Last winter I ordered a dwarf olive tree and promptly killed the little thing. Guilt prompted me to replace for free if I could, and research told me that suckers grow better if you just put them in the ground outside, and keep them damp.

I really want a couple olive trees in containers, and since our golf courses have many olive trees, I helped myself to suckers growing on the trunks as we played our rounds of golf. I kept them in water in a styrofoam cup as we played, brought them home, put rooting hormone on the ends and stuck them in the dirt here and there in the yard.

The first batch didn't take at all. The second batch has been in the ground for 6 weeks. This morning we have growth on two! YAY!! New leaves are forming!! I am taking this to mean success!!

It's very obvious when they don't take because the leaves and trunk go brown, but there is one that is still green (no growth), AND the two that show baby green leaves.

My question to you is When should I dig them up and put them in their containers? They can't stay where they are because Olive Trees grow huge, and we don't have that much room.

Anyone with experience in this? How and when can I transplant without killing them?

Thanks!
Suzi

There are more new leaves this morning! I'm pretty happy about this! First thing I've propagated from a cutting. Trying to learn before my order comes from UC Davis next winter. I ordered pomegranites, figs, olives and grapevine cuttings from them.

Those will be dormant, so I'll treat them differently.