Abstract:
This study was carried out at the
pistachio (Pistacia vera) orchards of Ceylanpınar
State Farm, Turkey. The cultivar ‘Siirt’ and Male 13
were used in the experiments. The aim of the study
was to investigate the effect of pistil receptivity,
pollen mixtures, and pollen application distances on
fruit set using artificial pollination in pistachios. To
determine the receptivity of female flowers, anthesis
was accepted as day 0, and then one application
was carried out on 0, 2, and 4 days after anthesis;
and repeated applications were done on 0+2, 0+4,
2+4, and 0+2+4 days, separately. Pollen and wheat
flour was mixed to obtain 1%, 5%, 10%, 50%, and
100% pollen mixture, and these pollen mixtures
were sprayed from 25, 50, and 100 cm distances
from the inflorescence clusters with a small hand
sprayer. Thus, fruit set was determined for the
applications. Different pollen mixtures were applied
to a microscope slide, covered with Vaseline, from
three different application distances to determine the
number of pollen grains per unit area by artificial
pollination. The number of pollen grains per unit
area was counted under a light microscope and
calculated per 1 mm2
. Finally, adequate pollen
numbers to pollinate a flower were determined. The
results indicate that for optimum fruit production of
pistachio, 5% and 50% pollen mixtures should be
sprayed at a distance of 100 cm at 0 and 4 days after
anthesis. The adequate number of pollen grains to
pollinate a flower was calculated as 14 or 15 pollen
grains per flower in pistachio. Increased number of
pollen per stigma area would cause excessive flower
abscission after a certain point, and this could be the
cause of low fruit set in pistachios.
