Collected Olive

[PWC]

G'day all,
I'm new to Ausbonsia and have been Impressed by the way the members encourage and share their knowledge and ideas. I have collected this olive and I know it has no particular redeeming features but it was due to be destroyed so I grabbed it. Not sure if it will survive, I have read here that they do take a while to recover. It was dug out in January this year, I flat cut the root ball and put it into a basic potting mix. It has been sitting in a shaded area getting about 3 hrs of afternoon sun a day.

The good news is I haven't seemed to have killed it yet. My question is should I now move it into full sun as the weather is now cooling of in S.A.

Any suggestions that may help it progress would be appreciated.

Peter.

[Matt S]

Hi Peter,

Yes you should move it into the full sun. Regular doses of Seasol will help encourage new roots.

Other than that, not much more to do but wait and let it grow unheeded. Spring would be a good time to see where the new shoots are and make some design decisions.

cheers,
Matt.

[PWC]

thanks for the feedback Matt much appreciated.

Peter

[shibui]

Agree that is probably time for a bit more sun. 3 hours afternoon sun should be enough to have hardened the leaves enough to cope but don't worry too much if a few of the existing leaves do burn a little.
In my experience roots grow just as well without regular (or any) seasol but feel free to use it if it makes you feel good.
I don't see any buds on the main trunk yet but they may still come. Roots on my collected olives have usually taken a few years to get well established. Pity the trunk is so straight and uniform but you have still learnt plenty as a result of digging this one which will help with future, better trees. If the main trunk does happen to grow some new shoots there are techniques and options that could help improve the look.

Well done so far.

[PWC]

Thanks Shibui

"Pity the trunk is so straight and uniform but you have still learnt plenty as a result of digging this one which will help with future, better trees. If the main trunk does happen to grow some new shoots there are techniques and options that could help improve the look."

I take it you are referring to some trunk carving to make it a bit more interesting?

Peter.

[PWC]

While the Olive has not shown any sing of new growth it has not seemed to have declined in health either, as we are approaching winter and the temperatures do get down to -2c I would be grateful if anyone could advise if any special treatment is required at this time of year. There doesn't seem to be any new root growth as yet, should I shelter it or will it be ok out in the open?

Any guidance would be appreciated.

Thanks
Peter.

[robb63]

Hi Peter
Olives don't need any special treatment or shelter to recover. Only time.

[PWC]

Olives don't need any special treatment or shelter to recover. Only time.

That's something I can manage, just leave it do it's thing and wait.
Thanks Rob,

[PWC]

Nearly 18 months gone by and not much happening with this one, I know they can take time but I expected a bit more than this.

IMG_2102 (Large).JPG

It is shooting mainly at the base but there is a shoot a little higher up. I was thinking I should remove the smaller trunks now the new growth has established. It still has no new roots to speak of, hoping for some action this growing season.
If There are no more shoots higher up after this year there will need to be a fairly large reduction of the main trunk.

[Matt S]

Hi Peter,

Good to finally see some growth. I’d expect lots more this growing season now that shoots have appeared.

I’d leave the shorter trunks for now since they have shoots, and the more leaves the quicker the roots will grow. Let the whole thing go and think about the design you want. You could create a multi trunk tree with the shorter trunks or you could remove them at a later date, but for now they’re serving a purpose.

Matt.

[PWC]

The new growth this spring was a final attempt to survive, it was using up it's final reserve of it's stored energy. It had produced no roots after nearly 2 years so it has been consigned to the fire pit.
It had very little potential in the short term and was my first attempt at an olive so not to disappointed, just add it to my growing list of failures. I do however have 4 others I have collected after this one that a going ok, so must be doing something right now.

Olives may be tough but nothing is guaranteed when collecting, not even olives or am I the only one that has failed with olives

IMG_2554 (Large).JPG

[terryb]

Olives may be tough but nothing is guaranteed when collecting, not even olives or am I the only one that has failed with olives

I'm still waiting for some I collected on the last SA Bonsai Society dig to push. If not, there is always next year's dig. No shortage of feral olives in SA

[PWC]

No shortage of feral olives in SA

Never really went looking for them, but your right they are everywhere. This one was due foe removal at my son's place along with a smaller one. The smaller one wasn't flat cut and retained some root and survived ok the others I virtually picked up on the side of tracks and road verges where they had been slashed or cleared. No digging required so why not pick them up, the bonus is they are reactively small with large bases relative to height. Still a lot of work required to get a reasonable tree, but I am leaning towards smaller trees. Easier to work with and less space required.