Olive Tree Growing Requirements
Productive olive trees are irrigated when needed from the beginning of the growing season until the start of winter rainfalls because lack of water can adversely affect the growth of vegetation fruit set and development of fruit.
Olive tree growing requirements. Olives grow best in sandy well drained areas. Lower temperatures than this can cause serious damage to the trees. Plant your olive trees in a sunny spot with well drained soil. Prepare the soil for outdoor planting if you live in south florida by breaking up large chunks of earth with a garden fork and testing the ph of the soil with a soil testing kit.
The olive tree is an evergreen that flourishes in hot dry areas and as such will not do well in wet winter soil. Cold is required for proper blooming and fruit bearing interestingly many varieties of olive trees in temperate climates actually need some degree of cold weather. If planted in areas where winter is too mild an olive tree won t enter dormancy and flower buds won t fully mature. In general olive trees that are cultivated for oil need less irrigation than those cultivated for table olives.
It needs regular watering to thrive. The areas where olive trees are cultivated for commercial use must have an average annual temperature of 60 68 f 15 20 c. Olive trees like to be planted in well drained soil in a sunny area of the landscape. The absolute maximum temperature can reach 104 f 40 c without causing damage but the minimum should not fall below 20 f 7 c.
Avoid sites where water stands during rainy periods or where ground water seeps into a hole two feet deep. The trees actually thrive in poor soil. Olive trees require a well drained soil and a sunny position. Planting in a larger container will mean you ll have to re pot your tree less often.
Olive trees will begin producing fruit in the fourth or fifth year if the tree has long hot summers and mild winters. 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. Olives prefer to grow in well drained sunny soil with a ph between 5 0 and 8 5. Do not however confuse the olive for a desert plant.
Although olive trees grow quite slowly you want to make sure that the container is at least several inches larger than the root ball on each side to allow the roots room to expand. Excessive nitrogen fertilization can cause too much shoot growth at the expense of fruit production. This helps the tree to open up and allow sunlight access to the fruit. Too much water from irrigation or rain will make trees susceptible to root rot disease and damage production by causing flowers to drop before they form fruits.
Prune the tree lightly in the first four years removing only branches that are growing towards the center of the tree.