if rooting is nessary in recamend rooting hormone butif they have already are rooted just transplant them into nan apropret sized pot

Basal sprouts are from the ontogenetically youngest, and therefore most vigorous part of the tree, so they root very easily. Remove sprouts now, or as soon as frost is out of ground. Try to take sprouts you can cut close to the trunk with roots already attached and stick in garden or beds where they will root easily in spring. Bury at least 3 nodes in soil and allow 2 or 3 nodes above soil. No rooting hormone is necessary. Allow to grow on for a year or more, then lift & transplant to a suitable container.

Al

Al, thank you so much! Perfect!
My father and I are going to carefully remove a bit of soil to expose some good cuttings.

Thanks again!

Howdy! The weather's warming up in northern California, and I've been "window-shopping" around several nurseries. I picked up an olive bonsai labeled "skylark dwarf," with tiny leaves. The plant is in good bonsai soil, from a reputable nursery. It's in a four-inch plastic container.

I'm going to keep it in a pot, rather than plant it in the ground (eventhough the trunk is very thin). What size pot should I use?

Big pot for growth, then a root snip?
Thanks again!

Josh

Well, how long are you planning on keeping it in a pot? And snipping roots - do you now have a very small bonsai pot that can't wait? Why not do it in stages - for one thing, it'll take 3-5 yrs for your tree to really get going into something worth working on, but you could do the downsize in stages over that time, rather than just being impatient over ~ 1-2 yrs and then consigning it to very slow growth for the rest of its life in a small pot.

Hey, Lucy, thanks for the quick reply!
I should have provided more information in my last post.
Yes, I have the years to invest.

The olive is in a small container right now, and I'd like to put it into something larger (without planting it in the ground directly).

In other words, can I put it in a large enough container that its growth won't be slowed for the rest of its life? Three gallon, five gallon, fifteen? Bigger, smaller?

I figure once it's got some trunk development (in several years), I can then work it back down to a smaller pot over the next few years. I have no intention of cutting any roots until this point well in the future.

Thanks again!

Josh

Great. As far as pot size goes, that's a bit harder, because different plants react differently - e.g. some do better growthwise if just slightly rootbound, others the opposite, and I don't know what olive likes. However, I do suggest you do one thing that'll make a huge difference - whatever pot you do use, keep it outdoors for as much of the year as you can (anytime the temps will stay above 40 F. (including overnites), do it - it really makes all the difference. So until further notice, do give it plenty of room (though not ridiculously so - that's not helpful), give it fast drainage with the right gritty mix, restrain yourself from watering more often than really necessary (olives are Meditarranean and grow in almost-concrete there!) but keep it (for now) in a somewhat wind and torrential-rain protected situation. Good luck!

It's outside, and will stay so! Thanks!
There's a full-size olive on the side of the house, and it seems to do quite well. I think this potted olive will also enjoy the summer sun, with a bit of shade provided by tall oaks.

I'll research olive root-systems to find the best size/shape of container.

Josh