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Olive tree, diagnosis

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  • 30-04-2021 9:22am
    #1
    regedit
    Registered Users Posts: 862 ✭✭✭


    We got an olive tree for a nursery some 4 years ago and planted it in a raised bed (see photo). It came in a large enough pot at the time and thrived in the new setting up to this year with very little input from us aside from the occasional watering.
    This year, even though the winter was not harsh (plus the tree is protected from frost owing to the fact that it's protected from 2 sides by the garden walls), it simply doesn't seem right. The branches in the lower end of the trunk have lost most of their leaves and even though it's late April, it's showing no signs of progress. The top is slightly better but the leaves are discloloured. We love it so much but not sure what's to be done. Previous years, it would have multiple new shoots from the base of the trunk, this year, I think there's one only. I've watered it once this year only as I though it may need more water but then, I may have made a mistake.
    Any advice, hugely appreciated. Hope we're not overthinking it and it will bounce back soon


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    #2
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 7,499 ✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    Lovely tree,
    I cant help with your question......
    The missus has been talking about getting one for ages.
    can I ask how much it cost?


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    #3
    Thud
    Registered Users Posts: 2,591 ✭✭✭Thud


    hopefully it's not this but worth checking
    https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-52234561.amp


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    #4
    regedit
    Registered Users Posts: 862 ✭✭✭regedit


    BrownFinger wrote: »
    Lovely tree,
    I cant help with your question......
    The missus has been talking about getting one for ages.
    can I ask how much it cost?


    After a lot of haggling, we got it for 600 euro. Because of the said disease, many garden centers don't have them anymore. It's a Greek olive tree (allegedly) and apparently, some could get them in from Greece but not from Italy


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    #5
    SouthWesterly
    Registered Users Posts: 6,757 ✭✭✭SouthWesterly


    Lovely tree. Got one in lidl this week for e4.


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    #6
    standardg60
    Registered Users Posts: 4,687 ✭✭✭standardg60


    There isn't any course of action to take other than wait and see. It has been a funny old Spring weather wise with some fairly severe late frosts and cold winds, so hopefully it will recover once it warms up.


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    #7
    Reckless Abandonment
    Registered Users Posts: 1,500 ✭✭✭Reckless Abandonment


    It might need a feed. If its been in there 4 years it might have used up all the goodness. What type of soil mix did you use for it ?


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    #8
    regedit
    Registered Users Posts: 862 ✭✭✭regedit


    standardg60 wrote: »
    There isn't any course of action to take other than wait and see. It has been a funny old Spring weather wise with some fairly severe late frosts and cold winds, so hopefully it will recover once it warms up.

    Thanks for that. Nothing else left then to wait and see
    Reckless Abandonment wrote: »
    It might need a feed. If its been in there 4 years it might have used up all the goodness. What type of soil mix did you use for it ?
    I have no idea TBH. When we got it, we got the raised planters and I specifically spoke to the 'landscaper' instructing him to have a dedicated mix for the olive tree to try replicate its natural habitat but he was just a cowboy so not sure he did anything. probably cheap clay. I've fed it once with a manure like mix.
    Hoping it will bounce back


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    #9
    Reckless Abandonment
    Registered Users Posts: 1,500 ✭✭✭Reckless Abandonment


    Might be worth giving it a feed in the next week or so. As standardg60 said its early yet so probably best wait and see how it goes.


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    #10
    CelticRambler
    Registered Users Posts: 6,822 ✭✭✭CelticRambler


    regedit wrote: »
    I've watered it once this year only as I though it may need more water but then, I may have made a mistake.
    regedit wrote: »
    I've fed it once with a manure like mix.

    I'm not an expert on olive trees, but I know their natural habitats well and I suspect you're being "too nice" to it - essentially killing it with kindness. Olive trees like harsh, dry conditions in winter - it's very unlikely that it would ever need more water in an Irish winter. On the contrary, it may be getting too wet and struggling to meet its nitrogen requirements.

    However, as the trees live on poor soil, then unless you're hoping to harvest a great crop of olives from it, nitrogen is probably the only thing it needs, and the manure may have been too rich a mix.

    This page gives information that might be useful, and the following paragraph sounds like it describes what you're seeing:
    The goal is to maintain leaf nitrogen levels of 1.5 to 2.0%. Deficiency level is less than 1.4%. In deficient trees, the leaves are small and yellowish. Shoot growth is less than 8”. These symptoms often occur in soils that are cold and wet during the winter when nitrogen is not as readily available, but disappear in the early summer. Nitrogen can be applied either with organic or with conventional fertilizers.


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