Frequently Asked Questions
Can olives be grown in cold climates?Are they green or black olives?
How long before I get fruit?
Can they be grown in pots?
What pests do they get?
How much fruit can one tree bear?
How do I process the fruit?
Can they be used for Bonsai?
Do you grow any other plants?
Can olives be grown in cold climates?
Superficial damage to olive trees begins when temperatures fall into the low 20s. Significant damage occurs by mid-teens. Single digit temperatures are fatal. Olive trees (especially semi-dwarf cultivars) are easily grown in containers for bringing indoors for protection in winter.Are they green or black olives?
Both. All olives left on the tree will eventually ripen to black. "Green ripe olives" are picked at a certain stage of development, when the juice inside turns from clear to milky. Olives to be used for oil are left on the tree until at least some color change has occurred. "Black ripe olives" can be ripened on the tree or turned black in processing, as with "California Black Ripe Olives."How long before I get fruit?
That is a function of cultivar. 'Arbequina' and 'Koroneiki' fruit at an early age (about 3 years). Other cultivars do not make fruit until they are five to twelve years old. Most olive cultivars will not produce fruit without a pollinator tree of a different cultivar. There are also non-fruiting cultivars of olive. Olives grown from seed may never produce fruit, and if they do, will not likely have the same characteristics as the parent tree. Click here to learn more about olive tree varieties.Can they be grown in pots?
Yes, but it will require more attention and care than growing in the ground. Most people use a pot that is too small and do not water sufficiently. To keep any tree in a pot for long requires a really big pot. Olive trees can make fruit while growing in pots, but keep in mind that if your olive tree does not put on new growth, you will have little or no fruit the following year. Your olive tree will continue to need light and water if you bring in indoors for the winter; a bright, cool spot out of heater drafts is preferred. See also our Blog page for articles on growing olive trees.What pests do they get?
In over 20 years of growing olives, the only significant pest we have found is an armored scale insect.Adult scales look like 1/2 a BB and are usually on the shadier parts of the tree (e.g. undersides of the leaves).
The trees you receive from us will be pest-free, but you should monitor your tree for pests.
If scale insects are found they may be controlled by a number of products, both organic and not.
If you have only one or a few trees the simplest control is manual — remove them with your hands.
If there are ants on your tree, it may be because they are eating the droppings of scale insects.
Untreated scale infestations may lead to the development of sooty mold.
How much fruit can one tree bear?
Semi-dwarf varieties typically bear around 20 pounds of fruit per year at maturity. Larger cultivars such as 'Mission' can bear up to 100 pounds of fruit in a season, and the giant 'Chemlali' can produce nearly a ton of fruit in one year.How do I process the fruit?
There are as many ways to process olives as there are grandmothers in the Mediterranean Basin.We suggest starting at the website of the University of California at Davis for recipes.
Our favorite way to process olives is the recipe for dried olives you'll find on pages 18 & 19 of this .pdf file.
http://anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu/pdf/8267.pdf