Training Olive Advice (nursery stock)

[Aiki_Joker]

Hey everyone. Hope all is well. What do you think of this? Just about 3 weeks ago this olive was transported all the way from UK to Oman (two flights, 12 hrs and a layover!). Aclimatised to the 40C temperatures and strong sun over a week.

It put on about 8 sets of leaves on some apical stems in the Omani sun and I pruned some back to see if it would continue growing. The buds continued to develop and I decided it was recovered (?). No leaf drop so far. Lower leaves not looking good so I opened the branch structure up a bit.

Hope this prune was not too hard :0/! Not familiar with olives. I'm going to have a look at the roots and nebari soon too. Trying to get a decent pot here that is not narrow and too deep is a nightmare!! :0/ I really want to prune this right back and lower the canopy for scale but i don't want to kill it ha ha ha! Or should I grow it out in a bigger pot or air pruning pot and thicken it up a bit? It is about 2 inches thick now.
Any advice would be appreciated! And I was told this tree is about 10 years old, is this true?

 

[Aiki_Joker]

Do these back bud easily?

 

[Saizan]

Do these back bud easily?

You can cut hard an olive, and always bud again. If the plant is healthy, buds from almost everywhere....

 

[Adair M]

Get into a better soil. There's lots of threads on here about olives recently. Read those.

 

[Aiki_Joker]

Thanks Adair, this is good advice, i am thinking the tree is pretty pot bound. I briefly saw these threads on olives, and will re-read. This soil drains really well but is old. When it is dry it runs straight out the bottom of the pot.

Here only compost is available and I don't want to use this alone. I am going to try and find some sand to mix a bit of compost in. There are no garden centres here in Oman. The establishments labelled as garden centres are basically poor quality nurseries Aquatic stores seem to have various pH neutral gravels though and I might end up collecting sand and boiling it! Ha ha ha :0)

 

[Aiki_Joker]

You can cut hard an olive, and always bud again. If the plant is healthy, buds from almost everywhere....

Thanks Saizan, it is OK to prune and repot at the same time too?

 

[Adair M]

Thanks Saizan, it is OK to prune and repot at the same time too?

Yes, if it is growing vigorously.
Aquarium gravel would be ok, I suppose. Sand would probably be too fine textured. You want coarse.

Pumice works well.

 

[sorce]

I started using aquarium rocks and dirt with great success.

Oh Man!

Sorce

 

[Saizan]

Thanks Saizan, it is OK to prune and repot at the same time too?

@Adair M already answer you: olives are very hard if are healthy and vigorous

 

[Aiki_Joker]

Great stuff! Most appreciated gents! Next venture is to sort the roots, repot with an air pruning set up. Then wait for new vigorous growth and cut back next prune! :0)

 

[maroun.c]

Unless it traveled in ur bag you could have shipped one from Lebanon (only a 4 hours flight) and we're lately getting Some acceptable stater material with good sized trunks...
Looking forward to see the progress on your Tree.

 

[Aiki_Joker]

Yes. This is a good idea my friend. I have only been to Lebanon once and just inside the airport. Which city is best for these trees? Can you guys get slow release fertiliser and rock dust there? Are there any suppliers of older trained trees?

 

[Aiki_Joker]

Here are some before and now pics. The olive has now put on about 8 sets of new leaves at its most vigorous growing tip. Seems to have some apical dominance and only grows up!


Canopy is filling in. Roots still not too developed. No wire in here so I can judge the root growth for next pruning. The next pruning will be hard and remove most of these branches with leaves so making sure I have good roots. Will cut the branches at the height of approx. 6 times the width of the trunk to achieve some scale. Then let it grow out to thicken them and cut back for ramification. Probably pruning will be in the new year. Not sure how this tree will grow in the cooler weather. I'm expecting it will grow better as it will be around 25oC here all day and night soon. Instead of 50 in the day and 40 at night lol! :0)

 

[Aiki_Joker]

I think this might suit an African style canopy and fitting for this area as there are lots of trees like this in the wadis and arid mountains here.

The new leaves have reduced somewhat and are squat and rounder than their older thinner counterparts.

I may defoliate on the next pruning to force new sets of leaves for scale.

 

[Aiki_Joker]

The tree has settled in the pot at an odd angle due to not having much root mass on one side and retaining wire. This angle may suit it better. Not sure (?)

What does everyone think?

 

[maroun.c]

Yes. This is a good idea my friend. I have only been to Lebanon once and just inside the airport. Which city is best for these trees? Can you guys get slow release fertiliser and rock dust there? Are there any suppliers of older trained trees?

I found a couple of suppliers where u can find similar starter material as the ones I posted recently. Thick trunks but most come with reverse tapper and long branches so will require a chop and restart but you do save a few years of growing those. Found a good source in Amelias and another in Jounieh area (if ur familiar with the cities?)
Last week wanted to take an olive as a gift to a friend and found one in a nursery just close to my place which had a nice trunk and excellent tapper but again needs to be chopped and styled. Was a lucky find I guess.
We get either liquid fertilizer or the granules which take a few watering to melt not sure if that's what you mean by slow release.

 

[maroun.c]

Totally guessing here but is that front branch going to the back a good thing to keep or will you chop and direct growth to the front?
I guess the trunk angle is fine especially with the Tree balanced on top.

 

[Aiki_Joker]

The middle branch you mean? It's not so good I think. It crosses. I cut it back a bit, but may remove it entirely. That leaves three main branches that I hope I can fill out. Maybe I'll be able to replace that branch one day. It has an olive on it so I left it to see how the olives grow. I have about 5 olives left on it right now

Totally guessing here but is that front branch going to the back a good thing to keep or will you chop and direct growth to the front?
I guess the trunk angle is fine especially with the Tree balanced on top.

 

[Aiki_Joker]

To balance the top I may wire the branches down to splay the top out a bit and get an African look to it

 

[Tieball]

I'd likely begin to move that left side branch more to the left and at the same time begin to move that middle branch more toward the right.