Native to the Mediterranean, olive trees find
similar climates in Arizona, Nevada, and California, enabling them to flourish
and become established. Olive trees are an iconic, abundant tree, from their
gnarled trunk to slender leaves and white flowers, they symbolize peace and
prosperity. They also need upkeep, including olive tree spraying.
The olive is the typical evergreen plant of the
agriculture in the Mediterranean regions.
It grows very slowly and its main feature is its longevity. There are many varieties
of olive trees that are continuously monitored for their ability to withstand
the cold during the winter. The ideal climate for cultivation is a mild climate
with minimum temperatures not lower than 8/10° C below zero. Its peculiar
fruits start growing at the beginning of the autumn.
These trees are also known to produce a large
number of olives, something that can and should be controlled by implementing
proper olive tree spraying techniques. Not only is it imperative that olive
trees are sprayed in general, the time of the year that this is done is also
essential to their maintenance and upkeep.
Fruit
from trees often falls before it gets harvested, so what’s the big deal, you
may wonder. Olives contain a staining pigment and are incredibly high in oil,
resulting in quite the mess if the trees are not properly sprayed and drop
their fruit. All the more reason why it is important to be conscientious and
attentive to the upkeep of these trees and know the benefits of olive tree
spraying.
How to Grow Olive Trees from Seeds
For
the stratification method the seed should first be soaked in warm water for 48
hours, then drain off the water. Next prepare a free draining substrate into
which the seeds are to be mixed, this can be a 50/50 mixture of compost and
sharp sand, or perlite, vermiculite. The chosen substrate mix needs to be moist
(but not wet), if you can squeeze water out of it with your hand it is too wet
and your seeds may drown and die.
Mix the seeds
into the substrate, making sure that their is enough volume of material to keep
the seeds separated. Place the seed mixture into a clear plastic bag (freezer
bags, especially zip-lock bags are very useful for this -provided a little gap
is left in the seal for air exchange) If it is not a zip-lock type bag it needs
to be loosely tied.
Write the date on the bag so that you know when
the pre-treatment was started.
The mixed seeds require a sustained period at
temperatures of around 13 Celsius for at least 30 days to break down the
dormancy that is within them. At the end of the pre-treatment period sow the
seeds onto a firm bed of good quality moist compost and cover with a few
millimeters of additional moist compost. Gently firm this down and keep in a
warm place, away from hot sunshine at between 20-27 Celsius. Germination should
begin within 3-6 weeks but may take up to 3 months.
The other method to enable these seeds to
germinate is to physically damage the seed coat. This can be achieved using
sandpaper to scratch into the seed coat (but be very careful not to damage the
seed embryo inside. Alternatively seeds can be chipped at the more pointed end
where the root will emerge. Or the seed can be cracked length ways by gently
squeezing it in a vice. After using any one of these treatments the seeds
should be stratified as above. It is likely that the germination will be
quicker and in greater numbers after using any of these methods than just
stratification alone.
Keep the seedlings well watered, weed free and
protected from winter frost for the first few winters. Growth in the first year
is usually between 10 and 30cm and and usually trouble free. Allow them to grow
for at least 3 years before planting them in a permanent position.