Growing olive tree from seeds
Of course, you need the right seeds for this first cultivation variant. You can either order dried seeds from specialist shops or online, or you can take them from fresh (ie not processed!) And fully ripe fruits. Put the seeds about one centimeter deep in special potting soil, keep it evenly moist and place the pot in a warm and bright location. The seedling will poke its green head out of the ground within four to twelve weeks.
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Pull olive tree from cuttings
The second variant promises faster success, because olive trees grown from cuttings not only grow faster but also bear fruit a few years earlier - a tree grown from a seed needs at least 10 years to first fruit, a tree grown from a cuttings takes an average of six to seven years . As a cutting, you can simply use a thin olive branch that falls off when pruning an existing tree, for example. You either place this branch in a water glass (change the water daily!) Or plant it in a pot with potting soil. Depending on the brightness and temperature, it can take several months for the olive branch to develop roots.
The right substrate
Olives do not have many requirements, they just need the right soil, lots of sun and a little water. Perfect olive soil has the following properties:
- It consists of about a third to half of sand or gravel
- in addition, from two thirds or half of conventional potting soil
- the bottom layer is potsherds or pebbles in the pot (drainage)
- you can also use lemon earth as an alternative
When it is finally time to repot, you can tell by the roots: If the delicate root tips are already peeking out of the drainage hole, you should treat your olive to a larger pot. This should be about a third larger than the tree top.
The right cut
Actually, pruning is only necessary if you want to harvest fruit from your own tree. For this purpose, you should train your sapling so that it has a trunk about 1.50 meters high and only has three to four main shoots. The main shoots, in turn, develop secondary shoots over the years, on which the olives will ripen. If possible, do not cut the tree with a round / spherical crown, as this is not conducive to the formation of flowers and thus also fruit. Instead, the crown should remain open. Always remove upright growing shoots.
Tips & Tricks
Do not repot your olive tree too often and also not into pots that are too large, as this hinders optimal root growth. It is enough to put the tree in a new pot about every two to three years.
