When it comes to olive trees, most people imagine a vast field in the Mediterranean, with full sun that will help ripen the fruit. However, olive trees can grow in most areas with a mildly warm climate, as long as winter temperatures don't fall below freezing (if you live in a country with 4 seasons). Olive trees grown from seed are perfect for decoration. Fruit grown from seed tends to be similar to wild olives, with a smaller size than commercially grown varieties. With patience and heartfelt care, you will have your own olive tree at home.
Step
Part 1 of 3: Getting Olive Seeds
Step 1. Decide what type of olive tree you want to plant
There are hundreds of types of olive trees around the world. Some of them are very similar with slight differences in color and taste. The other types are very different and have certain growing conditions that will affect the time of fruit ripening.
- For example, in California, USA there are 4 main types of olives: Mission, Sevillano, Manzanillo, and Ascolano. Even if grown in the same state, yields may vary depending on the climate and the strand (coastal location) used for planting.
- Finding out where you live is important in determining the most suitable olive type.
- By growing it from seed, you can get fruit that may surprise and not match the parent tree.
Step 2. Collect the olives
This may seem easy, but you have to pick the fruit straight from the tree to keep the seeds alive. In the US, olives thrive in climate zones 8-11. This zone has a subtropical climate with mild winters. In a country with 4 seasons, pick olives in early fall, when the fruit is ripe and green. Avoid black fruit. Do not pick up fruit that has fallen on the ground or fruit that has holes due to insect attack.
- Store-bought olives will not grow because the fruit has been processed for consumption. This means, the olives have been cooked. The ripening process will kill the seeds in the seeds and make them no longer viable. However, you can use raw, unprocessed olives.
- If there are no olive trees to pick from, you can buy olives from the planters.
Step 3. Put the olives in the bucket
Once the olives are collected, crush the flesh with a hammer to remove the fruit surrounding the seeds. Put warm water in a container of crushed olives, and let the olives soak there for one night. Stir the water every few hours or so. By stirring, the flesh of the fruit will be looser.
- If you don't have a hammer, you can crush the olives with the wide side of the knife.
- Take and remove seeds that are floating on the surface of the water. Seeds like this are probably rotten.
Step 4. Discard the water
Collect the seeds and remove any remaining skin with a scrubbing pad. These pads are usually used for scrubbing pots or pans. After scrubbing the skin, rinse the olive seeds with warm water for a few minutes.
Use sandpaper if you don't have a scouring pad
Step 5. Cut the ends of the seeds
Each olive seed has a sharp and blunt end. Use a knife to cut off the blunt ends. Don't cut the seed in the middle as this will prevent it from sprouting, but make a cut that will make a hole the size of a ballpoint pen.
Soak olive seeds for 24 hours in water at room temperature
Part 2 of 3: Sowing Olive Seeds
Step 1. Put the soil in a small pot
Use an 8 cm pot for each seed. Fill the pot with soil that has good drainage. The soil should contain one part coarse sand and one part compost. You can get this planting medium at the seed seller. Add a little water so that the planting medium is moist, but not muddy.
- If you wish, you can use a large pot. These seedlings should be removed when the seeds have germinated and are ready to be planted.
- Stir the two planting media ingredients until well blended using a spoon, wooden stick, or hands.
Step 2. Plant the seeds
Plant the seeds 2 or 5 cm deep into the soil. Ideally you should place one seed per pot. This is to prevent the seeds from fighting for nutrients.
Plant a few more seeds than you need. Olive seeds have a low survival rate, even under the best conditions
Step 3. Cover the pot with plastic
Cover the pot with a clear plastic bag. This is useful for maintaining humidity and mimics the function of a greenhouse. Place the pot in a warm, bright location. A good place is a windowsill, but keep in mind that direct sunlight can harm plants in the early stages of seedlings. If you covered it with a plastic bag, place the pot in an area out of direct sunlight.
- If you don't want to use a plastic bag, you can place the pot in a propagator (a seedling device that has a lid).
- Seeds will sprout in about a month.
Step 4. Water the olive seeds
You should always keep the humidity in the top 5 cm of the growing medium. Check the soil condition by sticking your finger into the ground. Only water the olive seeds if the top 0.5 cm of the soil looks dry. Excessive watering can trigger the growth of fungi and bacteria that can damage plants.
Step 5. Open the plastic bag cover when the seeds have sprouted or sprouted
You can leave it on the windowsill or move it to a warm place until it's time to plant the olive seeds later. Continue to water as usual.
Part 3 of 3: Planting Olive Seeds in the Field
Step 1. Plant in the rainy season
In most areas, the rainy season is a good time to plant seeds. In this season, trees tend to survive and blend into the soil before the dry season arrives. Wait until the seeds reach a height of about 50 cm.
If you live in a country with 4 seasons, a big obstacle to growing olives is frost, which can damage the crop. So you'll have to wait until spring comes when the lowest temperature in your area can reach minus 1 degree Celsius
Step 2. Make a planting hole
Choose a place that gets a lot of direct sunlight to speed up growth. You only need to make a hole about a few centimeters deep. Ideally, you should dig the hole a little deeper than the container used to raise the plant.
- Use a small garden shovel or hand to make holes.
- The advantage of olive trees is that they can grow well in most types of soil, including rocky and sandy soils. The only condition that must be met is that the soil must have good drainage. Otherwise, the plant will slowly die because the soil is too wet. Poorly drained soil can cause root diseases, such as verticillium wilt or phytopthora root rot. The area around the olive tree should not contain much mud, and only slightly damp.
Step 3. Plant olive seeds
Remove the plant from the pot carefully, so as not to damage the roots. Water the tree and planting hole before you plant olive seeds. Insert the seedling into the hole, slightly higher than the soil surface and cover it with 3 cm thick soil taken from around the area.
- Do not use organic mixed growing media, compost, or large amounts of fertilizer. This can create an artificial growth environment. You can start fertilizing it one year after planting.
- If you are planting a lot of seedlings, keep the distance between the plants at least 1 meter, and a maximum of 9 meters for large olive varieties. Otherwise, the trees will fight for nutrients from the surrounding soil.
Step 4. Water the plant as usual
The rules of watering also apply to outdoor plants. Check the soil around the olive tree to see if it is damp, and water the plant if the top 0.5 cm of soil looks dry. Don't over-water it. Nature will do its job and the olives will thrive.
Olive trees are hardy plants so they generally don't need watering or special care when the weather is cold. However, if the weather is very dry, water the plant as usual to keep the topsoil moist
Step 5. Wait for the olive tree to bear fruit within 3 years
Remember, olives come in hundreds of varieties so it can be difficult to predict when your tree will bear fruit. Some varieties (eg Arbequina and Koroneiki) can bear fruit within 3 years. Others can take 5 to 12 years.
Step 6. Do the trimming
Olives grow very slowly, so you don't need to prun them too often. However, you can trim dead, diseased, or molting branches and twigs, and remove any branches growing at the bottom of the plant's stem. You can also trim the branches of the tree so that sunlight can shine through the center of the plant.
