How to Start Pistachio Trees From Seed
1- Place raw seeds in a bowl of tap water that has been allowed to sit out at room temperature for two or three days. Soak the seeds for 16 hours.
2- Fill clean 3-inch pots with soilless potting mix. Make a 1-inch hole in the center of the pot and put a seed in it, filling the hole with soil and pressing gently to firm the mix. Water thoroughly.
3- Set the pots in a clean nursery flat. Fill the flat with empty pots if the planted pots don't fill the flat so the pots won't fall over. Put the flat outside in partial sunlight. Keep it watered through the winter.
4- Check the pots for germination as the weather warms in the spring.
Things You Will Need
Water
Bowl
3-inch pots
Soilless potting mix
Nursery flat
Horticultural studies show seed germination is greatly improved by soaking the seeds in solutions of 1 percent potassium nitrate or mild solutions of gibberellic acid and benzyladenine.
Don't try to germinate the roasted, salted seeds sold as food. You need raw seeds.