Growing olives in the greenhouse

We had two grown from cuttings taken in Greece about 7 or 8 years ago. One snuffed it 3 years ago during the harsh winter. The remaining one produced a single pea sized olive last year but at present is looking good and may well produce a crop of peas this year.
As far as olive oil goes, we'll just have to rely on Tesco and the few litres we bring back from Greece each year.

 

That's an impressive agave in the background Zigs.
Can I interest you in a bit of old wood from the true cross to go with the olive leaf you collected. I've stacks of it behind the shed.

 

In reply to Victoria:
You might google black and green olives, they are not a separate species. "the color of the olive corresponds to the ripeness of the fruit when picked. That’s it. Green olives are picked before ripening, and black olives are picked while ripe. And because raw olives are mostly inedible, both varieties normally undergo some form of curing process, either by being packed in salt, brined, pickled, or soaked in oil (or even just water) before being eaten. Generally, green olives are denser, firmer, and more bitter than black olives. The taste and texture of any olive, however, ultimately depend on the method and duration of curation. Any olive – even a green one – will grow softer in a brine. I suppose you could think about it like this: green olives are often used as stand-alone snacks, while black olives are commonly used in cooking, on pizzas, and in salads."

​

Read more: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/olives-difference-green-black/#ixzz2TbP3xkHw"​

There are about three thousand varieties and the variety determines the size and taste. I have a Sevallano and the olives are as large as a golf ball, however, the Argequina are small and dense but full of oil. And, there are any number of ways to cure them. You might check out this site, as it has a lot of information about curing them and making small batches of oil using a drinking glass, a cocktail glass, a razor blade and sieve, She has been very helpful to me starting this project, and other growers in Florida have been as well. Before starting this project I did considerable research, and as far as I can tell no one has ever tried to grow olives hydroponically, or extended the season using high tech lighting. According to the growers I have spoken with; 400 hours of cool temperature is enough to start the flowering process, and that is not a problem here in New York.​

I used some trimmed leaves for olive leaf tea and it is great. You might google that also, as it is VERY healthy to drink and is an antibiotic to boot.​

I live in upstate New York and will grow the olives only in the greenhouse and indoors under high tech LED grow lights during the winter. They actually spent last winter under the lights, so I got two seasons of growth in one year. One grower told me I could keep them growing for three years before letting them go dormant. Actually, I grow under the LEDs 365 days a year and have not purchased greens in years.​

​

Finally, thanks for the welcome; this looks like a good site with a lot of knowledgeable contributors.​

 

Hello hydrogardener and thank you for your informative post ... but I will forever disagree with your above statement ... and I agree I should not have put the word 'species' only 'variety', my mistake.


The olive tree against my kitchen wall has tiny olives which start off green and ripen to black. However, the olive tree behind my house and the one at my friends' house start off green and ripen to, well what can I say ... green, very large green ones. Under no circumstances do they ever turn black I can assure you. I am only saying what I know from many, many years of living in a country where olives grow naturally and I look at the trees on a daily basis.

I think I will stick to orange, tomato and beetroot juices for my health drinks.

Good luck with your venture.

 

I think general olives of the Olea europaea tree go through this ripe method; ie green is unripe, black is ripe.. in fact on the original olive tree (not cultivated) you can eat black olives straight off the tree.. however the Mediterranean farmer have hybridised many, so we have different varieties; Kalamata, Mazanilla, Beldi, Colossal, Gordal and Halkidiki to name a few.

As far as my understanding being a huge olive consumer; some olive varieties stay green without ripening, these include Nocellara and Picholine olives, whilst standard black olives and Kalamata olives are ripened. (Picholine actually turn yellowy-white if they are ripened)

Olives like Mazanilla are a green variety, but Beldi can be black or green, depending on their picking time.

Also Colossal, Gordal, Queen and Halkidiki are all green types.

There are mid-stage olives too, brown ones, there are very few types of brown olives, but I know they're picked mid-ripening.. they tend to be quite round too compared to the ovulate shape of most olives... their taste I find quite bland though; I much prefer the buttery taste of French olives, the zingy taste of Greek olives, or the smoky taste of black/red olives.

 

The olive trees have been wintering indoors under small LED grow lights and are responding nicely. This is a small Arbequina, a Spanish variety, that is less than a foot tall. Almost every branch on this small tree is beginning to flower. Using an artist's brush I am transferring pollen from flower to flower, but I don't believe that is necessary with this variety. When not being grown indoors my trees are greenhouse grown, hydroponically.

 

Victoria wrote: "I can't see where you are located, but to be honest, I don't think you have a hope down with the devil of producing edible olives, that is, should you have any produced.'

For the record, I am located in upstate New York, USA where we have several FEET of snow on the ground and another foot and a half on the way, also, where we have been continuously in the single digits F for weeks on end. That said, I may be overly optimistic, but, these certainly look like baby olives to me. Two trees are loaded with them and it is only February. Probably beginner's luck.

 

Olives are forming on all of the trees. It appears that there is going to be plenty of olives this year.

 

so I will not be buying any olive oil from you, I take it...

 

Well, in defense of poor old Zigs, I have an unfair advantage. There are at least 20 trees of various varieties to cross pollinate the trees that are not self fertile. And, when the trees flower in February they are in grow tents indoors, where I can ensure pollination by blowing the pollen around a confined space with a fan while I tap the blossom bearing branches.

 

You must have the patience of a saint hydrogardner. The olives are certainly high maintenance for you. How much fruit do you expect to get from them this season?

 

Sheal,
At this point it is very hard to predict, as this is the first time all of the trees have been heavy with blossoms. Some have blossomed and are setting fruit, some are still blossoming, some have buds formed that are green and have not opened yet. There are literally thousands of buds/flowers, but many will abort; as I have never done this before I can not estimate how many will take. The trees are now in the greenhouse getting natural light and warm days, being given phosphorus and potassium to promote fruiting. That said, there are many many tiny olives already formed on trees, so I know there will be enough to do something with, however at this point I am not able to estimate the volume.

 

So we'll have to wait until the harvest before we know, would that be mid or late summer? Are the flowers perfumed like other fruit trees?

 

I believe it will be in the fall sometime, but it will most likely be erratic because of all the different varieties. I read that there were some with perfumed aroma to them, but I did not smell anything at all, and I had them enclosed in a tent. They do produce LOTS of pollen though, it is all over the sides of the tents.

 

Sheal,
At this point it looks like I will have enough olives to cure several small batches of olives. Four or five varieties have good sized fruit already, with a few other varieties having lots of tiny olives. They seem to want to produce fruit at their own pace. I can at this point recommend varieties that, for me, grow well in containers: Arbequina, Koroneiki, Picholine and Arbosana. The others have only a few, or no olives, on them, however, all of the trees are very young. The tree in the photo is an Arbequina, but the Picholine and Koroneiki have even more olives, but they are much smaller right now. My Kalamata has only three olives, while the Tosca is still setting fruit. There are several sources online for home processing olives, so I am starting to look forward to doing so at some point, as it is not as complicated as I thought it would be.

http://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/pdf/8267.pdf