Growing Olive Trees

Does anyone have any cultural hints for growing olives? When and how to feed, prune etc.
Iââ?¬â?¢ve two small olives in pots that Iââ?¬â?¢ve grown from cuttings taken in Greece in 2003. One flowered last year and I removed all the blooms but one in order to encourage root and top growth. The flower I left on (by accident) produced a very respectable olive. The plants normally live in our frost-free conservatory but I put them in our unheated greenhouse for December and January. The plant that flowered last year appears to be developing flower buds again. The other slightly larger one doesnââ?¬â?¢t appear to be showing any signs of fruiting ââ?¬â?? just growth. Rather odd since they were both sections taken from the same short piece of soft growth.

Dave

 

I'm growing one outside Dave, I get plenty of flowers but the fruit dont make it.
My plants not very big and its only been planted a couple of years, I think I would pefer more growth than flowers at this stage but thats not happening. Maybe its to do with root growth, I dont know, but I'm going to let it settle down and hopefully it'll sort itself out.
I would imagine the usual pruning works, ie. if you cut back hardish you'll get more growth and less flowers.

 

I have got a standard olive, stem about 3ft tall now, that I was given 4 years ago. As it was already started in a round shape I keep it that way by nipping out wayward shoots. Despite suffering from cat attack last spring it did produce some olives. This year I wiil pick flowers off to encourage root and stem development.
As they have such beautiful natural form, I think it's a shame to tamper too much. They grow in dry places, so do not overwater. I don't use specialist feed, just gets fed about once a month with other plants. Mine is in a terracotta container so goes in frost free greenhouse over winter, as they are not fully hardy. They grow very slowly.

 

I have similar Liz

I have this outside the back door, it is fairly sheltered and I have wrapped some fleece around the trunck, other than that I just drape a cover over the top if a good frost is given out...its survived ok so far with just a few leave tips getting caught

 

I've got a feeling they are hardier than was once thought, but probably they need to become established first, before they are hit with a hard frost.
They used to say bay trees were tender, and although they get frost damage and brown leaves they usually survive.
Continuous frost is the real killer, and we've not had that around here for quite a few years now.
Hope it stays that way.

 

Standard bay is the other side of the back door

 

I have an Olive too. Amazingly I haven't killed it (yet!!!! Getting a bit worried about you all protecting them, etc!! (eeek!!)). Its outside in a pot and has caught the frost, but doesn't seem to worry it - its pretty sheltered there, and we don't get that many frosts here... I have had it for 18 months... never even thought you could get olives off it...I just like to look at it and remember our holidays ... way back in time BC (Before Children, when we had money to go on holiday.....) :rolleyes: Its a standard about 4 feet high, and lives with the banana trees...

 

You're right about prolonged frost being the killer Pete. The last couple of years we've had almost milder winters than they've had on the island from where we took our cuttings. We've also some oleanders grown from Greek cuttings and this winter I've left one planted out covered in fleece and it seems ok so far.

Had a bay tree in a big pot for over 10 years and just move it into a sheltered corner in winter.

I'd be careful with an outdoor potted olive Honeybee I've a friend in Herts who lost his pet olive due to the roots being frosted in the pot.
No chance of growing an outdoor banana here!

[ 19. February 2006, 09:25 PM: Message edited by: Dave W ]

 

Dave, if you can grow an oleander outside, then I think a Musa Basjoo would make it with winter protection.
I stuff mine with straw, just incase it gets a bit extra cold, but usually the ones I dont protect come through OK as well.
Wind damage in the summer is the big problem.

 

Many thanks for the tip regarding Musa Basjoo Pete. We've got one in our conservatory and I hadn't thought it might survive outside. I've just done a bit of web searching and discovered that they will stand quite low temps. Ours has babies every year so next time it produces, I'll pot some up and then try the main plant outside. Most of our garden has a 5 to 7 foot wall which is a big bonus considering the winds that that come ripping down the valley, so we should be able to find a spot reasonably sheltered from the wind.
Just been on the web ordering biological control for RSM as our pet Brugmansia is under attack again!
Thanks again. What a super site this is!
Dave.

 

Dave W - thanks for the tip... I am down on the South Coast, so we have an almost tropical climate compared to yours!!! ... but this winter really is colder....there is a really biting wind out there today!! Brrrrr!! My olive still looks pretty happy - but if we had a really bad prolonged frost, I would cover it up or try to move it into the car port.
I have a Musa Basjoo and a Musa Esette. They both caught a frost this winter, and the leaves went black and have died back to dead-looking stumps. They are in the greenhouse now, and should grow back ok (fingers crossed)...

 

Hi Guys,

I have an olive tree inside my back porch which is doing quite odd things - I don't know if anyone has any ideas? We got it last year and it grew some olives over the summer (tasted disgusting, but I don't know if that's because it's young?). At the moment there is no growth/greenery at all at the top, but a month or two ago, a new very green shoot appeared right at the bottom of the visible stem. It's growing at about 45 degrees and getting bigger all the time. I don't know whether to take this out or encourage it? Can anyone help?

 

with most plants this would be a sucker, and highly undesirable, as it grows from below any graft, etc, and is extremely vigorous, relative to the main plant - BUT I haven't any experience of seeing this on an olive, sorry!

 

Dave W - what an incredible avatar ! Is it hex vision? And is that what you really look like?
It's incredibly distracting!

 

Dave - Has it caught the frost, or suffered severe lack of water? I thought Olives were ever-green. Mine doesn't lose its leaves in the winter. I hope the top hasn't died off. The shoot - is it coming out of the trunk above the graft? Perhaps you can post a picture of it.
In the summer, I bought a small tree from the bargain bin at my local GC, but forgot about it and it almost died from lack of water. When I watered it again, the top 1/2 of the stem and the leaves & branches had all died, but a shoot came out of the stem 1/2 way down, so I just chopped it off 1/2 way down. It now isn't straight, but has survived....