Potted Olive Tree - Help Needed

Hi everyone!

This is happening to my new potted Olive tree. In the middle of the pot humidity meter shows 70% moisture, at the rim - 30%. It looses leaves everyday - here are the photos. All the information I can find is "either too much or too little" water... but how do I act on that? What should I do?

It was in a very small pot. The rootball looked like clay, we re-potted to a slightly larger one, into John Innes+30% agricultural grit, good drainage holes at the bottom and layer of rocks there... But really can't figure out the "watering" question.

 

Have you got it in the house?

 

Yes, it is in the house. Has plenty of light though

 

They don't make good house plants in my experience.
Come the winter and the heating goes on and you are likely to lose all the leaves.
They are much hardier than some times thought.
I'd move it to an outdoor position that is sunny and relatively warm.
Not sure where you are but they only need protection from the very worst of weather.

It was probably a bit late in the year to be repotting, but still chance for new roots to move into the new compost.

 

Thank you! Sadly no option for an outdoor, unless I figure out something extreme.

How would you go about the watering? Do you think loosing leaves as on the photos (them rolling into the tubes, on branches starting from trunk) - could have been from repotting gone wrong?

How do I sort out the moisture...

 

I think the leaf loss is more likely to be down to a change of conditions.

As long as the original rootball is not over wet it might recover, over watering is probably worse than under watering.
But I'm thinking any subsequent growth will be thin and spindly.

Best,in general , to stick to tropical plants when looking for house plants, the kind that like subdued light and warmth.

Imagine where olives usually grow, hot summers with high heat and dry conditions, blazing sun,in summer, mild wet winters.

 

Not out of the woods yet, HOWEVER, getting a powerful artificial blue/purple light and having it on for a few hours every day seems to have done the trick. Looks much healthier and leaves are not dropping nearly that often, and there is new growth as well!

Thank you everyone for your help!