Why are these olive leaves pointing ...UP ???

[Mike Corazzi]

Here's 3 olives. And their leaves.

T1 is an older one. Probably 15-20 years.
T2 is 2 years old
T3 is also 2 years old.............MAYBE both T2 and T3 are three years old. T2 and T3 came from same collecting orchard but obviously they aren't the same.

T2 has smaller leaves like T1. T3 has larger leaves and they are a paler green.
T3 is the one with the up pointing leaves.

All 3 trees in same place, same soil, same sun.

Why does T3 point UP? Even prior to leaf cut, they pointed up all the time.

It ...seems.... that up pointing leaves wouldn't be utilizing the light the same way. Anyone know why leaves would point up and stay pointing up? Even to the point of clasping themselves.

TIA!

 

[kite-eating bonsai tree]

to an extent, the leaves of some trees/shrubs/plants can purposefully control the surface area exposed to the sun to minimize chlorophyll over-production or minimize moisture loss (hot sunny days). the botanical/biological term escapes me right now. it's something akin to the light response that certain flowers have (i.e. they follow the sun throughout the course of the day).

if that's the case with your trees, what intrigues me is that i'd expect all three of your olive trees to show the same behaviour.

does T3 maintain upward pointing leaves year-round? just may be a quirk of genetics.

 

[Adair M]

Because, for the most part, that’s the way olives grow! Watch, you’ll get shoots that grow straight up, too. Just cut those shoots off. Force it to make side shoots.

remove the old leaves. Remove leaves growing on the bottoms and tops of branches. New shoots will start at the bases of leaves. If you have leaves on the sides, you'll get new shoots on the sides. Easy Peasy.

 

[Adair M]

Mike, here’s my olive. I just gave it a trim. I had several shoots growing straight up that I had to trim off. I have to do it 3 or 4 times a summer.

 

[Adair M]

Here's 3 olives. And their leaves.

T1 is an older one. Probably 15-20 years.
T2 is 2 years old
T3 is also 2 years old.............MAYBE both T2 and T3 are three years old. T2 and T3 came from same collecting orchard but obviously they aren't the same.

T2 has smaller leaves like T1. T3 has larger leaves and they are a paler green.
T3 is the one with the up pointing leaves.

All 3 trees in same place, same soil, same sun.

Why does T3 point UP? Even prior to leaf cut, they pointed up all the time.

It ...seems.... that up pointing leaves wouldn't be utilizing the light the same way. Anyone know why leaves would point up and stay pointing up? Even to the point of clasping themselves.

TIA!

View attachment 265244View attachment 265245View attachment 265246

Mike, upon closer examination of your photos, I saw where at least one of your trees had the leaves cut in half. I wouldn’t do that. I saw a bunch of leaves growing on the bottom of stems, and a bunch on the top of stems. That’s a problem!

the ones on the top (the leaves are also sticking straight up) will produce a new shoot that will grow straight up. And what you really want is shoots growing out sideways, as I mentioned in an earlier post. Removing the leaves on the top of a stem will discourage it from producing a verticle shoot. It won’t prevent them entirely, so you will have to check periodically and remove them, but you will get much better ramification by keeping only leaves on the sides.

 

[Mike Corazzi]

Yes. That's the one that doesn't even like to start ......LEAVES .....on the sides of the branches.
I just today went over the older one and lopped off the verticals.

Everything about tree 3 is different. Color, leaf size, all different.

 

[Forsoothe!]

Only clones: cutting propagated plants will look exactly alike. Olives have been grown for thousands of years and have been crossed and recrossed and double-crossed back-and-forth over the years so that seedlings can be just as variable as human offspring. If they don't come with an ID tag that specifies a named variety, you can't expect anything specific.

The whole concept of bonsai is training. You make it grow sideways layers of leaves by removing all leaves/buds pointed in the wrong direction. Nothing straight up or down; the top foliage of lower branches may not touch or obstruct the bottoms of branches above and vice-versa; and maintain open space for the birdies to fly through in-between the pads/clouds, etc., etc.

 

[Mike Corazzi]

Maybe I can ...train ....it into a birdie trap.

 

[Forsoothe!]

As a matter of fact, I have trained birds to foliar-fertilize my trees, thin-out my moss, and plant corn and sunflower accents in my pots. I'm also training squirrels to plant oak accents in my moss, too. Raccoons and Possum are can be trained to make space between trees on my lower shelves almost every night so they're not too close together. Every night they mark the paths as their home territory. I've been successful beyond my wildest dreams making my display area "guest-friendly".

 

[ConorDash]

As a matter of fact, I have trained birds to foliar-fertilize my trees, thin-out my moss, and plant corn and sunflower accents in my pots. I'm also training squirrels to plant oak accents in my moss, too. Raccoons and Possum are can be trained to make space between trees on my lower shelves almost every night so they're not too close together. Every night they mark the paths as their home territory. I've been successful beyond my wildest dreams making my display area "guest-friendly".

Genuinely can’t tell if this is a joke or not... seems ridiculous but you are very convincing...

 

[Mike Corazzi]

I had "oak starter" squirrels. I trained them to "stay" with my pellet gun.

 

[M. Frary]

does T3 point UP

He's excited.
The other trees must be females and it's time to get it on!

 

[Mike Corazzi]

He's excited.
The other trees must be females and it's time to get it on!

But I religiously apply saltpeter every spring when the sap rises.