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tommyplyer

Olive trees

tommyplyer
15 years ago

Hello gang i need some advice on growing olive trees here i looked at a place in Ocala. are any of you succesfully growing any Thanks Tommy

Comments (29)

  • atreelady
    15 years ago

    No advice, but I live very near you and I just bought a tiny one a couple weeks ago. Thought I'd try it and see what happens...

  • happy_fl_gardener; 9a, near DeLand
    15 years ago

    atreelady and Tommy---What varieties are you growing? I have 4 varieties with a total of 9 trees. I planted them last spring and they are growing beautifully. They are too young to fruit but when they do I will surely post pictures.

    Grow them similar to a citrus: needs very good drainage with no grass near the trunk. Mulch lightly. They are cold hardy so don't worry about covering them up.

    Christine

  • atreelady
    15 years ago

    Hi Christine. I got an Arbequina olive tree. It is just a little stick right now. I wonder how fast it will grow.

  • the_musicman
    15 years ago

    I have one of the Mission variety. I got it last Spring.
    It's currently about 3 feet tall, and grew well during the summer. It's planted on a little slope, which ensures the good drainage. As I understand it, olive trees benefit from
    sandy, rocky, neutral to alkaline soil. Otherwise, they are very tough, and withstand drought and heat quite well. The biggest problem they face in Florida is being too wet. Like Christine said, make sure they are in a well-drained spot and un-crowded.

    It'll be a few years yet before I can hope to get any fruit. Heck, I'm not even sure if we get enough chill hours in Tampa to properly set fruit. But I love the tree just for its character :)

  • happy_fl_gardener; 9a, near DeLand
    15 years ago

    atreelady and musicman---The arbequina is supposed to bloom earlier than the other varieties. It is one that is used the most for making olive oil. If the tree is that small I would use a high nitrogen fertilizer formulation on it (starting next spring, of course) until it gets some size on it. It is important to know that when the plant gets to fruiting age, it is very important to make sure it gets enough minor nutrients. A deficientcy will cause the flowers not to form and most people will assume that it is because it did not get enough chill hours.

    Not all of the available varieties will get enough chill hours in the Orlando area. I know that one will but I forgot which one. I'll have to get back to you when I find out again.

    Christine

  • atreelady
    15 years ago

    Christine, thanks for the advice. I didn't know that a deficiency can stop it from blooming. That makes sense. I got the Arbequina olive because the description said it was for zones: 8 to 10.

    Judy

  • tommyplyer
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    i have yet to buy any trees and would like to know were to buy localy .Thanks for your advice

  • atreelady
    15 years ago

    I ordered mine online from raintree nursery.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Raintree Nursery

  • the_musicman
    15 years ago

    Tommy,

    There's an olive tree farm up in Citra that sells them. That may have been the one you went to.
    Check the link below...

    I got mine from a local grower at Greenfest, at the University of Tampa. I've seen the same grower at the USF plant shows. They had Mission and Arbequina.

    Here is a link that might be useful: olive tree branch farm

  • the_musicman
    15 years ago

    shoot, that link doesn't work. try this one:

    Here is a link that might be useful: florida olive trees

  • happy_fl_gardener; 9a, near DeLand
    15 years ago

    As I have mentioned in the past, I am a longtime member of the Tropical Fruit Club of Central Florida. On Nov. 2nd we had a field trip to the Olive Branch Tree Farm in Citra. Tony, the guy with the yellow shirt, gave us a tour of his planted tree area.

    Then all 19 of us ate a delicious chicken dinner (for a fee). The little girl facing the camera is my granddaughter.

    Then those of us that wanted to buy trees had a chance to fill our vehicles.

    Tony is in the yellow shirt, this time facing us.

    We had a great time. If anyone else wants to have a fieldtrip there, you can contact him or his wife. They are both wonderful people to visit with. I've been there twice.

    Christine

  • the_musicman
    15 years ago

    thanks for the tour!
    if it were in the cards, i'd go check that place out this weekend... Citra is a nice day-trip from Tampa.
    still, i've enjoyed it vicariously here.
    thanks again, christine!

  • happy_fl_gardener; 9a, near DeLand
    15 years ago

    Musicman---You are very welcome. I forgot about the pictures. I found them when I was looking for my winter protection pictures that I just posted.

    Christine

  • whgille
    15 years ago

    Nice pictures Christine. Very pretty granddaughter!
    We had olive trees in Phoenix planted as a shade trees in a nearby supermarket. Anyone could pick olives if they wanted too, and I always saw people harvesting.
    Before we moved, a farm owner was producing a very good quality olive oil, to rival any in the Mediterranean regions.

  • happy_fl_gardener; 9a, near DeLand
    15 years ago

    Willy---I hope to make my own olive oil someday too, that is if they are really going to flower this far south. We sure are getting the needed chill hours this year!

    Christine

  • sunngoddess46
    9 years ago

    Hi,
    I just bought a small olive tree and would appreicate any info anyone could give me.I live in Leesburg Florida and wonder how my tree will grow here. Thanks for any information.
    Cheryl

  • TampaBull
    9 years ago

    Edit:

    Just noticed the date on the post I was replying to.
    Either way, FYI, this is the new website:

    Here is a link that might be useful: Olive Branch Tree Farm

    This post was edited by TampaBull on Wed, Apr 23, 14 at 17:35

  • judyk_2008 9a DeLeon Sprs. (NW Volusia)
    9 years ago

    sunngoddess46 I bought my trees from Quality Green Specialists in DeLand. They have a website with a lot of info and I'm sure you could call with questions.

  • garyfla_gw
    9 years ago

    Hi
    Since this is a very old post ,curious as to how the trees are doing?? gary

  • featherhoof
    9 years ago

    Happy fl Gardner pulled up most of her trees and might pull up the rest. They bloomed a few times but never made any fruit to speak of. I imagine she might see this thread and chime in .

  • flabbysdad
    9 years ago

    I have five olive trees on my property in Central Florida (Melbourne) that I planted at various times. All the varieties are those grown in Spain in an area with similar climatic conditions to here. The oldest is about fifteen years old, very tall 25 to 30 feet and the most recent is an Arbequina planted in 2010 about 12 to 15 feet tall, very full and healthy looking. None of the trees has ever come into bloom. What am I not doing right?

  • flabbysdad
    9 years ago

    Here is the olive planted about ten to twelve years ago.

  • flabbysdad
    9 years ago

    Here is the Arbequenia planted in 2010.

  • flabbysdad
    9 years ago

    Arbequina!

  • flabbysdad
    9 years ago

    I was hoping for some help. I guess there are no answers here.

  • judyk_2008 9a DeLeon Sprs. (NW Volusia)
    9 years ago

    flabbysdad, go to Quality Green Specialists website. That's where I bought my trees from. The one I bought this spring has olives on it. I'm sure they would be happy to answer your questions.

  • sandy808
    9 years ago

    I live in north Florida and have a couple of young Arbequina trees planted. I am actually in zone 8b now. One of them has a fair number of olives on it this year, and another has just a few. The smallest one hasn't produced yet and the birds stole the tag stating the variety of that one. These were all 3 gallon trees and have been in the ground about a year. The smaller one without the tag was planted during the winter this year, so other than having new growth is not producing yet.

    I haven't fussed with these trees much. I gave them organic fertilizer and compost, late spring, water only during extended drought, and do my best to keep the fire ants out of them. They are lush and doing beautifully. I'm thinking these are trees that do best with the "less is more" approach. I did water regularly when first planted, as I do with any tree to get the roots established.

    I purchased them from Nobles Greenhouse....not sure who their wholesaler is.

  • flabbysdad
    9 years ago

    Thank you judyk_2008 and sandy808 for your responses. I will contact Quality and hope for some more help. It is really frustrating to to watch these beautiful trees which have grown so nicely and never seem to produce a flower. Sandy since you live further north than I perhaps the weather is a factor.
    Judy where do you live?

    Thanks for the help.

  • judyk_2008 9a DeLeon Sprs. (NW Volusia)
    9 years ago

    flabbysdad, I'm west of Daytona. There is a commercial olive grove within a mile of me. Also, the mayor of Holly Hill (Daytona area) has a grove that they have had articles about in the newspaper.