Allotments 4 All

my friend has just been given one and it looks as if it needs repotting.

should she do this now or wait until spring?

any other aftercare, feeding, watering tips gratefully received.

she lives in london.

thankus muchus.

either, to be honest - autumn and spring are the best times as they should mean dormancy or about to grow, and we all have a preference

if it is kept outside I think now would be the best time as they quite like a cooler winter and the wet, if and when it comes, will be suitable as long as excellent drainage is given

Mrs KP
I agree with Calendula, but a word of caution would be about my 2 olives that got pot-bound and planted out early last spring.  They didn't flower or fruit at all this year, so maybe planting out now might give a chance for a bit of root growth which might help it get away quicker next spring.
Good luck. :D

How envious am I -  Fancy, to be given an olive tree!

Dead easy from seed, Lishka!

Got 100% germination with mine and so ended up with 20 odd olive trees - they were about a foot high by autumn. Taken me quite a long time to give them all away  ???

Does anyone get fruit from outdoor olive trees in the uk?

me too Lish.  I'm going to try and pack it in my holdall when I go and stay in December.  I wonder if she'd notice it was missing  !   :P

How about feeding peeps ??  Normal general 8:8:8 in May ??  (she says, like she knows what she's talking about) lol

Thanks for your help darlinks !

I have one olive fruit, out of two trees/bushes? :P, but thats better than last year when I didn't have one fruit :(.

my trees/bushes ?are now in a cold greenhouse and are sprouting new shoots from the stem at the bottom :o

I've never fed them either.... so in answer to your question Mrs, I don't know ;D/shades x

Ceratonia - yup, not only did I used to get some fruits before this year's distrubance, but a colleague of mine also gets some.  We are thinking of forming a collective of Olive Oil producers and eat bread and drink wine al fresco all the time and call ourselves "Olivio" or something.
The first year I got any fruit (2003) I got 5 olives off two trees; the following year it was 65 olives; the 2005 crop was uncounted, but probably about 200-300. 
Isn't it sad that I counted them ??? 
Isn't it even sadder that I can remember how many it was ??? ???

I've never fed them at all; from what I've seen of them in the "wild" they seem to thrive on poor soil and minimal rainfall.  In pots it's worth doing the usual and replacing the top couple of inches of compost every spring.

Many thanks folks.  I shall be expecting a sample crop from my mate in the summer.

;D

and we expect KP Oil supplies to be available in the shops soon  ;D (extra virgin of course)

naturally, what do you take me for ?   :P

:)

the one and only olive I have on my tree has gone from green to purple/black in three days, does this mean its ripening?  its very warm here in Lincoln :)/shades x

So assuming you have an olive tree...

and it bears olives...

and they've ripened, in this mad summer we've had...

Do you have to process the olives in any way to make them edible?

Only with your teeth, Triff? 8)

No, and if you have loads and want oil, all you do is squeeze the juice out and float the oil off the gunk.

QuoteOnly with your teeth, Triff?

... you have to chew them off the tree??   ;) ;D

Quote from: triffid on October 22, 2006, 20:49:19
...Do you have to process the olives in any way to make them edible?

Couldn't resist googling this one (just in case my little tree ever produces fruit  ;D)
and there's a lot on the net about them if you search under processing olives or preserving olives, such as:
http://www.recipecottage.com/preserving/olives05.html
http://www.oliveaustralia.com.au/Pickling_your_Olives/pickling_your_olives.html
http://www.cs.sun.ac.za/~rdodds/Olives/indeks.html
hope this helps.

my friends thanks everyone for their kind help, (she pops in to read but won't post)  8).  OH has repotted her olive and I suspect put up a barbed wire fence around it so i can't half hinch it in December.

;D