Leaves on Olive Tree are Curling up and Falling Off

[ChanellG]

I must have misread the thread title - no idea why - but I felt absolutely sure that we were discussing olive trees here - but yes the same would apply to shrubs too - especially bare rooted ones

But my comment, directed specifically at Pat, was about pruning plants.

 

[ChanellG]

It is not just the amount of sunshine that is important - but also the climate and as it is those two things combined that are needed in order to successfully grow Olive Trees - although the amount of sunlight may not be an issue - your climate very definitely would be.

So as I'm not altogether sure that you fully understand what was said - I will say again - as moisture is an olive tree's worst enemy due to the fact that - Olive Trees are best suited to hot arid (desert like) climates with an extremely long dry season, very low humidity and hardly any yearly rainfall - your humid climate with no dry reason and fairly high average rainfall would not be suited to growing olives - which is most likely - one of the main reasons why you haven't seen growing in your area.

My climate is "dry" often enough. It's humid in summer, but as soon as fall rolls in the air gets drier and cooler. Screwed up all my cuttings I was propagating last year.

Anyway, the olive tree at the farmer's market seems fine; the one we have for sale at work is Arbequina.

 

[gata montes]

My climate is "dry" often enough. It's humid in summer, but as soon as fall rolls in the air gets drier and cooler. Screwed up all my cuttings I was propagating last year.

Unfortunately you are clearly not fully understanding the basic principals here - as you still appear to think that your climate is suitable for growing olives.

So once again - although my advice is purely based on the knowledge and experience gained from growing a vast amount of olive trees - very successfully - for a great number of years - in fact almost a lifetime - I would not recommend your climate as being one suited to growing olives - for the simple reason - that moisture is an olive tree's worst enemy - due to the fact that

Olive Trees are best suited to hot arid (desert like) climates with an extremely long dry season- meaning around 6 months or more without rain - very low humidity and hardly any yearly rainfall - which means somewhere between 300 - 600 mm per year - max.

Which is why - your moist humid climate with no dry season and a fairly high average rainfall - meaning an average of somewhere around 1500 mm or more - is not suited to growing olives - especially as trying to grow olives in a moist humid climate with reasonably regular rainfall - generally leads to root rot, fungal disease and more often than not an untimely death.

 

[ChanellG]

Unfortunately you are clearly not fully understanding the basic principals here - as you still appear to think that your climate is suitable for growing olives.

So once again...

Well, apparently you need to fly over here and explain it to all the people who are currently growing olives successfully.

 

[gata montes]

Well, apparently you need to fly over here and explain it to all the people who are currently growing olives successfully.

Really ??? Somewhat confusing - considering that earlier you said

I have never known anyone to grow them here and had not seen one in person until I went to Spain.

To be honest - considering that I was merely providing you with information that I hoped would help avoid you making a costly mistake - particularly as olive trees are generally fairly expensive to buy - I have to say that I find your unpleasant attitude leaves a lot to be desired.

I would also add that as I don't like to pass on misleading information - the information was not my opinion but based on actual fact - and therefore as it is widely known that Alabama is an area considered - by the International Olive Growers Society not suitable for growing olives - I thought it only fair to mention it - especially as - up till now - apart from a small area in Georgia - all attempts to grow olives have failed.

 

[HomeJungle]

Really ??? Somewhat confusing - considering that earlier you said



To be honest - considering that I was merely providing you with information that I hoped would help avoid you making a costly mistake - particularly as olive trees are generally fairly expensive to buy - I have to say that I find your unpleasant attitude leaves a lot to be desired.

I would also add that as I don't like to pass on misleading information - the information was not my opinion but based on actual fact - and therefore as it is widely known that Alabama is an area considered - by the International Olive Growers Society not suitable for growing olives - I thought it only fair to mention it - especially as - up till now - apart from a small area in Georgia - all attempts to grow olives have failed.

Hi Gata Montes, I just wanted you to know that up until now I haven't been able to get the olive tree repotted. Since my husband is on midnights and things here have been quite crazy lately. The leaves are all dry and falling off everywhere still. My husband and I were feeding our cats today, their bowls are near the tree and he says to me to come and look at this. There are new shoots ALL OVER my olive tree. I knew it was not dead because even though the leaves are the branches are still supple. My husband tell me every day that my tree is dead and wants to know when I am getting rid of it. I stuck to my guns saying that it was still alive and it is!! I am so thrilled. Thank you for all your wonderful advice.!!

 

[gata montes]

Hi Gata Montes, I just wanted you to know that up until now I haven't been able to get the olive tree repotted. Since my husband is on midnights and things here have been quite crazy lately. The leaves are all dry and falling off everywhere still. My husband and I were feeding our cats today, their bowls are near the tree and he says to me to come and look at this. There are new shoots ALL OVER my olive tree. I knew it was not dead because even though the leaves are the branches are still supple. My husband tell me every day that my tree is dead and wants to know when I am getting rid of it. I stuck to my guns saying that it was still alive and it is!! I am so thrilled. Thank you for all your wonderful advice.!!

Oh my - you've just made my day - as not only is it wonderful news that your olive tree is showing signs of recovery in what is actually quite a short period of time but also because I really appreciate you taking the time to let me know

But yes I can well imagine your excitement at seeing the new buds and of course how pleased you must feel that you stuck to your guns and didn't discard the tree - especially as I'd forgotten to say that an olive tree can often look as though its dead for anything up to a year - before it shows any signs of recovery.

To be honest I wouldn't worry too much about re-potting at this present moment in time - as apart from the fact that I think it might be better to leave it until your tree has fully recovered - it won't do it any harm either - particularly as olive trees don't mind being a little pot bound.

Once again so very many thanks for letting me know how your tree is coming on and will look forward to hearing that your olive tree has fully recovered and is back to its former glory - in the meantime if you need any further help I am more than happy to oblige

 

[HomeJungle]

The only reason I was going to repot is because there are some roots sticking out of the top of the soil. My pot was not deep enough, I have since bought a deeper one. I have a cat that likes to pee in my large plants so I put foil all over the top of the dirt. I did this with the olive tree, do you think that this may be why the roots still look ok?

You are welcome, I just thought that you might like to know how the tree was doing after giving me all that great information. Once all the dead leaves fall off I'll post a photo of it. Thanks again!

 

[gata montes]

The only reason I was going to repot is because there are some roots sticking out of the top of the soil. My pot was not deep enough, I have since bought a deeper one. I have a cat that likes to pee in my large plants so I put foil all over the top of the dirt. I did this with the olive tree, do you think that this may be why the roots still look ok?

You are welcome, I just thought that you might like to know how the tree was doing after giving me all that great information. Once all the dead leaves fall off I'll post a photo of it. Thanks again!

Apologies - as because olive trees have very shallow root systems and its not at all unusual to see roots above the soil level - I misunderstood what you meant when you said that you had lots of roots exposed - but as I have now just realized what you meant - in that there were a lot of roots exposed due to the fact that the pot was not deep enough - then yes - although olive tree roots are pretty hardy and the foil wouldn't have made much difference under normal circumstances - I do think that if there were a lot of roots exposed - the foil may well have offered some protection - which of course is mainly due to your ingenious way of protecting your plants from your cat.

As I've mentioned before you're welcome and yes as you already know you were totally right in thinking that - which is why I was so totally chuffed - as although I would always love to know how someone's plant is getting on if I've helped them - not everyone does as you did - in meantime - I shall look forward to the photo of your olive tree once it has regained its former beauty - which hopefully for you - won't be too long now

 

[HomeJungle]

I didn't realize that olive trees had shallow roots or that they would be seen a bit above the soil. My tree is not really bad. I did buy a new pot the same size just deeper. But the roots on top still look good and I really don't want to mess with it while it is making a come back. I think I'll just leave it for now.

Spring is finally coming Here and I am looking foreword to putting the rtree outside. What night time temps can this tre

e handle? Also we get quite a bit of rain and I remember you saying that they like it dry. I am thinking that I may need to rig something up to keep most of the rain off of it.

Here are some photos for you. I post one of the tree with leaves when she finally fills out. There are a couple of photos with twisty ties that the previous owner put on the tree, there were four of thsm

. So sad.

 

[gata montes]

Many thanks for the photos HomeJungle and oh my those buds are a wonderful sight and extremely healthy too

However now that I can see what you mean about the roots - then yes I would agree that your tree does need to go into a deeper pot - particularly as the soil needs to lightly cover up to the base of the tree - in fact using your third photo as an example - just up to and including where there is a green patch and although I think it will be fine for a while longer - I wouldn't leave re-potting too far into the warmer months - as it will adapt far quicker if done before then.

Putting your tree outside is an excellent idea - in fact I think you'll find it responds even quicker once outside . As for night time temperatures - although once established olive trees can easily withstand anything below 5F or -15C which mine very often do - as yours has been ailing I think it would be safe to say anywhere between 23F to 14F or -5C to -10C should be fine - but if you were at all worried you could always cover it in horticultural fleece overnight - which would give some protection from the harsher temperatures and although a little infrequent rain would be okay - regular amounts would very definitely do more harm than good - especially as yours is still in its recovery stage and too much moisture could easily have it take a turn for the worse.

Although I agree its a shame that the ties were left on so long that the bark grew over them - as they won't actually do any harm - I would just cut the visible bits off - especially as once the trunk of your tree fills out you won't even notice them - in fact as olive trees generally have gnarly knobbly trunks - they will more than likely add character

 

[gata montes]

Thought I'd post a few photos of one of my 50 year old olive trees that lost one of its main trunks during a storm a couple of winters ago - as I think they may help in letting you see just how shallow the roots of an olive tree actually are

as well as - although this isn't one of my best examples of a gnarly trunked olive tree - hopefully give an idea of how much character olive trees have

 

[TinaLovesGardening]

Hi and welcome HomeJungle - As the grower of a vast amount of Olive Trees - I would first just like to reassure you that all is not yet lost - as olive trees are a lot more hardy and far more resilient than many people think.

My immediate thoughts as to why your olive tree is losing its leaves - is because your tree is in shock - but not due to the fact that you re-potted it - but due to the change in its environment - for the simple reason - that Olive Trees are very definitely outdoor plants only and although they will sometimes survive if grown in a cool conservatory with plenty of sunlight - they rarely cope with the atmosphere when grown indoors which unfortunately is more often than not the cause of their untimely demise - mainly because the artificial environment is far too warm and dry for them - the first signs of which are very similar to what you are experiencing - the leaves start to show signs of drying, curling up and falling off.

In fact the very best thing that you could do for your tree if you want it to recover - is to put it outside in a sheltered south or west facing spot - as by doing that - providing your tree has good drainage, gets plenty of sunlight and is kept on the dry side - I think you will soon see it returning to how it originally looked.

I would just add that olive trees are actually quite hardy and can withstand temperatures of well below - 15 C easily and still survive - in fact mine often go to well below that without suffering too much - they also don't like being too moist and are best if kept on the very dry side and don't like to be fertilized too often either - once a year is more than adequate.

nearly forgot - although its always tempting in these situations to want to water more than is necessary - your tree will recover far quicker if kept on the dry side and also - I would not recommend pruning your tree just yet - as its way, way too young for that - pruning is best left until the tree has become more established and even then it would only be minimal - as Olives require very little in the way of pruning.

Hi, I too have a similar situation with an olive tree. It's an 'indoor mission olive' tree I bought from Trader Joe 2 yrs ago. It's in a pot right now and the tag says that it can handle -5 degrees. We now live in zone 5. I was outdoor when we lived in Calif in the south bay. It grew fine during summer/fall months. Then winter came and I moved it by the back door during our first snow. Then a few weeks later, temps dropped to -5 with snow so I brought it back inside. I've noticed the leaves curl and dry. It's in the sun in our kitchen. It's about 2 ft high. I thought it's too young to leave outside in the snow/cold temps being in a pot. Will this grow in a green house? Should I repot in a huge pot and add layers of mulch to keep the roots warm and leave outside? Thank you for any suggestions.