Olive tree - Olea Europea

The olive tree is a popular decorative tree that is often found in Dutch gardens. It is winter-hardy. This means that it can also be outside in the winter. However, it does need some help with our cold Dutch winters, which you can read about further on.

This tree bears edible fruit every year, namely the olive. Olives are known for their special taste, and are traded worldwide to make olive oil. Both olive and olive oil are widely used for dishes and salads. You can recognize a ripe olive by its color. A green olive is unripe, but a ripe olive is black, deep brown or purple.

Olive trees are real mood makers for the garden or room. They have small sturdy leaves. This tree is also mentioned a lot in the bible, it is a real biblical tree.
If a leaf turns yellow it can be easily removed. Shaking the tree also causes many yellow leaves to come loose.

Olive trees come in many shapes and sizes depending on how they are grown or raised. You can find olive trees with thin, intact trunks that are very tall, but also olive trees with very thick, old, crooked trunks that are short.

The olive tree has special requirements..

For almost all plants, watering is an important part of the plant's survival and growth. The Olive Tree is certainly no exception! In this chapter, you will find all the necessary information so that you can provide your Olive Tree with moisture in the right way.

Summer

During the summer it is very important that the olive tree, when it is outside, is kept moist. Especially during the warm days it should be watered every day, so that the root ball is soaking wet. During the less warm days this can sometimes be skipped for a few days. This is so important because otherwise the Olea Europea 'drinks' moisture from its leaves, causing it to become dry and eventually die. This should of course be prevented.

Winter

When winter is upon us, the rules are reversed! If the olive tree is outside, it must remain dry so that the moisture does not freeze and damage the palm. The Olea Europea does not suffer from a dry root ball during this period, it is in a kind of hibernation!
When the palm is kept indoors during the winter it should be kept slightly moist, so not soaking wet (as in summer), but just so that the root ball feels slightly damp.

General rules

In addition to the above guidelines, it is best to follow these rules:

First, give the Olive tree a little water. If the soil is dry within 2 days, it means it needs a little more water. Adjust the amount of water until it still feels slightly moist between 2 and 5 days after watering, and almost dry after 5 days. If it feels very wet after 5 days, wait until it is almost dry and water again, but reduce the amount.

Spraying

We recommend that you spray the Olive tree with water weekly. However, we do not recommend this during hot summer days, so that you do it either in the evening after sunset, or on days when the sun shines little, because the water droplets bundle the incoming sunlight into small points that become very hot. These cause the leaves to dry out, or even burn through.
Apart from the detrimental effect of bright sunlight on wet leaves, misting has beneficial effects for your Olea. Namely, it removes dust from the leaves, allowing them to better absorb sunlight and look more beautiful, and it prevents certain types of pests.

Where to plant the olive tree

For many plants and Olives it is important to determine the right place where it can stand best. Much or little sun, sheltered from wind, in the shade with certain sun positions ... this all makes a difference for the development of the plant. In this chapter you will find what is best for the Olive tree (Olea Europea).

Light

The Olea Europea is an olive tree that loves a lot of sunlight. It likes to be in the full sun outside in the open space, taking in all the light. Is it inside? Then it definitely wants a spot by a window where the sun shines through. The Olea requires at least 3 hours of direct sunlight per day

Heat

Is your olive tree outside and is it going to freeze hard? When the temperature drops below -10 degrees, it needs to be protected. This can be done with a [light string] or a [frost protection cover]. The root ball should not be wet at freezing temperatures, so make sure you have a planter that can drain water. It can also help to wrap the root ball in bubble wrap, so that it is insulated from the surrounding cold, damp soil.

Wind

The olea can also be placed in a place with a lot of wind without suffering any damage.
Make sure that it is properly anchored so that it does not fall over.

Temperature requirements

During the day minimum -10 ℃
At night minimum -12 ℃

Repotting, why and when?

Repotting an Olive tree whose root ball has grown through has a few advantages. The main advantage is that the Olive grows faster when the roots have the space. The Olive tree can also withstand lower temperatures better with a larger root ball. It can then absorb moisture from the soil better and is therefore stronger and more stable.

General rules

When the Olive tree has taken root (often every 2-3 years) we recommend repotting it in the spring when the r is out of the month. If it is always inside, it does not matter. If it is outside, it is not a problem to repot it in the summer, but we advise against it in the autumn and winter, because it will not grow and take root optimally. This can make it somewhat weak, and possibly suffer damage from frost.

When you choose to repot your Olea Europea, choose a nice pot that is twice the size of the root ball. Place a layer of hydro grains at the bottom of the new pot for better moisture control. It will thank you for that. Fill this layer with some Mediterranean potting soil. This type of soil ensures that the Olea (olive tree) roots optimally and is fed. Then you can place the root ball on the ground. Make sure that the top of the root ball is slightly below the edge of the pot. Aim for a difference of 2 to 6 cm. This difference ensures that the water does not run off the root ball when you water it.
Every year you should replace the top layer of soil, because it hardens and 'wears out' in nutrients, due to regular watering and because of the sunlight on the upper edge of the root ball.

Furthermore, it is no problem to plant the Olive tree in the open ground, as long as it is in a good place, with enough sunlight / partial shade, and the Olive is well protected at extremely low temperatures (see 'Location'). We also recommend pouring a bag of hydro grains under the root ball.

Provide the Olive Tree with good nutrition

During the summer and spring periods your olive tree needs to be fed well. Unfortunately, a good soil type is not enough for this. It certainly helps in certain needs of the plant. But to keep the leaves nice and deep green and strong, we recommend supplementing the nutrition with the specialized food [Olive Focus]. Pokon is often recommended by other shops, but we advise against it, because .... Olive Focus is a product based on natural nutrients from many different sources, a mix of organic, vegetable acids and pure concentrates of seaweed. It is the perfect 'fertilizer' for the olive tree. Your olive is very grateful for this nutrition and will reward you with shiny deep gray leaves and healthy strong roots.
If you want to give your Olive tree that little bit of extra luxury, we also recommend supplementing Olive Focus with [Plant Ultra]. This provides a few extra useful nutrients that Olea Europea loves. They are not essential, but do help with root growth and extra health and strength of the Olive tree.

When the leaves change color

The leaves can get black leaf tips. This can mean that too much water has been released. Brown or black leaves can mean that too little water is being released. We then recommend checking this and possibly adjusting the watering. We also recommend making the olive tree a bit more beautiful by simply cutting off the ugly tips with scissors.

It is also possible that the Olive tree has been moved from a place with a lot/little light to a place with a different amount of light. This can also cause the leaves to discolour. The new leaves will be more resistant to direct sunlight.

These black leaves can also indicate winter damage

How to prune and when?

The leaves of the olive tree will eventually fall off. If this is the case with a leaf, you can simply shake the olive a little so that the leaves fall off. It is not bad to prune a whole leaf with the stem of the olive tree. You can also prune the olive tree into a ball, we recommend doing this in the spring or summer.

You can also cut off a stray branch without any problem

How can I propagate the Olive tree?

The Olive tree can propagate in two different ways.
You can cut the olive tree. For this you take a shoot of about 25 cm, The best is an older shoot with a young shoot on it. Then you place this cutting very deep in the ground, only the top leaf bud may come out above the potting soil. Place the cutting A few weeks in a warm and light place where it is kept moist and the first roots will have formed. After this the cutting can be potted or planted.

The other method is to bend the olive tree. Here you bend a branch of the mother plant towards the ground and make sure it stays in the ground, you can achieve this by means of a stone or by tying it with a string. It is important that the ground is loose so that the branch can root quickly and easily. If there is enough sunlight and water for a few weeks, after about 3 weeks the branch can be cut loose from the mother plant and the plant will grow independently.

Growing from seed (pit) is of course also a possibility. In this case, the pit must first be grown in water, where it develops water roots. After this, it can be placed in the ground.

The Olive Tree also produces Olives..

The olive tree also produces real olives. These are green at first, but will turn dark later in the year.
The olives are not immediately edible, they must first be preserved.
Yes, yes, we can really grow olives in our little country.
If you visit our showroom around August, you will see many olive trees with olives hanging from them, often already black in colour.

Preserving olives (making them edible)

There are many different ways to make your olives edible these are called olive canning traditions and are widely practiced in Italy and Spain.
To make olives edible you need a few months.
First, take the greener olives from the tree, not the softer ones that you can squeeze (not overripe).
then leave it in the water for 5 days and exactly 2 weeks, the water must be changed every day.
Then you prepare a ''salamoia'' (This is a salt solution in which you store the olives, which also removes the bitter taste)

How do you make Salamoia?

This is what you make by boiling 5 kilos of olives to 3 liters of water and 300 grams of sea salt.
You can also add fresh herbs such as thyme, red peppers or bay leaves.
When the Salamoia has cooled down (completely) you can put the olives in a closed jar like a pickle jar together with the cooled Salamoia, you can then store this in a closed jar for about 2 months, after which you can refresh the Salamoia in the jar (by making new ones),
After that, the olives are edible after a month if nothing has gone wrong.

If you want to be sure that the olives are edible, you can taste them. Once the bitter taste has gone, you can simply eat the olives.

Preserving olives in a nutshell:

- Use the olives that have not become too soft,
- Leave them in water for 5 to 14 days.
- The water should be changed every day.
- Prepare the salamoia according to the recipe mentioned.
- Use a well-sealed pickle jar (wok bottle).
- Store the olives for about 1 to 2 months.
- Then make new salamoia again.
- Make sure the olives are drained well.
- Repeat the process with the newly made salamoia.
- After a month you can eat the olives and they are edible.