ECOLOGICAL REQUESTS: CLIMATE: Almond is a warm temperate climate plant. It is a plant of the Mediterranean climate with warm and rainy winters and hot and dry summers. If the winter temperatures fall below -25 ºC, the plant is damaged, and if it falls below -18 ºC, the eyes are damaged. The cooling requirement of almonds is 300-500 hours under -7.2 ºC. Spring late frosts are of great importance in almond cultivation. Because almond blooms before many fruit trees and the flowers are damaged by these frosts. Therefore, almond orchards should not be established in places where spring frosts are common. In addition, as a precaution, gardens should be established on sloping lands and cold air should be allowed to flow when frost occurs. Almonds need high temperatures to ripen their fruits. SOIL: Almond prefers sandy, moderately clayey and chalky, well-drained soils. Especially in arid regions, fertile soils with light clayey lower parts and light sandy upper layers are also suitable for almonds. Most commercial almond varieties are self-sterile. Therefore, there is an obligation to use a pollinator variety. Fertilization: It was determined that the main reason for low fruit set in almonds was insufficient pollination and fertilization. For this reason, orchards should be established with at least 2-3 types of almonds. The flowering times of these varieties should coincide, the pollen should match each other and attention should be paid to the placement of the varieties in the garden. The transport of pollen from one variety to another in almond orchards is mainly carried out by bees. For a good pollination in the gardens, 5-8 hives should be placed on 10 decares. Bees start flying when the air temperature rises above 12 ºC. It should not be forgotten that having plenty of bees in the gardens is indispensable for commercial almond cultivation. SOIL TREATMENT: Deep tillage is done in autumn in order to keep the winter rains in the soil and to mix the fertilizers under the soil. The plowings to be made in the spring and summer months should be done superficially in order to kill the weeds and reduce the water loss of the soil. FERTILIZATION: Soil analysis must be done before fertilization. Fertilization should be planned according to the results of the analysis. Chemical fertilizers to be given should be applied within the crown projection of the trees in a way that they do not come into contact with the trunk. Farm manure must be used. IRRIGATION: Irrigation to be carried out starting from April-May will accelerate shoot development, encourage the formation of healthy and sufficient flower buds and ensure that the fruits are full. PRUNING: Modified leader training system or vase system is generally applied for shape pruning in almond trees. Almond flower buds form on annual shoots and bouquet branches. Regular pruning should be done every year for crop pruning, but severe pruning should be avoided. When irrigation and other maintenance measures are applied together with the cuttings to be applied to the 1 to 3 year old branches in the trees at the yield age, development and product increase are ensured. In almonds, the crown should not be tapped to limit the crown. Rejuvenation pruning should be done 15-20 years after planting. HARVEST: Harvest begins when the fruit's outer green peel cracks and partially changes colour. Harvesting is not started before the green bark of the fruits in the inner parts of the tree is opened. Harvest poles etc. Tools that will damage the tree should never be used. Appropriate harvest should be done by shaking the branches. Almonds that do not separate from the outer shell should be roasted as soon as possible after the harvest to separate them from the outer shell. Generally, this paving work is done by hand.
