Olive Trees Dying Causes, Prevention and Solutions

The Olive (Olea europaea) is a small, evergreen tree, and its young fruit can be eaten raw or after it has been preserved as a refreshment. The ripe fruit is squeezed and the oil is extracted into olive oil which can be used for various purposes. Olives are members of the Oleaceae tribe. Other types can be found in Asia and the Mediterranean area. This plant is still related to jasmine “Jasminum sambac” .

In winter the olive tree mostly confuses gardeners because most of it loses its leaves. This can be due to various things that lead to drastic survival strategies. As a result, damage to olive trees can be taken as an alarm signal that requires immediate action. Following are the common causes of yellow and falling leaves that can cause the olive tree dying, keep reading this whole article for useful solutions to solve the problem.

Causes of Olive Trees Dying and How to Solve It

• Lack of light

In their natural range along the Mediterranean, olive trees can enjoy 12 hours of sun or more. Well, for example in the north of the Alps, olive trees lack hours of sunshine which is a problem. Generally in winter areas that are poor in light, the leaves turn yellow and fall off and even die. The higher the ambient temperature in the room, the more drastic the leaves will fall.

To fix this you can place the pot in a sunny place with a temperature between 5 and 10 degrees Celsius, to overcome the increased light needs you can use a plant lamp and turn it on every day for at least 8 to 10 hours and use access to special lights with a red-blue light spectrum. and 14 to 15 watts of power.

• Too much water

Abundant watering in winter will make the leaves of the olive tree turn yellow and fall off.

• Malnutrition

Leaves turning yellow is another sign of a malnourished olive tree. You can immediately apply liquid fertilizer for Mediterranean plants, or repot an olive tree without leaves into fresh substrate. Then apply fertilizer regularly from March to September according to the manufacturer’s instructions. And as another option you can give slow release fertilizer in March and June.

You can use special fertilizers for Mediterranean plants, such as liquid olive fertilizer from Cuxin, HIGH-TECH Olea olive fertilizer from Green24 or Chrystal fertilizer for Mediterranean plants with a duration of 3 months.

• Drought

Water the olive tree in dry soil regulerly.

Terms of Growing Olive Plants

Below are some of the conditions for growing olives that we must understand together before carrying out the cultivation process:

1. Climate

Actually olive plants can grow both in summer and winter. However, a season that is too cold and brings with it ice can slow the growth of olives.

Likewise in summer, the condition of the soil that is too dry can also cause of olives dying. Not infrequently olive mortality reaches 50% of the total planted. With the death rate due to rain is higher than due to heat.

Make sure the olives bloom in the summer, this will facilitate wind pollination. If olive flowers bloom during the wet season, pollination will be more difficult to succeed.

2. Soil

The soil used is soil rich in humus and loose, soil with good drainage or sufficient water availability. Also add nitrogen-rich fertilizer if you feel the olive plant lacks nutrients.

In the process of planting olives, the soil used as a planting medium consists of a mixture of husk charcoal, manure and soil in a ratio of 1:1:1. A good growing medium has a high probability for an ideal olive plant life.

3. PH

The pH of the soil for planting should not be less than 6.5 and it will be better with the addition of lime.

4. Temperature

The ideal temperature is above 25 degrees Celsius. Although this plant is native to the Middle East, but with planting temperatures above 25 degrees Celsius, olives will be able to survive. Basically this plant easily adapts to hot and cold weather.

5. Care

Pruning olives usually only once a year. This plant is fairly slow to grow, pruning is done when there are branches that interfere, die, or to slightly accelerate growth.

At a young age, this plant is more susceptible to ticks so it needs to be cleaned more often, spraying insecticides can also be done.

Fertilizer for young olives (at least 30 days old) is enough for a handful of NPK fertilizer and when mature, fertilizer application every 3-6 months with watering done once a day and preferably in the afternoon.

6. Harvest Time

Olive plants are classified as long-lived to reach thousands of years. This plant will begin to grow when the age of 5 years. The harvesting period can begin when the olives are young until they turn purplish in color.

Those were some of the ideal conditions for producing quality olive plants. Don’t forget to prepare a large area for planting olives because gradually it will grow into a big tree.

Olive trees are known to be resistant to disease and can also be resistant to fire. However, that does not mean that there are no diseases that can attack this olive tree. Moreover, during the growth and development of olive trees which have not reached 5 years, this tree is quite susceptible to disease. It can even cause the death of this tree.

However, you should also take preventive measures before the disease spreads further to your olive plants.

Diseases that can attack olive plants.

• Root rot

The first disease that easily attacks olives is root rot. This root rot disease is caused by a fungal pathogen that causes plant roots to wither. This disease often attacks fruit crops, olives are no exception.

The characteristics of olive trees that are affected by this disease are yellowing leaves, wilting then over time this olive tree dies suddenly. This is due to the absence of nutrients received by plants due to the absence of nutrient intake. This disease can be prevented, namely by avoiding wet soil conditions so as to reduce the use of water and reduce the use of fertilizers that have not been completely decomposed.

• Fungal diseases

Verticilum mushroom (Verticillium Dahliae) growing in the soil near olive trees. The fungus will pollute the air around the tree. Then the olive tree will begin to show signs of drying out or growing abnormally. The leaves on the tree turn gray to brown. While the stems turn red. In these conditions, there is no cure for this plant.