Olive Tree Losing Leaves Winter
During active growth more water can be given but make sure any excess is completely drained away.
Olive tree losing leaves winter. Usually olive trees are evergreen. Several fungal diseases commonly attack olive trees. I am not an olive tree authority but i have had one for about 4 years in a 12 inch pot. If olive trees are not under environmental stress and lose leaves they are sick probably infected by insects or other harmful organisms.
Severe virticillium wilt kills entire trees. Olives are not prone to many diseases but there are a few that can cause defoliation and drying leaves. Olive trees are evergreen so shouldn t shed their leaves though they might if they dry out in summer and then regrow again when conditions improve. Don t water until the top couple of inches of the soil feels very dry.
But in certain areas where there are seasonal rainfall periods olive trees might shed some leaves in periods of prolonged drought and heat. It might come as a surprise but what is most fatal to olive trees in winter isn t the cold it s moisture. You only need to lightly water when the soil becomes dry. Serious cold damage to olive tree branches begins at 22 degrees though lesser damage to fast growing branch tips can occur at 27 degrees if frost is present.
Temperatures of long duration in the mid teens can cause very serious damage to larger branches and trunks and the extent of the damage may not be evident for some time. During winter when the olive goes into dormancy growth is slow. The peacock spot disease thrives in humid cold conditions and causes lesions to form on upper leaf surfaces. However all evergreen trees constantly renew their leaves meaning they gradually drop all of their leaves and produce new ones throughout a period of 6 14 months.
No olive trees are evergreen and they do not lose their leaves in winter. Answered dec 13 2019. Virticillium wilt causes wilted branches thin canopies and leaf dieback.