Olive Tree Growing Medium
And of course make sure your container has plenty of drainage holes.
Olive tree growing medium. Never use dirt out of your yard or heavy dense potting medium labeled for house plants. Jump to any article in the series using the in this series menu or follow along with the navigation markers at the end of each article. Olive trees are evergreen and are sold as orchard stock in 4 inch pots 10cm to 1 gallon 3 8l containers generally not as bare root. For instructions on planting container trees larger than 1 gallon as landscaping for instance see the university of california uc publication on planting landscape trees.
Plant your tree in a mix of potting soil and perlite or small rocks. Do not however confuse the olive for a desert plant. This includes getting started care maintenance and other topics. When you are ready to re pot your olive tree get a larger pot and some good quality commercial potting mix.
Olive trees like soil that drains easily like a cactus mix. The olive tree is an evergreen that flourishes in hot dry areas and as such will not do well in wet winter soil. Olive trees are usually purchased in either 4 inch pots with numerous side branches and a height of 18 24 inches or in a 1 gallon pot with a single trunk and a height of 4 5 feet. Avoid sites where water stands during rainy periods or where ground water seeps into a hole two feet deep.
Allow the soil to dry somewhat before watering then water until the soil is soaked. It needs regular watering to thrive. Potted trees will need to be watered more often than trees planted in the ground. Olive trees require a well drained soil and a sunny position.
Growing an olive tree from seed is great for ornamental purposes. Plastic containers retain more water which can be deadly for an olive tree. This topic is broken into a series of articles that focus on the key components of planting and growing olive trees. Always be sure to use potting soil that drains well.
For most olive trees conjure up ideas of vast fields in the mediterranean coupled with a blistering sun to help ripen the fruit. Placing a inch or two of styrofoam gravel or any other kind of filler on the bottom of the pot will keep the soil well drained. To simulate this in the container garden start with an average organic potting soil and then amend with additional perlite or even better a cup or two of small lava rocks. Despite this olive trees can grow in most mildly warm climates as long as the winter temps don t drop below freezing.
Any commercial well draining potting soil will be fine for an olive tree. When selecting a container opt for clay or wood. Place your container grown olive trees in a spot that receives at least 6 hours of full sunlight each day. Olive trees like extremely well draining rocky soil.
The best time to start growing olive trees in containers is spring after all threat of frost has passed.