It would be very interesting if it worked out since olives are native to regions with hot very dry summers

From the limited amount of info available on chill hour requirements I have been able to find I think most winters I should get enough though this last one might have been questionable. That late freeze hurt. My fruit crop this year was poor.

I'm keeping all of my olives in containers until they reach at least three feet tall to try to forestall the freeze danger problems. My first olive tree was a Manzanillo that I lost the first winter. Newer lists that have come out since then have it as one of the more cold sensitive.

What varieties are you trying out?

Here is what I have:small, medium and some larger trees in ground. am sure there is a variety of arbequina that is a tetraploid variety. It has double the number of chromosomes and it is very fast growing. Will post a few pics later today.

- arbequina

- Koroneiki

- ascolano

- arbosana

- bosana

- frantoio

- pendolino

in 1 gallon pots up to 4ft high. recent purchase from California these are all large olives and for table use. will be pickling these varieties.

- Bella Di Cerignola

- Santa Caterina

- Sevillano

- Manzanillo de Sevilla

- Nocellara Del Belice

- Cerasuola

- Cailletier

- Lucques

- Grossane

in ground but recovering from last winter freeze from 2ft to 4 ft bushes

mission

arbequina

bosana

frantoio

ascolana

Ah, you have the three other varieties I want to trial - Mission, Ascalano, and Sevillano. I know yours are young still, but what are your impressions of them?

Mission took a beating during the last freeze, hopefully it was due to it being a smaller plant and freeze came after a long warming spell. Ascolano seems to do ok but it was in my protected (from wind) area of property, around the house.

Sevillano is growing in a 1 gallon pot and will move to 3 gallon in spring. All the small trees will winter in wind shielded side of property.

My Wife had agreed to landscape the house with olive trees and I planted 15 small trees around east, south and west sides of house. Soil here is basically construction sand fill over sandy clay with 5-6 inches of mulch over it and there is irrigation that I run as necessary. I also have other plants there. I fertilize 3 times per year and most of the trees are doing just fine 2.5 years after planted. Originally in 3 gallon pots about 2 ft high. I have big hopes for these trees. see pics of east, then south, then west side (heavy morning shade) of house. Some are not growing as fast, as they are partially shaded by either trees or house and only get some afternoon sun.

Very nice. Your landscaping will be beautiful once the trees get a little more size to them. At present I have eleven trees and will pick up at least three more. Haven't yet decided where to plant them. Most will go into a mini-grove, but I may plant my largest Arbequina out in the yard inside of a ring of daylilies.

You made me curious so I researched olives in Florida. But the curing process "cured" me quick! lol Are any of you ambitious and talented gardeners taking on this challenge? How is it working out?

No, not yet, but it doesn't appear to be all that complicated. Much like making traditional fermented pickles. If ever I have enough fruit I'm going to try several different curing methods to see which one we like best.

Over the weekend I ordered a Mission, Ascalano, and Sevillano from Peaceful Valley Farm Supply. If they arrive in good shape that will complete all of the varieties I want to experiment with.

Alan, what part of Florida are you in? I am pretty sure that growing olives south of Orlando will not generate any fruit, trees will grow fine but not enough chilling hours to force blooms.Even in Orlando, you will need a strong winter to get flowers.

Little olive trees with flowers come from nurseries around tallahassee/monticello area or further north,

The first olive tree I bought in FLA was in Ft Pierce Home Depot and it stayed in a pot in south fla for a couple of years until I moved to north central fla. It has not bloomed until it was in my current home. There has been no winter to speak in south fla for few years.

Tina, the cured olives are easy to make.... my MIL just made some from fresh california olives purchased a couple of days ago. She hit olives with mallet to get pits out, soaked in cold water for a several days and then dressed olives with EVOOil, salt, pepper and oregano....done

I am pretty sure that growing olives south of Orlando will not generate any fruit, trees will grow fine but not enough chilling hours to force blooms

That's what everyone thought, but see:

http://www.mypalmbeachpost.com/business/olive-oil-the-next-big-thing-florida-agriculture/IXIhcTOVGeL79IYTVsIVXK/

From that article...

“We have to see if it works,” said Michael O’Hara Garcia, president of the 10-year-old Florida Olive Council in Gainesville. “We do not know year-over-year if you can get olives to bloom and set fruit in sufficient quantities to be able to make money on it. If you make olive oil, you can sell it, there’s no problem. The question is, can you make enough to make a profit at it?”

That one tree they found blooming in Ona 80 miles south of orlando could be in a colder micro climate environment, but my comment stands as far as growing olives south of orlando, not going to happen on a commercial level. The plot in Trenton will be a telling test for viability of olives groves. woule like to catch someone on site and speak to them about last spring to see if anything bloomed. We can hope....

Yes, very true. But I would be very surprised if UF isn't working on low-chill olives the same way they've done peaches, apples, etc. Of course, that doesn't help right now.

Alan, what part of Florida are you in? I am pretty sure that growing
olives south of Orlando will not generate any fruit, trees will grow
fine but not enough chilling hours to force blooms.Even in Orlando, you
will need a strong winter to get flowers.

Little olive trees with flowers come from nurseries around tallahassee/monticello area or further north,

In fact some of my trees did come from the Monticello area. The Florida Olive Group has an olive grove down to Lutz and another one in Monticello. They normally only wholesale, but as I was willing to go to their farm on a day when they were working there they kindly sold me the relative handful of trees I wanted.

I'm northwest of Ocala myself so should (most years) not have a problem with sufficient chill hours. Last year maybe not as it was rather warm.

UF is working with olives, but I haven't heard of any low-chill work. If the central/north Florida growers achieve a reasonable degree of success I can certainly see some effort being expended in that direction.

My Mission, Ascalano, and Sevillano trees came in last weekend. They look good! This completes my variety acquisition so now it's just a matter of growing them up and seeing if this experiment is going to pan out.

For anybody interested in growing olives, I just saw a very good article about olive farms and olive oil in Phoenix, Arizona. It also reminded me of all the olive trees planted on the street when I lived there. The article is on the December issue of Mother Earth News.

Silvia

As expected, already noticed a few buds on some of my trees. Many more are expected as this winter has been cold enough with 467 chill hrs so far. Even though the whole month of Feb was very warm. will post a couple of pics later today.