Olive tree winter - instructions & common problems

Olive trees are in vogue and are often sold, often with the indication that the respective dealer leads the hardiest olives. But frost hardy (= the frost grown locally of course) are olive trees with us once not at all, and hardy only if you take care. Olive trees thrive really well only in a Mediterranean climate, we unfortunately do not have in Germany. Mediterranean means subtropical, dry, hot summers, rainy mild winters and many hours of sun, so hibernating an olive tree can cause problems for us:

1 of 4

Olive trees in the bucket overwinter

The "normal olive tree" survives our winter only well protected, so you can help him:

• In the beginning is the purchase of a healthy olive tree grown for culture in Germany (see "Buying an olive tree")
• He usually moves in as a young plant and is then still quite sensitive
• It is best to winter a young olive tree in the house
• As he is accustomed to from Mediterranean regions, with a significant drop in temperature in winter
• However, not until frosty cold, otherwise olive trees would not evergreen, but deciduous
• An olive tree needs a cool, bright room to spend the winter
• Any temperature between 5 and 18 ° C is possible in principle
• The perfect winter home for the olive tree would be a winter garden with UV-transparent glazing
• After that come conservatories with normal glazing, garage, staircase
• Even in the cheapest version much less light than in the Mediterranean, so the olive tree should refuel as long as possible outdoors
• The evergreen tree needs a little water in the rest period (from autumn to reduce creeping), but no fertilizer
• The darker and colder the olive stands, the less water, so that just does not dry out the root
• Ventilate the winter quarters more often, plants need air exchange, the risk of fungal attack decreases
• In the spring as early as possible to the outside, pour a little more and fertilize from budding start
• At first be careful with the sun, clear out on a gloomy day or first shade, otherwise the leaves will burn

That was the gray theory, but it should give people without a garage and Nebengelasse whose staircase is narrow. You can also winter an olive tree, on the balcony / terrace (see next paragraph), during the wintering service or, if necessary, in a warm interior. However, this is really stress for the olive, in both possible variants: You can put the olive tree in a warm room, enjoy with artificial plant light and continue to supply as normal; In this cultivation, he has to give up his rest, which he can only with optimal lighting and care. Or you can place it in a dark, cool cellar, provide it as little as possible with no additional lighting as if it were wintering in the cold house, then you must be prepared to throw away all the leaves. He usually goes out in the spring, but with the last strength ...

Tip - In the manual is missing the variant "warm and dark winter + through limited supply force into the rest period". And rightly so, because that works just as little as dieting with chocolate; Heat is a burst signal, in a dark, warm environment, the olive tree desperately produces long, thin, light-seeking Geil shoots and usually ends up in the midst of a flood of pests that plunge into these non-resisting shoots ...

Hibernate large olive tree in tub

If the hibernation in the bucket has worked well for years, the olive tree has started happily for a few years in the spring, was repotted several times and eventually sits in a bucket that no longer fits into a staircase and anyway only with heavy equipment would move,

Such olive trees are wintered where they stand, on the balcony or terrace. To survive that, they need winter protection; once the root would freeze through, that would be the end of the olive tree, and "the little bit of earth" in the bucket freezes much faster than the soil in the garden. You can do that:

• Put olive tree on insulated plinth, z. B. Wooden pallet frame designed with insulation boards
• After a few layers of insulation panels adjust the bucket and surround it with insulation
• Pull the frame up to one third of the trunk
• Empty space with a thick layer Fill the mulch with natural fleece, straw, several layers of jute
• Seal filling with cardboard or similar, against moisture and rot
• On the substructure comes a greenhouse frame, maybe a standard fits with glazing
• Homemade frames can either be made from finished windows or glazed
• It may also be a translucent film, but it insulates a little less, and there are all sorts of hoods to buy
• What's left depends on the expected cold in your home country
• If this can be frightening, you will need an airbag or heat radiator (even fairy lights give off some heat)
• Even outside, the evergreen olive trees need some water on frost-free days, the brighter they are, the more
• The whole thing is put up in the corner, which offers the most protection against wind and weather

To the olive tree, which is to hibernate outside in the garden earth, it goes in the article "So the olive tree winterfest".