European olive: description, care, cultivation, breeding, reviews

Ancient Greek legend says that an olive tree is the creation of Athena herself, the goddess of wisdom, the patroness of peaceful labor and just wars. She stuck her spear in the ground, and an olive tree immediately emerged from it, and the new city was called Athens.

European olive

Olive is an evergreen plant (tree). On the outside, its leaves have a dark green color, and from the inside - silver.

The flowers of the tree are very small and fragrant, they are collected in a brush, and the crown is wide and sprawling, the branches and trunk are twisted. The bark, as a rule, has a gray color, it is covered with scales and forms peculiar sagging.

The fruit of this plant, perhaps, is familiar to everyone, it is a flesh with a stone. The tree blooms from May to June, but the fruit ripens from October to December. The plant grows slowly enough, but it is very drought-resistant and durable.

I must say that the European olive tree is a noble tree with an interesting history. Each leaf of the plant lives one year, sometimes two. At the base of each leaf there is a kidney, which is in rest for a long time, it begins to grow only if it is urgently needed. For example, when pruning or any damage. Such an amazing property makes the olive very stable, it is capable of complete restoration.

Useful properties of a tree

European olive all year round is under the influence of hot sun rays and healing sea air. Probably, this is what gives its fruits and leaves unique properties. Archaeologists say that the beneficial properties of the leaves were known to people a few thousand years ago. They have a pronounced antimicrobial effect, and therefore are used as an antiplatelet agent for the treatment of purulent wounds. In addition, the decoction of the leaves helps to normalize the pressure.

The leaves of the plant give off a lot of phytoncides, which is priceless in medical practice. Decoctions of them are used as a diuretic for edema, as well as for preventive purposes from atherosclerosis and obesity.

Harvesting

Harvest from trees begins at a time when most of the fruits acquire a purple hue. On the one hand, they are still not quite ripe, but it is at this point in them that the greatest percentage of oil is observed, with a strong aroma and quite insignificant bitterness. Before the beginning of harvesting under the trees, the canvases are spread, on which the olives themselves actually fall. Fruits are knocked down by a special rotating device, while they are not damaged, but remain intact. There is another way of harvesting. On trees spend special "rakes", as though combing them. Ripe fruit falls to the ground.

After the fruits are harvested, the crown is pruned. This is a very important and responsible work, because the olives are formed on two-year branches. Therefore, the procedure itself is carried out by a special specialist - the cutter. This profession is passed on from generation to generation. As a rule, the crown is formed in the form of a bowl, this is done for the purpose of good penetration of the sun's rays.

European olive: home care

In principle, the olive can be grown at home in our latitudes. For this, the tree needs to be properly maintained.

The European olive is well tolerated by our climate. But all the same trees need to be watered fairly regularly, at the same time moderately. It is best to do this with room temperature water . During the active growth of the plant must necessarily be fed. European olive likes sunny places. In the summer it is better to move it to a balcony or terrace. In winter, the plant is best placed in a cool place, and starting in February to increase the temperature. In the spring, trees need to be rearranged to the most illuminated places, where they feel best. They begin to blossom from May, June, when the temperature reaches eighteen degrees.

In the spring, the trees respond well to fertilizing with complex fertilizers with nitrogen. Thanks to this, an early laying of flower buds occurs.

Flowering and pollination of plants

Small white or slightly yellow flowers with a delicate fragrance appear somewhere in the middle of June. European olive in the home blooms a little longer than usual, about a few months. The flowers are polluted by wind and insects, but if there is no wind at all, then every day the twigs should be shaken. In the process of self-fertilization, fruits can be tied in different sizes. But cross-pollination significantly improves the yield and quality of olives. European olive in room conditions yields about two kilograms of fruit, and in the garden - up to twenty kilograms.

To get a harvest, you need to know how to care for the European olive. In principle, the tree is very drought-resistant, but in the absence of an explicit growth in the branches, one must understand that it lacks moisture. In addition, the plant is very photophilous (in barely lit places there is a denudation of branches), it does not tolerate acidic and waterlogged soils. Land liming can significantly increase the yield.

Reproduction of olive

The European olive is propagated by cuttings, seeds and vaccinations. Before planting, the seeds are dipped in a 10% solution of alkali for 18 hours, then they are washed and pruned with the pruner. Then they are planted to a depth of about two to three centimeters. The first sprouts appear in two to three months.

When the plant is propagated by means of grafting, the original wild tree is used. The first fruits from such a tree can be seen only after 8-10 years.

For cuttings, cut 2-4-year-old twigs are used, the diameter of which is 3-4 centimeters. The slices are treated with a garden crock and then buried horizontally in March in the sand to a depth of ten centimeters. Since there are many sleeping buds on the cuttings, the first shoots will appear in a month. Before planting, the cuttings must be treated with a growth stimulant.

Then you need to try to maintain the most favorable and soft mode:

1. The optimum temperature is 20-25 degrees.
2. Good lighting, but without direct sunlight.

To keep the humidity high, the box with the cuttings must be covered with a film. The seedlings are sprayed (sprayed, not watered) with water at room temperature at least once a day. Plants are transplanted after two to four months. They will begin to bear fruit only in the second or third year.

The best time to plant is autumn (for regions with mild winters). Trees are fed with manure, adding superphosphate so that there is no soil oxidation. And in the spring the earth is liming.

At home, you need to conduct a shaping and health-improving haircut of the crown. To do this, remove the weak, dry and superfluous branches and give the crown the desired shape.

Since ancient times, the olive was grown for the sake of the fruits, which were soaked, and then salted, after which they acquired a very pleasant taste.

What is bonsai?

Very often the culture in our latitudes is grown exclusively for decorative purposes. So you can safely form a bonsai. The European olive has an irregularly shaped trunk, few branches, on which dense leaves with contrasting coloring are located. In general, the plant is beautiful enough, interesting and perfectly suited for the formation of bonsai.

Such a tree will become a decoration not only of the premises, but also of the garden. According to knowledgeable gardeners, we can say that this plant is not very whimsical in care, and therefore you can safely take up his growing at home, at least for decorative purposes.

How to form a bonsai?

To form bonsai, you need to pinch new shoots during the whole period of tree growth. This will give impetus for the appearance of many kidneys in the whole tree. However, it is impossible to carry out the process at a temperature of 10 to 35 degrees. This can lead to a decrease in leaf size. Young plants pinch up to 1-3 sheets.

When pruning large branches during the vegetative growth period, a numerous, vigorous growth occurs on the circumcised areas. Therefore, you need to remove unwanted kidneys, otherwise there will be too many shoots. Large branches are best removed in autumn or winter, when growth is significantly slowed. Olive reacts quite unpredictably to the circumcision of large shoots.

When forming bonsai, you need to be careful, since the plant is quite brittle and the bark with wood is very easily damaged. Therefore, it is necessary to carefully wind the tree with a wire, but do not touch young branches that are less than three years old.

On the basis of the European olive you can get absolutely any styles of bonsai. Preferred are vertical and broom-shaped. For a plant, spider mites are very dangerous, they are completely invisible on the tree. They strongly deform the leaves, they begin to twist and fall off green.

Instead of an afterword

What is European olive? It is first and foremost a wonderful beautiful plant that gives remarkable fruits. In addition, it is used for decorative purposes to decorate the house and garden. If desired, the European olive can be grown at home and even receive fruits. The tree is valued not only because of delicious fruits, but also because of its medicinal properties, which are known to people from ancient times.