Content
- Fertilize olive tree for better growth
- Stimulate growth with the right fertilizer
- Which fertilizer is suitable?
- How is fertilized?
- Adhere to winter break
- Frequency of fertilization depends on age
- Do not fertilize seedlings and cuttings
- Tips & Tricks
Fertilize olive tree for better growth
In fact, the slow-growing olive tree needs no additional nutrients. The soils of his Mediterranean homeland are rather nutrient-poor and their roots are designed to extract even the slightest bit of nutrients and moisture.
Stimulate growth with the right fertilizer
For that reason, it is perfectly sufficient to repot your olive tree about every two to three years and, on occasion, replace the spent substrate. However, olives grow very slowly - and additional fertilizers, especially with phosphate and nitrate, can stimulate growth and increase your tree's resistance to disease and pest infestation.
Which fertilizer is suitable?
Unfortunately, there is no special fertilizer for olive trees in the trade to buy. However, commercial fertilizer is completely sufficient. It is best to use a fertilizer for balcony or potted plants or a long-term fertilizer.
How is fertilized?
In the growing season between April and September, you should fertilize your olive tree about every 14 days. Add liquid fertilizer to the irrigation water according to the packaging instructions and pour the tree with it. Optionally - for example, in very dry and hot summers - you can also fill the mixture in a spray bottle and spray around the plant. Please do not do this in the midday sun, but in the early morning or in the evening hours. Otherwise, the leaves could be burned. Slow-release fertilizers, however, only feed you until July, because in the cold season, the olive needs a break and must not be fertilized.
Adhere to winter break
In autumn and in winter, an olive tree requires less nutrients, so you should stop fertilizing from about October. Olive trees can be quickly overfertilized, which in turn leads to diseases and pest infestation. Also the watering should limit you in the winter months, but not completely stop. Do not forget to water in winter, otherwise your olive tree threatens to dry up.
Frequency of fertilization depends on age
Make sure that younger trees have much less fertilizer than older ones. Only from the age of about two years you can start with regular fertilizer in full. Before that, it is sufficient to provide the young trees with one sixth of the usual amount of fertilizer only in the spring and summer months. At this age, one fertilizer addition per month is sufficient.
Do not fertilize seedlings and cuttings
Especially seedlings and cuttings should under no circumstances be stimulated by fertilizer to grow. The joy of the tree would not last long, because it would respond quickly due to the over-fertilization. For such young plants, the nutrients contained in the substrate are completely sufficient. Apart from that, cuttings that are not or only slightly rooted are not yet able to absorb the nutrients they have been given.
Tips & Tricks
Yellow-staining leaves in the olive tree may indicate an excess of water and nutrients, but also an infection with spider mites. Use fertilizer as sparingly as possible, then your tree will feel well all around.