No use dwelling on that, they are gone but there is plenty left. There is still several hundred left today and are being farmed as a small enterprise. I am still permitted to go there and collect. When i first started collecting them, i selected the best i could find and started to collect them. That was my first mistake. I didnt have a choice with regards to the timming, they were being culled so it was now or never, that was April 2007. I only managed to save about 20 or 30 percent of those trees, i collected about 20, maybe more. I collected about 10 more in July this year and ended up running out of time towards the end of the day, so i just potted them all in straight Diatomite.
What i usually do with them is as soon as i get them home i get the chainsaw and cut them off at the widest part of the base. Then I make up a mix with about 75% organic and 25% decomposed granite. I soak them for a few hours in super thrive after cutting them off and then have a spell for an hour or two and then start to get everything else ready to pot them. After i pot them (wire them into the pot also so as you dont get any movement) i put them in a shaded spot for about 2 weeks. Then i put them in a semi-shaded spot for a further 2 weeks(aproximately) After that they go in full sun and I start praying! I have lost more Olives taking more care then i have lost taking almost no care.
With these most recent ones, by the time i was ready to pot them I was almost over it! Most of them i didnt even bother tying into the pots! I just stuck them in the pots with 100% Diatomite, put them on my benches in full sun straight away and low and behold most are growing, i think that only two are not showing much activity!
Peter.
with the 100% diatomite how regular do you need to water in extreme heat?
