How long can a pile of olive stumps live

[Newcastle]

Not sure if this is the right place for this? How long can an olive stump survive out of the ground? Near where I live there is some ground clearing taking place. Some olives in the mix that have been out of the ground for a week. Do you think they can make it if I chop the base flat?

 

[Cajunrider]

Not sure if this is the right place for this? How long can an olive stump survive out of the ground? Near where I live there is some ground clearing taking place. Some olives in the mix that have been out of the ground for a week. Do you think they can make it if I chop the base flat?

I hate to say it but “It depends!” is the answer. If it were me, I would pot them up with as little root disturbance as possible and revive them. I will chop the base later. Since you have more than one, why not try multiple ways?

 

[BrianBay9]

Did you get any of our recent rains? That could make the difference.

 

[penumbra]

"It depends" is always the right answer, and while I have no experience personally with olive, I would think that there is likely to be some viability in some of those stumps. Olives, like many of the ancient cultivated plants, became cultivated due to its ability to propagate easily from cuttings. I would imagine that some of those early plants were also propagated from trunks and they did not always have optimal care. I would certainly try to grow some of them out, and as suggested above, I would attempt this in multiple ways. Good luck. Please follow through with this and let us know your results. Many people here would love to have the opportunity that has presented itself to you.

 

[PaulH]

A long time in the right conditions. My friends and I collected a large olive stump that had been dug out with a backhoe and left upside down in a shady spot for two years. We split it into 3 large pieces and all lived to become nice bonsai. I sold mine to Peter Tea last year and it has since moved on to one of his customers. Its a big, heavy tree and was hard for me to lift so it had to go. Here it is when I had it...

 

[Newcastle]

A long time in the right conditions. My friends and I collected a large olive stump that had been dug out with a backhoe and left upside down in a shady spot for two years. We split it into 3 large pieces and all lived to become nice bonsai. I sold mine to Peter Tea last year and it has since moved on to one of his customers. Its a big, heavy tree and was hard for me to lift so it had to go. Here it is when I had it...

View attachment 465003

Paul, do you places stumps in containers or in the ground. If in containers do you use regular bonsai mix?

 

[Bonsai Nut]

They can live a LONG TIME out of the ground if the weather is cool. Tom Vuong collects his out of landscape, cuts off ALL BRANCHES to the trunk, cuts of ALL ROOTS, and flips it upside down. New roots grow from the bottom (previously top) and new branches grow out from the top (previously bottom). He gets amazing taper this way with almost no trunk scars.

Check out 3:00 in this video

 

[PaulH]

Paul, do you places stumps in containers or in the ground. If in containers do you use regular bonsai mix?

I put them in pots or boxes in 100% pumice. I cover the whole thing with a black garbage bag until buds pop.

 

[vp999]

I've seen a lot of nice olive bonsai but never one with fruits on them, do they not fruit in a bonsai pot ?

 

[PaulH]

Mine does!

do they not fruit in a bonsai pot ?

 

[vp999]

Ohh Wow PaulH...Thats the first time I've seen a fruiting olive bonsai. Now I want one lol. beautiful tree sir.

 

[Newcastle]

I got on here 10 years ago. With olive questions, a bunch of you all gave me suggestions. I put a 100lb olive stump in a pot. I kept it alive for 2 years, then let it die when I did not water it. (Note to self hook up some automatic water)

I want to try this again. Can or maybe should I make bonsai from straight pieces of the trunk? These stumps are just going to a burn pile. I don’t know what I am looking at.

Chop the bottom, and how much trunk would you leave?

 

[Newcastle]

I put them in pots or boxes in 100% pumice. I cover the whole thing with a black garbage bag until buds pop.

Where do you buy your pumice?

 

[Emeraldtarpon]

Olives are one of the toughest trees out there.
I remember coming across a large patch of olive trees (all sizes) on one of my "bush walks".
Aquired council approval and removed quite a large amount of trees.
I potted them all up and popped them to one side.
3 weeks passed and i decided to go and check to see if id missed anything "special".
I came across a dozen trees, that i had dug out and forgotten about. They were lying there under a large gumtree, fully exposed to 34-38 celcius days.
I decided to take them home and pot them to see what would happen and to my suprise, 4 weeks later they fired back up...with gusto!
Tough as F**K.

 

[Newcastle]

The rain stopped late afternoon, so I got after it. I had to quit because it got too dark, and I couldn't see. In about an hour and a half, I left with about 12 small stumps. The largest is maybe a five-inch diameter. I left seven that were too big for me to load up. I will get some help and get them later. I will spray off the native soil, and chain saw the bottoms flat. Maybe try a couple of them upside down, like in the Tom Vuong video Bonsai Nut posted above.

For now, they are going just on the ground. I plan on putting them all in a row on top of weed fabric with a 5" raised bed, with dicing cables in the bottom for a bit of warmth. Cover them up with hoops and plastic, kind of like a large cold frame. What is something cheap they can be planted in? If they are not in a pot, just in these raised beds, can I use potting soil?

 

[hemmy]

What is something cheap they can be planted in? If they are not in a pot, just in these raised beds, can I use potting soil?

On the ground, how about just bulk sand?Bulk pumice should be pretty reasonable in your area.

 

[Emeraldtarpon]

Nice haul of trees.
If you just want to protect them at the moment and keep it cheap, do what the nurseries do at sales time...cover the root systems in wet sawdust/wood shavings.
Just DONT use treated pine as its treated with toxins that arnt good for trees.

 

[Newcastle]

On the ground, how about just bulk sand?Bulk pumice should be pretty reasonable in your area.

Thanks…What product name would pumice be? I went to a hydroponics store hoping they would have it, but nothing. A nursery has pumice but they want $8 for a small bag.

 

[Potawatomi13]

Try yard refuse recycling business. Ours here have all kinds of rock, mulch. etc.

 

[BrianBay9]

On the ground, how about just bulk sand?Bulk pumice should be pretty reasonable in your area.

I've used those black plastic cement mixing tubs from big box stores.....about $10 each. Gotta drill holes in them first.