AusBonsai

I have been collecting Olives for 18 months or so now from a friends property on the Sunshine coast hinterland. Unfortunately i missed out on about 200 trees befor the owner slashed them. 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.

interesting peter, they are either the toughest things going or the biggest sooks you'll find. go figure with the 100% diatomite how regular do you need to water in extreme heat?

anttal63 wrote:interesting peter, they are either the toughest things going or the biggest sooks you'll find. go figure with the 100% diatomite how regular do you need to water in extreme heat?

Only once a day but its possible to skip a day if you have to. It absorbs something like 5 or 6 times its weight, so it has great water retentiveness (if thats a word)
Peter

thanks for that peter i will try it.

Hey Peter, Have you got any that you would like to sell? I'm interested in obtaining one.

Jon

Looks like great work there Peter.
I would like a nice Olive too

I have mine cut at the base too, but screwed onto plywood to force the roots out flat before going down. Only one of three are is showing signs of being a sook.

most of the SA bonsai people soak them in seasol for about a week before potting up, its then a case of keeping them moist.
I hope to collect a large number this season to send to canberra in a few years time.

anttal63 wrote:thanks for that peter i will try it.

Your very welcome Ant, the product is from Maidenwell in Brisbane, if you contact them they can put you in touch with a supplier down your way. It is available in a few different sizes, you would be best with 2 - 7 mm in size and it comes in 20 kg bags for $15 (thats what i pay for it up here anyway).
Peter

Asus101 wrote: most of the SA bonsai people soak them in seasol for about a week before potting up

I only left the last lot soak for a few hours at best. I am not to sure that now is the best time to be collecting them, personally i think the end ofwinter is optimum. If you find a really good tree, leave it in the ground and cut one side only, then come back to it after winter next year and collect it. If i had my chanca again with a few of mine, thats exactly what i would do.
Peter

Your very welcome Ant, the product is from Maidenwell in Brisbane, if you contact them they can put you in touch with a supplier down your way. It is available in a few different sizes, you would be best with 2 - 7 mm in size and it comes in 20 kg bags for $15 (thats what i pay for it up here anyway).
Peter[/quote]
yes peter im already using it and loving it. it is a great product. $17 down here for a 40lt bag. i use medium grade for the bulk and fine grade for the top dressing.

mine where collected in march as well as one in may.

anttal63 wrote:Your very welcome Ant, the product is from Maidenwell in Brisbane, if you contact them they can put you in touch with a supplier down your way. It is available in a few different sizes, you would be best with 2 - 7 mm in size and it comes in 20 kg bags for $15 (thats what i pay for it up here anyway).
Peter

yes peter im already using it and loving it. it is a great product. $17 down here for a 40lt bag. i use medium grade for the bulk and fine grade for the top dressing.[/quote]

Sorry Ant i misinterpreted what you wrote, i thought you said you were going to try the diatomite...! Yes i just checked, it is a 40 litre bag not 20 kgs as i said. Do you use it as a dressing also? Have you tried it at 100% for anything yet? Celtis love it, Bougs love it and the Olives seem to as well. I am quite impressed with it. Something i was also told with it, dont wash it before using it, leave as much of that fine dust in with it. It will wash ouit with watering but it is the main reason plants love it, its the silica.
I am using that in equal parts with organics for Junipers as well now. Are you using the debco mix at all? If so, try screening it, you'll be amazed at how much of it per bag is fines and unusable! I reckon about 20% per bag is fines after screening 3 bags of it so far.
Have a good week.
Regards
Peter

i havent used it straight yet peter, ive been afraid it will dry out to quick down here. i was reccomended to use 50/50 with fine grade orchid mix. i made my own finer mix up for surfacing in pots. more so thinking about how the japanese use their akadama. they start off course and finish finer on top. in my fine mix i do 50/50 with bulb mix. depending maybe a little chopped spagnum or peat or both. varies from tree to tree. early days this is the first spring i am using it but so far am extremely pleased with it and waiting to see how it handle's the hot summers:D

Asus101 wrote:mine where collected in march as well as one in may.

Hey asus, i remember you collected a few this year and posted up pics on bonsai talk.
How are they looking now?
i only collected one this year and it's being a sook. the other collected olives i have on the other hand are thriving. i'm just letting them grow out at the moment and will wire once the branches start to harden

ketutg wrote:

Asus101 wrote:mine where collected in march as well as one in may.

Hey asus, i remember you collected a few this year and posted up pics on bonsai talk.
How are they looking now?
i only collected one this year and it's being a sook. the other collected olives i have on the other hand are thriving. i'm just letting them grow out at the moment and will wire once the branches start to harden

Dont let them get too thick before you wire. They get quite brittle once they get over about 5 mm or so in thickness! They tend to grow straight upwards if you dont get onto them early.
Peter