Yellowing Leaves Olive

[Jag01]

Hi All,

short time lurker, long time Bonsai enthusiast.

As the heading suggests, I have leaves on one of my olive trees which are yellowing and dropping. The tree has been standing in a nursery pot for some time, recently (early spring) I removed from the nursery pot, washed the roots out (basically bare rooted it, did not reduce the root mass ) and re-planted into another growing pot.

We have yet to receive any significant heat since this was done, have I overdone it? I would have thought I could have got away with this at this time of the year?

Your thoughts?

cheers,

Jeff

[alpineart]

Hi Jag01 , mate they say you can't kill an olive , their wrong i have killed plenty . If its yellowing i wouldn't be too concerned as they can sulk for 12-18 months , i have had them here completely drop all leaves for a season after a repot and sprout all new growth the following year with a much smaller leaf .I purposefully ring barked a small ugly trunk , that was 5 years ago and while it hasn't completely recovered its still alive and growing .This particular plant has been bare rooted over winter without regular water and its still going . On the other hand i has sat 3 plants bare rooted in water for 3 months and i killed them all or maybe they drowned .

Cheers Alpineart

[ozzy]

How much of the leaves are yellow, I often have a few yellow leaves even on healthy plants, older leaves sometimes turn yellow and die off but yeah sometimes a plant will defoliate itself if it is stressed.

[Jag01]

Thanks for the reply guys,

I will keep my fingers crossed on this one. As for not being able to kill an Olive, well then I must be exceptional ! as I have managed to crusify a couple in my time.

cheers,

Jeff

[shibui]

Hi Jeff,
Pictures are certainly worth 1000 words when asking for specific advice. Gives all sorts of clues that you may have overlooked in your description.
One (of several) possibility occurs to me - what mix have you used and what fert has it had?

[Watto]

I agree with Shibui but black scale also has the effect of causing leaves on Olives to yellow. Its worth checking the underside of the branches for this pest.
Watto

[Andrew Legg]

Jag,

Olives are evergreen, and as with all evergreens they do drop their leaves. If you have yellow leaves at the trunk side of the growing areas, then it is probably old leaves dropping. If they are all yellow, you may have a bigger problem. Picture says a thousand words, so go on then . . . . . we're waiting . . . . . .

Cheers,

Andrew