Caring for an indoor Olive tree - Ask Extension
I just brought home a 6' olive tree for my living room and could use some advice caring for it. I bought a decent sized pot with drainage holes, and u...
Knowledgebase
Caring for an indoor Olive tree #609668
Asked January 04, 2020, 6:29 PM EST
I just brought home a 6' olive tree for my living room and could use some advice caring for it. I bought a decent sized pot with drainage holes, and used a citrus/cactus potting soil mixed with Peet moss. Layered about 2" of gravel at the bottom of the pot.
Research varies on sunlight needs for the tree, but I read that a minimum of 6 hours of sunlight is needed. The best location in my room for direct sunlight offers about 3-4 hours in winter. Would you recommend a grow lamp? LED/fluorescent? How many watts? For how long? I'm totally winging it! Please advise...
Research varies on sunlight needs for the tree, but I read that a minimum of 6 hours of sunlight is needed. The best location in my room for direct sunlight offers about 3-4 hours in winter. Would you recommend a grow lamp? LED/fluorescent? How many watts? For how long? I'm totally winging it! Please advise...
Adams County Colorado
Expert Response
Sounds like you are on the right track. The gravel at the bottom of the pot is probably not necessary but if the pot is big enough it should not hurt anything.
In the winter you will probably find the tree will benefit from a grow light. There are affordable LED models now readily available online. I don't have an exact recommendation for number of hours to leave the lights on but ~12 is probably a safe recommendation. A simple timer like the ones commonly used for Christmas tree lights works well.
Olive are generally adaptable to being grown in containers but be sure to fertilize it periodically. Other than that, it sound like you have a pretty good handle things.
I hope this helps, please let me know if you have further questions.
In the winter you will probably find the tree will benefit from a grow light. There are affordable LED models now readily available online. I don't have an exact recommendation for number of hours to leave the lights on but ~12 is probably a safe recommendation. A simple timer like the ones commonly used for Christmas tree lights works well.
Olive are generally adaptable to being grown in containers but be sure to fertilize it periodically. Other than that, it sound like you have a pretty good handle things.
I hope this helps, please let me know if you have further questions.
Hi again, I’m also wondering how much water to use for the tree? The tree is about 6’ and has been dropping about 5-6 leaves/day. Could be due to shock from transport, or just getting adapted to its new environment, but I want to make sure I’m providing enough (but not too much) water. Is a half gallon about right every few days? I have been poking the soil to test the moisture level and watering when soil feels mostly dry or barely damp.
Thank you!
The method you are using sounds ok, olives definitely don't like to have "wet feet" so, letting the soil dry somewhat between waterings is not a bad idea. The loss of leaves is likely due to differences in light and temperature from the nursery. A small grow light would likely help.
