Where do pistachios grow?

Who among us does not like pistachios - delicious, nutritious and very useful ! These nuts contain a lot of trace elements - potassium, copper, manganese, phosphorus, magnesium. And this product is considered the leader in the content of phytosterols - substances that are extremely useful for blood vessels. Pistachios are rich in amino acids, B vitamins. These nuts effectively reduce the level of bad cholesterol in our blood and work as antioxidants. And the main feature of pistachios are essential oils, due to which they are called "nuts of good mood". Well, let's find out where, in what country the pistachio nuts grow, so useful to the human body.

In what country do pistachios grow?

The range of pistachio distribution is the tropics and subtropics. These are mainly the mountains of Central Asia, Mesopotamia, Syria, Northeastern Iran. But in other countries, in particular, the Mediterranean (Italy, Greece , Spain), pistachios are grown as a cultural plant, both for export and for domestic consumption. But the leader in growing pistachios is, of course, Turkey - it owns more than 50% of the world market for pistachio sales.

Little by little these nuts are grown in Australia, North West Africa, Israel. But do pistachios grow in Russia, and if so, where? To give an answer to this question, let us first learn some features of agricultural technology in the cultivation of this crop.

Pistachio trees prefer rocky, stony soils, grow well in desert conditions. They live on slopes and cliffs, preferring mountain-steppe brown soils and gray soils. Most often occur on soils rich in calcium, which are actively digested. And pistachios are most likely to grow where they can meet their need for good lighting. This plant is drought-resistant and at the same time steadily tolerates frost to -25 ° C, therefore it feels fine in deserts and semi-deserts.

So, climatic conditions and soil suitable for growing pistachios are found on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasian mountains, as well as in the south of the Crimea. However, the taste qualities of nuts obtained from local trees are far from ideal, therefore only pisters-lovers are engaged in the cultivation of pistachios in the country.

If you have a desire to cultivate your pistachio in your garden, you know: they will not bear fruit until after 9-10 years, and the peak of yield is about 20-year-old tree age. Keep in mind that there should be at least two different-sex trees in your garden.

How to grow pistachios?

Pistachios call not only the nuts themselves, but also the trees on which they grow. Depending on the variety, this is deciduous or evergreen trees, and sometimes shrubs from the family of sumacovye. Most specimens reach a height of 5-6 m, and live pistachios to 400 years! Look these long-livers of desert flora is also unusual: a low, dense crown crowns a multi-stemmed base covered with a nondescript gray bark. Several interesting facts are connected with the cultivation of pistachios. For example, these trees most often grow alone, and only occasionally form sparse forests. Pistachio trees are divided into males and females, and multiply by cross pollination. And far from everyone knows that pistachios are from the botanical point of view not nuts at all, but only seeds.

Foliage pistachio tree under the influence of direct sunlight emits a large number of essential oils, so for a person staying next to such a plant in the hot noon fraught with headache and fainting.