Essentially, olives are real beginner plants: they are surprisingly robust and don't take offense to their owner easily, even when they make major mistakes. They are also ideal for practicing growing Mediterranean plants, not only as a beginner but also as a gardening professional. We have a few tried and tested tips for you.
How can I grow an olive tree myself?
To grow an olive tree, you can either plant seeds in potting soil or take cuttings. The plant needs a substrate made of sand or gravel, potting soil and a drainage layer. The tree should be repotted every two to three years and trimmed so that the crown remains open.
Growing an olive tree from seeds
For this first breeding variant you will of course need the right seeds. To do this, you can either order dried seeds from specialist retailers or online, or you can take these fresh (i.e. not processed!) and fully ripe fruits. Place the seed about a 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.
Pulling an olive tree from cuttings
The second variant promises quicker 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 takes at least 10 years to produce its first fruit, while one grown from a cutting takes at least 10 years an average of six to seven years. You can simply use a thin olive branch as a cutting, which falls off when pruning an existing tree, for example. You can either place this branch in a glass of water (change the water daily!) or plant it straight into 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 don't 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
- also made from two-thirds or half of conventional potting soil
- as the bottom layer there are pottery shards or pebbles in the pot (drainage)
- As an alternative you can also use lemon soil
When it's finally time to repot, you can tell by looking at the roots: If the delicate root tips are already sticking out of the drainage hole, you should treat your olive to a larger pot. This should be about a third larger than the treetop.
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 tree so that it has a trunk that is around 1.50 meters high and only has three to four main shoots. The main shoots, in turn, eventually develop secondary shoots over the years, on which the olives will one day ripen. If possible, do not cut a round/spherical crown on the tree, as this is not conducive to flower and therefore fruit formation. Instead, the crown should remain open. Upright growing shoots must always be removed.
Tips & Tricks
Do not repot your olive tree too often or in 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.
