Some monster olives

[ozzy]

Here are some olives I collected yeterday ...

olie 003.jpg

The base

olie 012.jpg

Number two

olie 008.jpg

The base

olie 011.jpg

[Jamie]

ozzy,

from what i can tell it looks like it has some potential. but that is looking at a pic of thumbnail size

any chance of getting a bigger pic??????


jamie

[ozzy]

Hey, I'm just trying to link to my online photo album without success , I'll have to upload them here

[ozzy]

There you go, and let this be a lesson to you all , don't drink and drive ... a computer

[Jamie]

There you go, and let this be a lesson to you all , don't drink and drive ... a computer

yes good call ozzie, you may hit a page error and spill your drink.... ( i know that was bad too )

there are some great stumps mate, looks like the first one still has some nice feeder roots on it! and the twin is gonna be a wicked tree!

make sure you keep us updated with them.

i love that twin, cant wait to see it with some foliage and refinement.
this process of flat cutting the base, i am curious as to how long it takes before you get roots and the tree can really start to develop, obviously both long term projects, what are your expected time lines for these two beast before you can say give a first styling and chop back?

cheers

jamie

[anttal63]

great gets ozzy!

[ozzy]

this process of flat cutting the base, i am curious as to how long it takes before you get roots and the tree can really start to develop, obviously both long term projects, what are your expected time lines for these two beast before you can say give a first styling and chop back?

cheers

jamie

In my own experience olives can take from two weeks to 18 months to resprout, I've even heard of one taking three years, quite incredible that a plant can just sit there for 18 months or more with no foliage or roots then all of a sudden spring to life, there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to it either, I've collected olives in Autumn that have decided to sprout in the middle of Winter, mostly they do recover after two to four weeks though.
With styling the key is to make sure the first branches are wired down early, this can be done as soon as they are a few centimetres long, its important that those first sprouts are heading in the right direction as they will form the big branches coming off of the trunk, I guess that go's for any tree though not just olives, but if you don't do that first up it will be impossible to correct later unlike the secondary foliage which you can correct.

[bonzaidog]

Hi Oz..Just a couple of q's regarding the collection process,I've been taught to soak the stumps in seasol for 7/10 days before planting out,do you bother with that? Also do you seal the base before planting as well? I stumbled on a good site the other day in regards to olive collection..Dugz Bonsai,some good info there especially concerning root development/styling...Regs...Dog

[Chris]

HaHaHa hey ozzy good score. i love the chainsaw cuts

[ozzy]

Hi Oz..Just a couple of q's regarding the collection process,I've been taught to soak the stumps in seasol for 7/10 days before planting out,do you bother with that? Also do you seal the base before planting as well? I stumbled on a good site the other day in regards to olive collection..Dugz Bonsai,some good info there especially concerning root development/styling...Regs...Dog

Yes I usually just soak them in straight water for a few days, usually thats because I have got nothing to put them in and have to make up a grow box for them, I have also planted them straight away too, when I do this I keep them really saturated, sometimes I even wrap plastic around the pot to hold the water in, keep them much wetter than I would an established one, Dugz is a good read, I now chamfer the edges on mine with a stanley knife like Doug does on his site, I don't use any sealants either, I haven't noticed any rot on my older ones when I've replanted them but if I did that would be worth considering, some people screw a piece of wood to the bottom of them too to get the roots to flair out.

[ozzy]

HaHaHa hey ozzy good score. i love the chainsaw cuts

Yeah they look good don't they, its friggin murder on the chainsaw though, see the dark spots on the bases, these are filled with dirt and tear the blade to bits, sometimes I've even hit rock inside the stump and sparks start spewing out of the cut
It took two blades to get these out, I normally take three newly sharpened ones with me, if I hit rock I have to change the blade and then try another cut angle, s'all good fun though

[bonzaidog]

Ain't that the truth! Ozzy....chainsaws and dirt don't mix! A good container to use for the bigguns are plastic 44's,er....205l drum bottoms/tops cut to depth...usually found at drum depots ,just be carefull of any dodgey chemicals,and get the cleaned or food grade ones.Hope to see some progress shots down the track,and even some developed trees if y' can thanx for the reply...Dog.