Image – Wikimedia/Forest and Kim Starr
The olive tree is an evergreen tree that resists drought without difficulty.. Indeed, it has its origin in the Mediterranean region, where drought can not only last several months, but also occur during the hottest time of the year. Despite this, it is capable of producing many fruits, olives, which is why it is frequently grown in rain or low maintenance orchards and gardens.
Now, although it is very easy to buy an already grown specimen, since it is enough to go to a nursery or visit an online plant store, it is interesting to know how to plant olive trees. Because? Because it’s a way to save money, but at the same time gain experience by planting a tree and watching it grow.
When is the best time to plant olive trees?
Image – Wikimedia/Eiku
The seeds of olive trees ripen in the spring., when the temperatures are already mild or even high depending on the area. As it is to be expected that the weather will continue to improve, this is the right time to sow them in the nurserysince in this way the seedlings will be able to grow during the rest of the spring, all summer, and will even be able to continue to do so in autumn if the temperatures remain above fifteen degrees Celsius.
Could they be sown at another time? Yes of course. For example, they could be sown in winter if you have a greenhouse or an electric propagator; or in summer as long as it is done at the beginning or at the end, and only in the event that there have not yet been heat waves, or when they have already ended.
Where should we put the olive tree nursery?
The olive tree is a solar tree, therefore it is important that the seedbed is placed in a sunny place so that the plants can grow properly from day one. Now I will explain to you how you should sow the seeds, but what I want you to keep in mind is that if you put the seedbed in the shade or inside the house, your future olive trees could not have a correct development, because they spend a lot of energy growing towards the more powerful light source -which could simply be a reflection of light on a piece of furniture for example-.
Thus, you would see that they grow very fast, but at the same time they would become weaker and weaker, because their stems would become thinner and thinner, with less strength. And then if you put them in direct sunlight, they won’t last long, because they’ll burn and die because they’re not used to it. Therefore, the seedbed should be placed in the right place as soon as the seeds have been sown.
How to plant the olive tree step by step?
First sow the olive seeds you have to put on a table what you needWhat is it:
- Substrate for seedlings, like this one.
- Seedbed, which can be a tray with holes like this, or a pot.
- Watering can with water.
Once you have everything you just need to follow these steps which I will then tell you:
- The first is to fill the seedbed with substrate almost completely.
- Then water it consciously so that it is thoroughly moist.
- And then just take the seeds and bury them a centimeter.
Now, you don’t need to put a lot of them in one place, otherwise if they all sprout, you’ll have problems separating them and getting them to survive. It is better to put one or two in each pot or cell, and they must also be separated from each other.
To prevent them from growing without problems, you should not only place the seedbed in a sunny place, but also I advise you to apply a spray fungicide every fortnight. And it is that fungi are one of the most dangerous enemies of tree seeds, to the point that newly germinated seedlings could die as a result of a disease known as damping off, which is caused by fungi that attack the stem of these small plants, causing them to die in a few days.
How long does it take for the olive tree to germinate?
Image – Wikimedia/Miwasatoshi
It takes a bit of patience to see the olive seeds germinate. If they are fresh and the temperatures are good, that is to say if they are kept between 15 and 30°C, it is normal for them to germinate after a month., or two at most. But if it’s colder or warmer, they’ll probably need more time.
There is no need to despair. If the substrate is kept moist – but not flooded – and the fungicide is applied from time to time, all that remains is to wait. In any event, If you see that the months pass and nothing has germinated yet, extract the seeds to see how they are. If they had shrunk, or if they had mushrooms – you would know because they would turn white – then they won’t sprout anymore. But none of this should happen if the seedbed is taken care of, as I have explained throughout this article.
Good sowing.