Olives In Containers
 

Hi, Everybody,

I have two olive plants in 10-litres (2 and a half gal)
containers.

I put 1-metre (1 yard) long stakes - one in the centre,
and three around the edge, tied at the top, making a
tripod. Plus twine loosely holding the branches
inward.

The plants themselves are a bit taller than 2 feet
right now.

So how big should I let them get before re-potting? I
figure that the next step will be 20-litre (5 gal)
containers. Any idea on their ultimate size and
comfortable container capacity? Having proper ground
space is a few years away, but I would like to keep
them going until then.

BTW, these olives were actually bought on impulse. I
had had a conflict with a person, and thought that it
would be classy to *literally* send them an olive
branch. It worked (at least partially.)


--
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Endangered Bucket Farmer wrote:
Hi, Everybody,

I have two olive plants in 10-litres (2 and a half gal)
containers.

I put 1-metre (1 yard) long stakes - one in the centre,
and three around the edge, tied at the top, making a
tripod. Plus twine loosely holding the branches
inward.

The plants themselves are a bit taller than 2 feet
right now.

So how big should I let them get before re-potting? I
figure that the next step will be 20-litre (5 gal)
containers. Any idea on their ultimate size and
comfortable container capacity? Having proper ground
space is a few years away, but I would like to keep
them going until then.

BTW, these olives were actually bought on impulse. I
had had a conflict with a person, and thought that it
would be classy to *literally* send them an olive
branch. It worked (at least partially.)



As they get about 12 meters tall, you will need a bit larger container
than 20 liters.

In article
t,
says...
Endangered Bucket Farmer wrote:
Hi, Everybody,

I have two olive plants in 10-litres (2 and a half gal)
containers.

I put 1-metre (1 yard) long stakes - one in the centre,
and three around the edge, tied at the top, making a
tripod. Plus twine loosely holding the branches
inward.

The plants themselves are a bit taller than 2 feet
right now.

So how big should I let them get before re-potting? I
figure that the next step will be 20-litre (5 gal)
containers. Any idea on their ultimate size and
comfortable container capacity? Having proper ground
space is a few years away, but I would like to keep
them going until then.

BTW, these olives were actually bought on impulse. I
had had a conflict with a person, and thought that it
would be classy to *literally* send them an olive
branch. It worked (at least partially.)



As they get about 12 meters tall, you will need a bit larger container
than 20 liters.


Yeah-but... They aren't anywhere near that big *now*.
These are only maybe 18 months old.

And they will take years to be full-sized. And, by the
time they are too big for containers, I hope to have
some permanent ground-space.

Anyway, as soon as I have time to buy some 20-litre
buckets, I will re-pot. Maybe getting a look at the
roots (density) will help me to understand their rate
of growth.


--
Get Credit Where Credit Is Due
http://www.cardreport.com/
Credit Tools, Reference, and Forum

Endangered Bucket Farmer wrote:

In article
t,
says...

Endangered Bucket Farmer wrote:

Hi, Everybody,

I have two olive plants in 10-litres (2 and a half gal)
containers.

I put 1-metre (1 yard) long stakes - one in the centre,
and three around the edge, tied at the top, making a
tripod. Plus twine loosely holding the branches
inward.

The plants themselves are a bit taller than 2 feet
right now.

So how big should I let them get before re-potting? I
figure that the next step will be 20-litre (5 gal)
containers. Any idea on their ultimate size and
comfortable container capacity? Having proper ground
space is a few years away, but I would like to keep
them going until then.

BTW, these olives were actually bought on impulse. I
had had a conflict with a person, and thought that it
would be classy to *literally* send them an olive
branch. It worked (at least partially.)



As they get about 12 meters tall, you will need a bit larger container
than 20 liters.



Yeah-but... They aren't anywhere near that big *now*.
These are only maybe 18 months old.

And they will take years to be full-sized. And, by the
time they are too big for containers, I hope to have
some permanent ground-space.

Anyway, as soon as I have time to buy some 20-litre
buckets, I will re-pot. Maybe getting a look at the
roots (density) will help me to understand their rate
of growth.



By the time you plant them in the ground, they will probably be stunted
and crippled by their years in a container and never achieve their full
potential. So why not go all the way and make bonsai? Olive trees make
excellent bonsai subjects.

Lorenzo L. Love
http://home.thegrid.net/~lllove

“If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.”
Cicero