Olive tree question

[MsWildFlower]

I have three olive trees that are who-knows-how-old. They have not fruited in the two years we've owned the property.

How old are olives before you get an olive harvest and can you grow new olive trees from the sucker/sproutie thingies that are popping out around the main trunk?




I did have four olive trees, one was planted a few weeks ago, a gift from my sister for my birthday. A very helpful nearly 3 year old pulled it out this morning and fed it to our goat. He was so pleased with himself ... and the goat was pretty pleased as well! Sigh.

[contadino]

I think most varieties fruit after about 5 years, but their yield increases due to pruning. I prune all of ours that are less than 20 years old for growth rather than fruit.

Yes, you can use the suckers (or sopracavalli) to create new trees. Just trim them all back, except the one you want to become a tree and let nature take her course.

[frozenthunderbolt]

agreed. prune Heavily! especialy if you are a home, not comercial grower dont let them get taller than the top of the tallest ladder that you feel compoftable weilding a chainsaw from. forget using anything else to cut reasonable sized branches, olive wood is HARD!
Best of luck. expect at best a 5:1 fruit to oil ratio if planing to use for that purpose