Discussions about propagating from cuttings, seeds, air layers etc. Going on a dig (Yamadori) or thinking of importing? Discuss how, when and where here.
Hi just collected my first olive today yay! found it naturally bonsai'ed on a lime stone ridge it has a chunky trunk heaps of tiny leaves (haven't worked out how to post pictures yet )
My question is how much of the foliage i need to remove for it to have the best chance of surviving?
I was able to get most of the root system quite a few small feeder roots and i have removed about a quarter of the foliage already it already has a nice shape and im not to keen on cutting it back to a stump if i can help it.
Any help from the more experienced olive collectors would be much appreciated thnx
" Abandon concepts, realize all - Encompass emptiness, and dissolve all duality."
you will probally lose all the leaves just because the tree will get stressed no matter what.olives shoot from old wood..i have found that if i leave mine soaking in seasol for a couple of weeks before potting them it gives them a better chance...either way it will shoot heaps especially this time of the year..goodluck
go have a word to Peter at "bonsai Emporium" inthe swan valley hes been playing with them for years...
Last edited by krittas on November 25th, 2010, 10:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.
That's interesting Krittas. This being my first year of collecting Olive I started by just potting up most collected trees(as after flat chopping the base they still had heaps of roots) and leaving out in the full spring sun. I got skittish with one that I thought was exceptionally good and dragged it into the shade house along with some others that I was not concerned about while leaving some great collected stock that was replaceable in full sun.
All of the ones in full sun have spurted back to life(even though they lost most of their old leaves) while most in the shade house a looking worse for wear. The most irreplaceable one in the shade house looks the best but has not yet shown any new growth.
It's too bad your in such a hurry cause the stories I could tell you, Bushels and baskets of stories, hole crates full of stories. But if you can spare a moment I will tell you one story.
Thanks for the help krittas im planning a trip up to bonsai emporium to check out their stock and pots and pick up some tools so ill ask peter when i go there.
Ive been soaking the soil regularly with seasol .... dont mind losing all the leaves if it sill shoots back hope i dont lose to many of the branches cos i like the shape of it.
cheers for the help
" Abandon concepts, realize all - Encompass emptiness, and dissolve all duality."
Thanks for the advice on this and the question mugen. I heve been eyeing off my mother in laws olive tree which has quite a well developed trunk, just biding my time
If you leave the foliage, most of it will dry and fall off, or you can cut it off. In any case, the tree should shoot back. I leave my olives in a Seasol solution for a few days (a couple of weeks wouldn't be a problem). Then I pot them up in a very draining mix (mixure of diatomite, zeolithe and coarse potting mix in equal proportions); this is important. Next I put in a shady spot for 2/3 week and then full sun, watering them often (I am in SA). I feed them lightly as soon as they bud.
mugen...i did a dig with a few guys on here afew months ago and we got a few olives in all differant sizes...they were soaked in a sollution of water and kelp(seasol).the bottoms chopped off and then..placed in training pots for the next year at least .(had to make my pot out of 200mmx40mm treated pine sleapers...big olive)...they were then placed in full sun...they are all shooting all over...peter has them at his nursery, take a look when you go out there....for the others i will try and get some shots for you...
Rob
here is a picture of my olive finally worked out how to post them thanks for all the help i will try the soaking in seasole before i plant technique next time there are still plenty of natural bonsai style seedlings where i got this one from.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
" Abandon concepts, realize all - Encompass emptiness, and dissolve all duality."
Thanks for the advice on the potting media Ericb will have to find out where to find the diatomite, zeolithe ill ask the folk out at bonsai emporium when i head out there
" Abandon concepts, realize all - Encompass emptiness, and dissolve all duality."
Just updating the progress on the olive i collected the first one i did hasn't thrown any new shoots yet but still has some leaves left on it fingers crossed it will survive.
The other photos are of a stump i collected flat cut the base and soaked in seasole for a week before planting. and some shots from today of some new shoots yay!
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
" Abandon concepts, realize all - Encompass emptiness, and dissolve all duality."
Mugen, mate it's looking nice, hard to advise a style but maybe a rafty/clump sorta direction, try to get some more shoots to pop from the base as extra trunks and see what develops from there, good luck mate
Thanks Craig the wide darker bit of the trunk seems to be dead wood, all the growth seems to be coming from one side I have been removing all the very low growth (suckers ) would you recommend leaving them to become new trunks?
I'll try to get some better shots
" Abandon concepts, realize all - Encompass emptiness, and dissolve all duality."
) 
sometimes this can take up to 18 months to happen.
Mugen, mate it's looking nice, hard to advise a style but maybe a rafty/clump sorta direction, try to get some more shoots to pop from the base as extra trunks and see what develops from there, good luck mate 
the wide darker bit of the trunk seems to be dead wood, all the growth seems to be coming from one side I have been removing all the very low growth (suckers ) would you recommend leaving them to become new trunks? 
