Olive question - watering.

[Brian]

hi all,
I have been growing a large wild olive which I collected about 2 years ago. It doesn't seem to be growing vigorously despite plenty of water and fertiliser.

So whats the go with watering ? Do I keep the soil a bit dry and water once every few days ? Picture below shows the leaves have dry tips but I water every day and the soil is a very well draining mix.

.

IMG_2106.JPG

[shibui]

Interesting observation Brian. I have 8 olives collected from various roadsides in this area. All grow quite freely except for 1. Same mix, same pots, same watering and feeding regime but one always has sparse foliage and very little growth and an unhealthy grey colour. I thought maybe it is just that particular plant but I'll be interested to hear what others have to say.

[Brian]

Shibui,
do you water every day ? I know they like hot dry conditions.

[shibui]

All my trees are under the same watering system - 15 min morning and evening every day in summer but some of the olives are in spots that get less water so may be a little drier. I'm sure that some of them get the full amount.

[Matt S]

Hi Brian,

I try keep my olives a little on the dry side but to be honest during summer they get watered everyday as I don't always have the luxury to check each tree to see if it needs a water or not. They don't seem too fussy but they definitely don't like constant wet feet.

The leaves in your picture show the tips drying only on the old leaves, so unless you see it on the new leaves whatever caused it has gone away. I'd guess overwatering for a while. Old leaves usually go yellow before they drop off, as you can see in the background of your photo.

If the tree isn't thriving then make sure it's getting as much sun as possible, and check the pH of the soil, they prefer alkaline conditions.

Hope that helps.

Matt.

[Mojo Moyogi]

Hi Brian, it is a bit of a misnomer that Olives don't like water. All plants like water. It surprised me to learn that Olives will produce fruit at 350mm of precipitation annually, but yield heavy crops at 1100mm, which is nearly twice Melbourne's average annual precip. I was, probably like a lot of people, under the impression that Olives wouldn't benefit from irrigation in Melbourne. Olives will survive in dry conditions, yes, but will thrive if well watered and in porous, water retentive media.

You might find this interesting: http://www.oliveaustralia.com.au/Olifax ... opics.html While it is not bonsai related and focused on Olives for fruit production, there are a few pages relating to pruning, watering and feeding that I found useful. Worth noting that organic feed is recommended, in preference to chemical.

Cheers,
Mojo

[Brian]

thanks Mojo, great information.

[treeman]

Interesting one. What do the root tips look like? Do you give it lime? Maybe the soil is too acid??
I only have one olive but I do give it a good dose of dolomite 2 or 3 times a year. Remember they (originally) grow mainly in limestone rubble.
Water everyday no probs.

[Andrew F]

Do you give it lime? Maybe the soil is too acid??

Im yet to try this ^^^

My olives from S.A have done nothing for the last 3-4 years in comparison to my locally sourced ones which have performed extremely well in the last 1-2 years. Same feeding/watering regime. So the only thing I can put it down to is the pH of the soil/water.