How to take care of dwarf fruitless olive trees? If you are looking for plants for a smaller place, you may want to consider dwarf olive trees. Normal olive trees are just grafted onto smaller tree rootstocks to make dwarf olive trees. This means you can get a dwarf olive tree for your landscapes that can’t accommodate a full-size olive tree.
Dwarf olive trees are perfect for small spaces, no question. They are becoming more and more popular as decorations for patios, gardens, and even front doors.
Even better, caring for and maintaining dwarf olive trees is very similar to caring for regular olive trees in pots, and you can grow them with other plants that go well with olive trees.
If you know how to take care of dwarf olive trees, you’ll be able to grow these beautiful old trees in your garden and even inside your house during the winter.
For this reason, if you are ready to get one dwarf olive tree in your backyard to garden, here’s what to know about techniques and things to be aware of. We might even be able to help you take care of a perfect little tree.
How tall do dwarf olive trees get?
Dwarf trees usually don’t get any taller than 8 to 10 feet (2.4 to 3 m). Depending on your pruning skills and needs, you can shape your tree the size you prefer.
Dwarf Fruitless Olive Trees
If you don’t want olives to fall on your driveway or deck and make a mess, you shouldn’t plant a dwarf olive tree that bears olives. Then, you can buy dwarf fruitless olive trees at the market.
Dwarf fruitless olive trees are a special kind that bloom in the spring, but the flowers don’t make any fruit. Because of this, it only makes a few fruits, if any at all. Sometimes, very small olives will grow, but you won’t even notice.
Care for Dwarf Olive Trees in Pots
Dwarf olive trees in pots need good drainage as their first and most important care need. Olive trees can’t stand soil that is too wet or that stays wet for too long. When olive trees get too much water, the leaves fall off. This can also happen if the plant doesn’t get enough water, but it’s hard to fix once the leaves have fallen.
So, dwarf olive trees that are grown in pots or containers do best and need the least amount of care when they are planted in a light soil with perlite.
soil for planting that drains well
Keep in mind that organic matter or soil that is already there will compact too quickly, making it hard for roots to get enough air. Check out our article about the best soil for olive trees in pots to learn more about soil.
If you want to move your tree from a pot into the garden, you should mix one part commercial potting mix with one part of the soil you took out of the hole. Add a to every pot, container, or area where you plant. It helps the water drain faster and keeps the roots from getting too wet. mulch on top.
In terms of how to care for dwarf olive trees, they also need to be warm and get a lot of sun to make olives. Your trees should get about 8 hours of sunlight a day at most. So put it in the sunniest spot in your yard or move it to the room with the most light inside.
How Often Does a Dwarf Olive Tree Need Water?
Make sure your dwarf olive fruit tree gets a lot of water if you want it to grow big olive fruits. For example, young dwarf olive trees in pots need more water to grow, and all olive trees need more water when it’s hot and dry. So once a week is a good time to water your small olive trees. Just make sure the soil in the pot drains well and that you don’t give the plant too much water. To avoid overwatering, you can read about the signs of overwatering in our article.
So, if you don’t trust your gut and aren’t sure if your dwarf olive tree needs water, you can always use a moisture meter, which you can get on Amazon, to check the soil moisture level.
How to Take Care of a Small Olive Tree?
In general, dwarf olive trees do need fertilizing, especially if their roots are limited in pots or containers. You can use a nitrogen-rich fertilizer a few times a year: in the spring, when the plant is growing, in the summer, and in the fall, right before winter.
If your tree lacks minerals, you can leaf spray with zinc and manganese in the spring before growth starts. Then, add more with a spray that has nitrogen in it. Your olive tree can also get enough iron if you give it good fertilizer.
A soil test kit is the only way to find out exactly what kind of minerals your olive tree is missing.
For instance, this Luster Leaf soil testing kit is an innovative and inexpensive soil test kit. It’s easy to use and gives accurate results quickly. If you are interested to get to know what minerals your tree is lacking, it is available on Amazon.