Container Olive Tree Fertilizer
In the winter cut back fertilizer applications to once a month.
Container olive tree fertilizer. Fill it half full with a good potting mix that drains easily or a sandy mix such as a cactus potting soil. You can still own a fruiting olive tree grown in a container. Fertilize the olive tree with 17 6 10 npk fertilizer diluted to half the recommended strength every two weeks during the growing season. Remove the olive tree from the container you purchased it in and gently shake off the soil from the roots.
A sunny balcony and the right climate are the essential things. Once the previous soil has been removed gently trim off any dead or dying roots. If the nitrogen levels in your olive tree are listed as below 1 4 percent then your olive tree is deficient in nitrogen and should receive it as fertilizer. If the potassium levels are listed as below 0 8 percent then your olive tree is deficient in potassium and should be fertilized with potassium sulfate.
This phase more or less extends from may to july. Olive trees like extremely well draining rocky soil. Always water the plant prior to fertilizing. Come spring the trees are wheeled out.
The best time to start growing olive trees in containers is spring after all threat of frost has passed. Place your container grown olive trees in a spot that receives at least 6 hours of full sunlight each day. Every two weeks during the growth phase add olive tree fertilizer to the water. Use a small amount of any slow release fertilizer following the package s instructions.
Italians have grown fruit trees in containers for centuries keeping them protected in special sheds during the winter. Organic fertilizers such as compost and aged animal manure supply trees with a fertilizer source that decomposes. Use a large container with drainage holes. Kinds of fertilizers organic and chemical fertilizers each benefit olive trees.
Luckily olive trees are beautiful and worth growing purely as an ornamental tree so you ll have something nice to look at while you wait. Don t have a garden. Slide the tree out and gently separate the roots. In the past when writing about how to grow particular plants in a container i wrote encyclopedia length articles see how to grow an apple tree in a container.
Olive trees do not like excess water so only reduced watering is called for. If your tree is in a nursery container turn it upside down and tap the bottom. In winter allow the tree to dry out a bit more to within 4 or 5 inches of the soil s surface. Plastic containers retain more water which can be deadly for an olive tree.
Annual pruning is recommended at the end of winter or at the beginning of spring. Planting in a container after the threat of frost has passed prepare your container and soil mix. Pruning the potted tree more than once a year may be necessary to keep the tree within its space constraints. The normal healthy potted olive tree will need fertilizer twice a year once in the spring and once mid summer.
Plant your tree in a mix of potting soil and perlite or small rocks.