggest problem for me would be having a long enough season to ripen them.
1 Like
This message has been edited
1 Like
This message has been edited
1 Like
Jose, I have a latitude of 34° with what I consider a long and hot summer. Our ground does not freeze in winter, but we have had a few nights get as cold as -11°C (12°F) a few years ago. My area is more humid than the inland growing areas of California, but less humid than coastal areas. Today’s humidity is 47% at noon temperature of 36° C (96°F).
How do I learn what pistachios could grow well here, and does anyone know how to obtain a small number of those trees on the East Coast? I would like to eventually transform my small woods (that might translate better as “forest”) into nut type trees.
I don’t think any will. Pecans are your best bet.
2 Likes
There ya go - bursting my bubble. 
I’m am working on getting the pecans going, though. Also, filberts. I intend to try some chestnuts, too. I have loquats.
2 Likes
On second thought, we won’t actually know until some people try. Although they are probably like almost every other fruit and nut - not commercially viable for my immediate area, they might turn out to be muddler viable. I could be an unofficial experimental station to see if they could survive my less than professional care in this environment long enough to produce. 
1 Like
Muddy,
Think I know where you could start looking for plant material http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgsold/swish/accboth?si=0&query=Pistachio&x=22&y=12&btnG=Go!&filter=0&as_sitesearch=ars.usda.gov&ie=&output=xml_no_dtd&client=usda&lr=&proxystylesheet=ARS&oe=
I would start with something like these from the Russian federation https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/accessiondetail.aspx?1004494. If you find some cold hardy to Kansas I’m willing to try them :0)
1 Like
This message has been edited
2 Likes
We have a booming pistachio industry here in the south eastern part of my state (Arizona) around the town of WIlcox. 5 years ago we planted 8 females and 1 male on our property on chinese pistache rootstock. All have done quite well and have set nuts for the first time this year. We water them with waste water from our commercial reverse osmosis water purification unit that we run for my other business. The waste water is hard and somewhat salty but they dont much seem to care.
We are really on the low side of the chill numbers they want for fruiting. Most years we see between 500-800 below 45 chill hours. I fully expect that they are going to have years that they dont produce well, and thats just fine with us. They are planted along the side of our property more and a ornamental tree than anything. If we get nuts, great. If not. Meh.
2 Likes
What is considered a short summer and what is considered a long summer for pistachios? One reason I’m interested is because most plants suffer in our summers that stay mostly in the 90’s and low 100’s degree range. (Fahrenheit, of course.) Just as a comparison, summer is long enough to give both good breba and main crops of figs w.
My winter chill hours are right in the ballpark for what UCDavis Homeguides say they need, but it does not stay steadily cold. We had some 80 degree days every month this past winter. We can have late freezes that last a few hours in spring. Usually not past the middle of March, but they do happen.
My main concern is that we do not have the arid conditions here of the southwest U.S.
My main interest is that I would like to find trees other than fig trees that do not suffer and struggle in our summers.
This message has been edited
1 Like
My biggest concern with your conditions and pistachios would be your freezes. I believe that pistachios are only hardy down to 5-10 degrees F.