Characteristics of the Guara almond variety

The almond tree has become in recent years a haven for new investors, given the new, more profitable varieties, its rusticity and the new super-intensive planting frames. However, despite everything, varieties such as the Guara almond are still leaders in planted area, and it is that it shows a very high grain yield, a lot of rusticity and a rapid entry into production.

In this article we want to talk about all the characteristics that the Guara variety almond offers us, which has been developed for many years and there are still a few more.

In any case, the new varieties obtained and the productions that are being achieved offer productive advantages for this crop that is gaining significantly in surface area in many countries such as the United States (the king of the almond tree) and Spain.

Index

MAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF THE GUARA ALMOND TREE

The history of the Guara almond tree dates back to good years of obtaining varieties of this crop. CITA, located in Aragon, was the developer of this variety in 1983, and which is currently one of the most planted and productive.

In this variety they were looking for 2 very important things:

Resistance to water stress and good adaptation to dry farming
High productivity, nugget yield and fast entry into production

In fact, point 1 has made that currently the dry land area of Spain, more than 50% is occupied by this variety of almond Guara.

In areas without water, productivity drops enormously with respect to areas with water endowment, but it is true that there are many areas in Spain where there is no access to water and irrigation facilities but they can be cultivated thanks to this type of cultivation.

GENERAL

PRODUCTIVITY	High
VIGOROSIDAD	Half
SHAPE	Very open
FLOWERING	February 27 to March 13
MATURATION	September 2-14
FERTILITY	Autofertil

FRUIT

SHELL	Dura
AVERAGE YIELD (%)	35-40%
DOUBLE SEEDS	10,5-11,50%
PEPITA WEIGHT (g)	1,3 g

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF THE GUARA ALMOND VARIETY

ADVANTAGE

Variety very resistant to drought, suitable for dry cultivation
Self-fertile species that does not need pollinators
Very high fruit quality, yield and specific gravity
Quick entry into production in the early years
Production homogeneity during all seasons

DISADVANTAGES

Variety that branches a lot and complicates pruning
Sensitive to ocher stain
Sensible a monilia

On the other hand, it must be taken into account that it is late flowering , so it is usually planted in indoor areas susceptible to late frosts, as the flower is a very sensitive part to changes in temperature and cold.

FLOWERING

Flowering has the determining factor for the area and the accumulated cold hours. In general, the Guara almond flowers from the end of February to the middle of March .

These dates are considered, agronomically, as late flowering .

HARVEST

The almond harvest takes place at the end of August and the beginning of September, depending on the warmth and temperatures collected in the course of the summer.

PERFORMANCE AND PRODUCTIVITY

If we make a comparison of the main late-flowering almond varieties, we find that Guara is one of the ones with the highest peel / grain yield in percentage (%).

Despite incorporating new varieties into the catalog with a great future ahead, Guara continues to be the leader, with average yields between 35% and 40%.

On the other hand, regarding the average pip weight , it is in the middle, with an average value of 1.3 g but with a very good quality.

On the contrary, the new varieties obtained have focused on reducing as much as possible the amount of double seeds produced, which in this case, the Guara almond tree is the one that produces the highest percentage.

Productive behavior:

Very high performance: Cristomorto, Ferraduel, Ferragnès and Lauranne
High yield : Guara, Antoñeta, Glorieta, Masbovera, Supernova and Tuono
Medium-low performance: Marta
Low Yield: Cambra

Productivity depends on the parameter that most influences any crop, access to water . In the case of the Guara almond tree, a minimum supply of 3000-3500 m3 / ha of water allows an average production of 2 tons of seed.

This crop is sensitive to the water supply, and its production increases exponentially with the endowment.

In fact, there are areas in Castilla-La Mancha where more than 8000 m3 / ha are contributed and record productions never seen before are achieved.

On the other hand, provisioning with little water input , less than 2000 m3 / ha of water, the average yield offered by the Guara almond tree is 1500 kg of seed or less.

TIPS, CARE AND GROWING GUIDE

CLIMATIC CHARACTERISTICS

The Guara almond variety is quite off-road. By arranging late flowering (late February, early March), it can be grown in colder areas, since the closer we get to spring, the less risk of frost.

PLANTATION FRAME

Guara does not stand out for having a planting framework or growing conditions different from other varieties.

In irrigated plantations, the diameter of its branches can be considerable and must be taken into account, especially when the tendency is to open branches with greater vigor than other options.

The most vigorous varieties have a planting frame of 7 × 6 (238 trees / ha) or 7 × 7 (204 trees / ha). However, we classify the Guara variety (like Tarraco, Marinada or Lauranne) with a somewhat smaller planting frame, with spaces of 6 × 6 (277 trees / ha) or 6 × 5 (333 trees / ha).

HOW IS THE PRUNING OF THE GUARA ALMOND TREE

One of the biggest problems with the Guara variety almond is that it is a highly branched tree.

This means that true specialists in pruning are needed to achieve considerable productions. For this reason, the formation pruning in Guara is very important and necessary from the early stages of growth.

One of the most important considerations when pruning is to leave the buds located towards the interior, so the trend is the width of the branches, although it conditions the planting framework.

In this way, when the branch is loaded with fruit, the possibility of splitting or cracking is significantly less.

With training pruning, it is also possible to control the length of these branches in the first 3 years of growth , since the tendency of the Guara almond tree is to lengthen these branches a lot. With pruning we reduce its volume and control the production of the lower part of the tree.