Olive Tree. Description of the plant. What varieties of olives are recommended for home cultivation. Conditions for keeping the plant and caring for it. Methods for planting and propagating plants. Diseases and pests. Plant care during flowering and fruiting.
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Introduction
European olive
Olive tree or European olive (Olea europaea) - This is a tree of the Olive family, the fruits of which are used to produce olive oil. An interesting fact: in total, more than 30 representatives of the olive genus are distinguished, but only the olive tree does not occur in nature in the wild.
For thousands of years of coexistence next to man, the olive tree has become completely domesticated and has long been a typical garden crop. According to the botanical classification of fruits, the olive is a fruit. This is a fairly fertile tree, its yield is about a centner. Relatives of culture belonging to the same family are ash, jasmine and lilac.
The tree is heat-loving and normally develops and grows only in a warm climate. The main distribution area of the olive is Mediterranean (Greece, Italy, Spain) and the Middle East. Olives can also be found in Turkey, Bulgaria, the Crimea and the Caucasus.
An olive tree can be grown in an ordinary apartment
You can not call the olive tree unpretentious. Even in some areas of the subtropics, he is uncomfortable, not to mention the temperate climate zone. Attempts to adapt the olive tree in temperate latitudes (even in areas bordering the subtropics) have not yet been successful: Olive trees do very poorly at temperatures below -5°C.
This circumstance still raises questions among botanists, since many peach crops that have the same habitat as the olive adapt perfectly in the north. But if you provide the plant with the necessary temperature conditions, it can be grown without problems. in the apartment or greenhouse. The article discusses how to plant, grow and propagate an olive tree at home.
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Olive Tree
The olive tree is evergreen shrub or a tree. Its trunk has gray bark and gnarled twisted branches. Olives older than 30 years become hollow. In the plant world, this species is a long-liver.
On average, an olive tree lives for about 500 years. (although trees older than 30 years are not used for industrial cultivation - they are replaced with new ones), but there are some specimens that live more than 2000 years.
Leaves and fruits of the olive tree
The leaves of the plant are simple, practically without petioles. Their shape is elongated, the color is gray-green. The leaves are smooth and leathery to the touch. Massive leaves do not fall off. Foliage renewal occurs once every 2-3 years. A variant is possible when the plant sheds part of the leaves during a sudden cold snap.
The flowers are small (no more than 4 mm in length), white or yellow-white, united in paniculate racemose inflorescences of 10-40 pieces. The flowering period, depending on the habitat, stretches from April to July. Blooms once a year.
The fruit of the olive tree is a small drupe 5 mm to 4 cm long, 1-2 cm in diameter, with a pointed nose. Around the fruit is a fleshy pericarp, which, in fact, contains oil. The color of the fruit depends on the varietal variety of the tree and the degree of its maturity.
Usually, there are three types of fruits: green, black and purple. Often there is a wax coating on the surface of the fruit.
Olive harvest
Ripening occurs within 4-5 months after flowering. The tree brings the first harvest for 3-4 years of life, as a rule, it does not exceed 40 kg, but in the next 10-15 years the yield is significantly higher (up to 100 kg) in older trees, it gradually decreases with age. But even old specimens with appropriate care give at least 30 kg of yield.
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Choosing Olives for Home Growing
Olive tree branch with fruits
The most popular groups of olive varieties are - olive cape, European and gold leaf.
Conventionally, all olives are divided into the following groups:
- oilseeds. As the name implies, they are used to produce oil. These varieties are not recommended to be grown at home, since their fruits not only have a specific taste, but the plants themselves need special care, which will be problematic to provide with a limited amount of soil in a pot.
- Combined. They are a versatile variety, both for the production of oil and for consumption in raw and canned form.
- Canteens. They are used exclusively for eating fruits. They are recommended for indoor cultivation.
olive grove
The following varieties of olives are best suited for growing at home:
- Sabina
- Zinzala
- Cherignola
- Della Madonna
- Razzo
- Kramsky
- Urtinsky
- Nikitinsky
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Olive Tree
In order for the plant to be able to comfortably exist, he needs certain conditions for temperature, light, watering and top dressing. They are discussed in more detail below:
Priming
European olive
The soil for an olive tree can theoretically be any. The main requirement is that the soil should not be acidic. You can use ready-made mixtures or substrates for indoor plants, or you can make the soil yourself.
To do this, the following components are mixed in equal proportions:
- compost
- sand
- turf and leaf land
- peat
Lighting
The lighting of the tree should be sufficient, but without direct sunlight on it.
The subtropics are distinguished by a large number of sunny days per year, so there should be a lot of light. At a young age, the olive tree should be near the south windows or on the windowsill.
An older tree prefers partial shade, but do not shade it too much and put it in a corner. The optimal place for growing is a warmed balcony or loggia, located on the south side of the building.
Temperature
For the summer, pots of olives can be put outside
It should not be thought that all year round the olive tree should be in an exceptionally warm environment. In summer and spring, it can be in any room with a temperature of at least + 20 ° C, in winter or autumn, temperatures should be slightly lower.
The optimum temperature at this time will be + 10-12 ° C. This will correspond to the dormant period in the life of the olive. Usually, for this purpose, a container with a plant is taken out to an insulated balcony or loggia. A similar procedure will stimulate the growth of buds and budding of the plant in the next season.
Watering
Olive tree growing at home
The plant can tolerate drought, but there is never enough moisture for an olive. This does not mean that the substrate should be wet all the time - such phenomena will negatively affect the health of the roots. However, as the top layer becomes dry, the plant needs plenty of watering to get moisture to the bottom of the pot. Usually, water the plant 2 to 3 times a week.
The plant loves rain. This procedure will be especially useful during the summer heat. In winter, this procedure can be omitted if the olive hibernates in a cool room. If it is year-round in conditions with an air temperature above + 20 ° C, sprinkling should be carried out regularly. The recommended frequency of the procedure is once a week.
top dressing
Olive Focus - a complete specialized fertilizer for olives
In the spring, it is necessary to feed the olive tree 2 times a month with nitrogen-containing mineral preparations or organic matter. In summer, a single application of a complex phosphorus-potassium mineral fertilizer.
It is allowed to make nutrients and foliar method. So, for example, it is recommended to spray the leaves with succinic acid monthly.
pruning
Formative pruning with pruning shears of an olive tree
Thinning pruning is done once a year. Usually, weaker branches that grow inside the bush and cause excessive thickening of the crown are cut off. Often thinning pruning is combined with shaping pruning.
It is believed that a spherical crown for a room olive would be ideal, in addition, it is easier to care for such a crown. Pruning is done normally. secateurs; slices after it must be covered with garden pitch.
Transfer
An olive tree that has survived several transplants
As the root system grows, the plant needs regular transplanting into a larger container. Usually, this procedure is performed every 2-3 years. In this case, the pot into which the olive tree is to be transplanted is selected with a diameter of 3-5 cm larger than the previous one.
The olive is transplanted by transshipment of an earthen clod. The pots in which the olive tree is grown must be clay to allow the root system to breathe.
Clay pots with olives after the first transplant
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Planting a plant
Planting olive tree cuttings in a moist substrate
There are several ways to purchase material for planting olives at home. The easiest and cheapest is to root the cutting. Plants obtained from cuttings give the first crops already for 3-4 years of life.
Material for cuttings is harvested in the summer, when the plant is at its maximum activity. Usually, shoots aged 2-4 years are used for cuttings. Branches up to 20 cm long are cut from them. The thickness of the cuttings must be at least 3 mm.
The cuttings are soaked for several hours in a growth stimulator (such can be Epin or Kornevin), and then transferred to a jar of water. The cutting is in it until the first roots appear. An alternative would be to plant the cutting in a moist substrate for young plants, mixed in a ratio of 1 to 1 with sand.
Successful rooting is possible under the following conditions:
- good lighting without direct sunlight; you can use light diffusers on the windows in the form of white paper
- the temperature in the room where the cuttings are located should be at least 20 ° C
- humidity in the room - not less than 65%
In about a month, the first young shoots can be seen on the handle. After that, the rooting site should be covered with plastic wrap or glass. In this form, the plant stays for 4 months. At the same time, the air in the room is moistened daily and regular sprinkling with warm water is carried out. After 4 months of rooting, the cutting is planted in a permanent habitat.
olive tree at home
Germination can be accelerated by increasing the temperature to + 27 ° C. In this case, water can evaporate faster from the soil, which will lead to even more intensity of irrigation. In such a situation, it is advisable in no case to allow the soil to dry out so as not to destroy the young roots.
Another way to grow is to use seeds. To do this, you can take a bone from a fresh or dried olive and try to grow a plant from it. This procedure is very long and laborious, in addition, the first harvest will be obtained only after 10-12 years.
Sometimes a tree grown in this way is used to graft another variety obtained from a cutting onto it.
First, the bone without pulp is soaked in a weak alkaline solution (10% sodium hydroxide) for a day. This will soften its shell and allow the embryo to pass through it without problems. Next, the stone should be washed and planted to a depth of 1-2 cm in a pot no more than 10 cm in diameter. As a substrate, you can use ordinary soil for indoor flowers.
Gardeners and flower growers will need to be patient: despite the relatively high germination of olive seeds (40-50%), the first shoots will begin to appear only after a few months.
It is recommended to plant a few olive pits, because this will not only increase the likelihood of sprouts to germinate, but also guarantee their some genetic diversity. Even from the same mother plant, different fruits are obtained, despite the fact that vegetative propagation is a banal cloning.
Biennial olive tree seedlings
The methods of planting olives described above are, in fact, methods of its reproduction. Their effectiveness is different, but each of them is used for its purpose. So, for example, obtaining new varieties and varieties is impossible without propagation by seeds.
The fastest way to get a young tree is is to buy it or get it somewhere. But there is one not entirely pleasant moment here: 2-year-old planting material for sale, ideal for planting, can be relatively expensive - more than $ 300 per seedling.
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It looks like the action of the larvae of the olive moth
In general, the olive tree has increased immunity, which allows it to successfully resist most diseases and pests. However, in conditions of high moisture, the olive tree can be at risk of infestation by bacteria, fungi and insects.
One of the unpleasant problems in the cultivation of olives is tuberculosis. Its symptoms are large swellings on the branches and trunk of the culture. There is no cure. It is necessary to remove and destroy damaged fragments. With a small amount of blisters, it makes sense to cut off the damaged areas and treat them with copper sulfate.
Another problem associated with high humidity is the appearance of rot and rust. These are all fungal infections. In this situation, everything is much simpler - it is enough to treat the olive with any fungicide (for example, Maxim or Fundazol).
Plant pests are:
- olive moth
- whitefly butterfly
- different types of shields
whitefly
The following drugs help to effectively deal with them:
- Aktara
- Actellik
- Decis
- Karbofos
When using these insecticides, follow the instructions in the instructions exactly. In addition, since they are all toxic substances, it is necessary to take care of the safety of the living space.
Given the fairly long history of growing the olive tree, we can say that his immunity is quite strong and the reason for its weakening, leading to diseases, is a violation of the conditions of the plant.
With the right approach to growing, timely completion of all necessary procedures (watering, fertilizing, transplanting, etc.), most diseases and attacks can be avoided pests.
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Flowering olive branch
During flowering, simple rules should be followed that will help the plant to securely set fruits:
- Watering and sprinkling are carried out only after the topsoil has dried. At the same time, as noted earlier, watering should be plentiful until the soil is completely moistened (to the bottom of the pot)
- The tree should receive a lot of light - after the olive blooms, it must be provided with at least 14 hours of daylight. In cloudy weather, the plant needs to be “lit up” with fitolamps. It is believed that pink lamps are best suited for this purpose.
- Do not rely on self-pollination. It is recommended to gently shake the branches so that pollen falls from one inflorescence to another. In extreme cases, you can use turundas and transfer pollen manually. The ideal option (possible when several olives are grown) is to transfer pollen from one to another, thus making cross-pollination
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Plant fruit set
Do not forget that "pot" cultivation is a kind of "starvation ration" for a plant, so if it suddenly lacks any component, the process of fruit set and their ripening can be jeopardized.
In order to help the olive tree grow normally in a container, it is necessary:
- 6-7 weeks before the expected ripening period, carefully follow the schedule of fertilizing and watering and do not miss anything
- Be sure to give the plant a rest period with its transfer to a room with a temperature of + 10-12 ° degrees. This will significantly increase the number of generative buds on the olive.
- During formative pruning, first of all, remove old shoots over 2 years old, since only last year's branches actively bear fruit
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olive tree at home
Growing an olive tree at home is not a complicated procedure. Subject to the temperature regime and providing the plant with watering and top dressing, it will grow well and not get sick.
For the normal fruiting of your olive tree, you do not need to constantly keep it warm, you should combine periods of the active phase of the plant's life and periods of rest. During pruning, you should try to remove branches older than 2 years, since fruiting occurs on the shoots of the previous year.
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Olive care at home
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