AusBonsai

Yep I'd agree with Shibui, but I'd say by the look of it it's pretty old but that's only my opinion

Hi Andrew,
Very nice collecting Exceptional olive material.
I am interested in how the roots reformed. Did many regrow where you added the rooting hormone or did most grow up the base of the tree. The picture shows lots of roots but it is hard to tell how effective it was encouraging them from the treated area.

Even though it is not a necessity to know the age of these trees it would sure be interesting. I would count the rings and then just use that as an estimate with say 10-50% accuracy. It's a start

Hi Guys,

Both trees have shot out - the one better than the other. I'll take some photos this evening if I have time - in-law's 70th b'day party tonight

Brett, the roots shown in that photo were on a different tree to the other two shown, but I used the exact same technique. What I found was that 99% of the root growth came from the 45 degree cut and painted cambium. There were one or two roots growing elsewhere, but the vast majority came from the cut point. I intend to repot the tree into a richer mix with some bigger stone thrown in, and when I do I'll take another photo and post it here. What I did at the last repotting was to remove roots growing in the negative spaces and leave the ones coming out from the convex parts of the base.

Cheers all.

Well there you go - I love you all so much I went home at lunchtime and took some snaps!!
and the last one is the rooting example:
Cheers,

Andrew

Cracker Tree that first one is gonna make !!!

Great olives you got there really like them both make me want to go dig one up right now dont tell my wife tho hahaha have to go out soon may bring something home lol it tends to happen like that lately.
Again great olive trees be good to see them in about 1 yaer time to see what you have done with them

Olivecrazy wrote:Great olives you got there really like them both make me want to go dig one up right now dont tell my wife tho hahaha have to go out soon may bring something home lol it tends to happen like that lately.
Again great olive trees be good to see them in about 1 yaer time to see what you have done with them

Thanks mate. At this stage, I'm gonna just let them grow, so in a year for now, same thing, but just with more hair on top. The last one however . . . . she's been settling for 3 years now so . . . . .

anttal63 wrote:Cracker Tree that first one is gonna make !!!

Thanks mate - just praying for some shoots on that low right hand branch!!!

Hi Andrew

Those are some very impressive lookin olive's you have there

Regard's The Hacker

Thanks Andrew I might take the time to try that on the next one I get

Bretts wrote:Thanks Andrew I might take the time to try that on the next one I get

Brett, a 10 minute investment (if that) on a tree you are going to keep for 40/50/60 years . . . . . . . . . . . . it's a no brainer to me!

Some updates on these olives and the mix they are growing in.

This is the first one. It is growing well. I think this is mainly because it has had more sun than the other one of the pair.
This is the second one, which has not done as well, and has been in deeper shade.
Both of these were initially planted into a very sandy mix as shown below, and the resulting root growth on a tree I repotted last night from the same mix (different tree).
. . . . and the root growth . . .
And repotted . . . a bit prematurely, but what the heck . . I have a pot fetish. Sue me!
All my olives are now going into this mix which is leca, sand-stone chip and milled pine bark to which I'm now adding a small amount of compost and sand to aid with water retention. I'm thinking of just dropping the Leca as it is too expensive for bigger trees!
This is one that was growing happily in this mix and has just been repotted into a smaller pot . . . This little porker took close on 2 years to sprout! Its about 15 to 20 cms at the base getting thinner very quickly.
Two more growing int he Leca/bark mix . . .
And another two bigger trees . . .
And here's the willow water. you can see the willow stick with roots pulled out for the photo.
And this little olive was in there for about 6 months with about 3 water changes during that time. It has sprouted, but during that time it has not grown any roots. As of about a week ago I planted it out into my latest mix 30 leca/ 30 stone chip/20 milled bark/ 10 sand/ 10 compost. Let's see how it goes from there.
Finally, another thing I'me starting to do is to mulch my pots with thick pine bark chips. I think this helps to protect the roots from getting too hot in the full sun. Also, lift your pots of the ground. this helps with air movement through the pot, but also stops invading earth-worms and other plant roots from underneath. Another thing I was using in my mix was palm peat, but I think I'm gonna drop this. It seems to clog a bit as well as become hydroscopic if it dries out too much.

Hope that's of some use to someone!

Cheers,

Andrew

Thanks mate. I have my next victim picked out, just not sure when to go and dig it. Living in WA, you never quite know what the weather is going to do. Cool nights but fairly warm days, eg 26-28 degrees.

Ray,

See if there are any folks locally who farm olives. Find out from them what their schedule is and when they see growing seasons. You may be able to apply the same to the weed as you do to the crop trees. Just a thought.

Cheers,

Andrew

Raymond, I have dug Olives in the Hills above Perth in the middle of Winter and gotten 100% success. Actually I reckon the middle of Winter is a good time to do anything in WA. It's to bloody hot in Summer.

(By the way, have you ever been up around Araluen Gardens? )