Growing olive trees (holy land or domestically grown varieties) definitely falls into the category of delayed gratification. That being said, like many things in life, they’re worth the wait. Under the proper conditions, olives don’t begin to bear fruit until they are about five years old. This means that the tree you purchase at a nursery will probably not produce any fruit for at least 2 years after you bring it home. Luckily, olive trees are beautiful and worth growing purely as an ornamental tree, so you’ll have something nice to look at while you wait.
I couldn’t resist this photo of a tiny olive tree by Marcel Germain
In the past, when writing about how to grow particular plants in a container, I wrote encyclopedia-length articles (see How to Grow an Apple Tree in a Container). I don’t really have the attention span to write such a post today (I caught a cold on that cruise last weekend), and I suspect you all would appreciate a more concise post anyway (right?).
Varieties of Olive Suitable for Container Growing
There are two very general types of olive, fruiting and fruitless. In case that wasn’t self-explanatory enough, some olives produce fruit that you want to eat, while others don’t produce fruit and are grown solely as an ornamental plant.
In the fruitless category, one variety I have worked with and had a lot of success growing in containers is Majestic Beauty. It is slow growing and has all of the beautiful attributes you’d like in an olive tree (multi-branch trunk, silvery-green foliage, etc) sans the messy fruit. If grown in the ground, Majestic Beauty can get to 25 feet tall, but in a container it will stay a nice patio tree size, well under 8 feet. Another dwarf fruitless variety is Little Ollie. I often see them trained as single ball topiary trees about 3-4 feet tall.
There are a number of fruiting varieties that are suitable for container growing, as olives are generally slow growers. But these varieties are ones I know will do well in containers:
- Arbequina (zones 7-10) – Is slow growing and has a weeping habit. Produces inch long fruit that can be picked green or black. Responds well to harsh pruning, so it would be a good choice for someone who doesn’t feel confident about their pruning skills, or for balconies with a low overhang.
- Picholine (zones 8-10) – Has an open, airy, upright habit. Pick fruit green. Picholine olives are highly prized by olive connosieurs.
Caring for Olive Trees
Olives are pretty low maintenance, great for someone who is new to growing fruit trees, or who likes plants that don’t mind a little neglect. Choose a large pot, something in the range of 24 inches wide and at least the same depth, and fast draining potting soil.
- Sun: Full sun to bright partial shade. Can withstand hot, baking sunlight.
- Watering: Allow them to dry out a bit in between waterings, never allowing the soil to become saturated. When the soil is dry in the first two inches, it’s time to water.
- Fertlizer: Use a high nitrogen fertilizer, something like a 17-6-10 timed release would be perfect.
- Pruning: Thin out young plants to 3-4 main branches. After blooming in spring, clip the tips of the branches. Make the cut just above the point where a pair of leaves attaches to the stem. Leave each branch at least six inches long, but how much longer is up to you and what will look good on your balcony or patio.
- Winter Care: If you live in zone 7 or lower, bring your tree inside for the winter. Leave it in a cool room, away from a heater or furnace, near a south or west facing window.
Olives are wind pollinated, and generally self-fertile. However, you will get better fruit production if you have more than one tree. Be sure to either choose two of the same variety, or if you are picking different varieties, two or more trees that bloom at the same time. Also, fruiting olives need two months of winter temperatures below 50F and above 22F, so plan to move your tree indoors at a strategic time so that they can get the cold weather they need without being damaged by temperatures that are too low. Obviously, if you have chosen a fruitless variety, you’ll be just fine with only one tree (or as many as you’d like) and almost any kind of winter conditions above freezing.
Pests
The only pest most balcony or patio olive growers need to worry about is scale, which is easy to treat with insecticidal soap or BioNeem. Spray the entire tree according to the package instructions. If your tree is indoors, be sure to choose an insecticidal soap approved for indoor use.
Pickling
This is a helpful pdf about olive pickling techniques from the University of California extension office.
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
Very timely, I’ve been wanting one for a while. Now that I know I can grow one in a container I have no excuses to not grow one. Awesome as always!
thanks so much for the useful info on olives in containers. Will a fruitless Wilsonii also work in a container? I understand its much like the Majestic Beauty. And can trees be left indefinitely in pots?
thank you
Adriana — I’ll totally help you pot it up if you get an olive. I’d love any excuse to see your garden!
Rita — I’ve never used a Wilsonii before, but a quick Google search seems to suggest that it is a slow growing variety that would probably do well in a big pot. With proper pruning (both of the roots and the branches) I don’t see any reason why an olive can’t live its entire life in a suitably large pot. When the tree becomes root bound, either upgrade to a larger pot, or trim the roots and branches back by 1/3.
thankyou for responding. I feel more confident in moving forward with my Wilsonii planting now.
I have read dozens of internet articles on growing olive trees in containers, but not one has said what size container you need. So here it is. What size container do you recommend for growing olive trees.
Tom–Maybe you missed this line in the post?
I never knew they’d grow in such a tiny container. Well done! We’ve got 500 of them, but they’re all in the ground.
I purchased an olive tree (var?)from an online nursery about 4 years ago. While the tree itself is doing very well, I have yet to see any olive fruit. This spring the tree was covered in small white flowers, which turned brown a few days later and then fell off. The tree looks great, lots of new growth but no fruit. Any ideas???
Dominic–Are you sure you have a fruiting variety? The fruitless olives will still produce flowers. If you are sure the variety you have is supposed to have olives, then you might try getting a second tree that flowers at the same time yours does.
I just returned from Israel and brought 6-8 olive stems back. If possible, how do I go about trying to grow these into actual trees?
Jim–I don’t have the slightest clue, sorry! You might find this link helpful: http://www.oliveoilsource.com/propagating_olive_trees.htm
My olive tree is loosing all of its leaves after I brought it indoors.
I have had it outside since last spring and it was doing great but now it seems to be drying up. The leaves are very brittle, even though I water it about once a week. It is by a sunny window in a cool room and not in direct hot sunshine. Can you tell me how I can save it. It is about 18″ tall and in a 14 or 16″ pot. I have had it since last February, so it almost made it one year but does not look like it will survive long enough to be put back outside in the spring. I am in Missouri so could not put it out until late March.
Thanks for any help you can offer!
Susan Meeker
(susieqinflo@yahoo.com)
Susan–A couple of things could be the problem. Is your olive tree near a heater? Or is the room it is in particularly dry? Another possibility is that you aren’t watering it frequently enough. A good rule of thumb is to water when the top two inches of the soil it is growing in are dry. Another possibility is that the pot it is in is too small, and that is causing your olive to dry out.