When do Olive Trees Start to Bloom in Florida

Do you live in Florida? If you live in this area, you may wonder when olive trees start to bloom in Florida. Let’s find out about this information here together with the other information about olive trees.

Olive Trees Blooming in Florida

According to the Edible South Florida site, the buds of the olive trees appear in early April and then they start to flower in the next two weeks. On that site, it is explained that the Arbequina live tree that they have is about four years old. Those flowers are male and female flowers and the arrival of spring brings a gradual increase in the temperatures and also more daylight hours so that it is able to trigger the start of the budding process in the tree.

According to Britannica, olive trees usually bloom in late spring. You will see small, whitish flowers which are gathered in loose clusters in the axils of the leaves. There are two types of flowers. The first type is perfect which has both male and female parts which can develop into the olive fruits. The second type has only the pollen-producing parts.

In the Citrus site, it is also explained that Florida olive trees usually bloom in April or May. The fruits of olive oil will start out as green and then they will be a blackish-purple when they are fully ripe. The size, shape and flavor characteristics are able to be various based on the variety of the cultivar. After three years you plant it, you may begin to see fruit on your olive tree.

According to Flower Power, if you want to produce a worthwhile harvest of olives, you have to space trees about 6 metres apart. It is done to form a grove. It also will make maintenance and harvesting can be managed well and improve yield. You also need to make higher crops when trees are grown together because olive trees are wind pollinated.

You may want to calculate how many trees to grow to meet your needs. If so, you have to estimate that a mature tree of nine years of age which is well grown is able to produce around 40 kilogram of fruit. Seven kilograms of olives can produce a little of oil so a single tree can produce around six litres.

Considerations of Olive Tree Blooming

As explained on the Garden Guides, there was a research which was published in the New Zealand Journal of Crop and Horticultural Science in 2006. According to that research, it suggests that olive trees bloom best after a cool period in winter. If the temperature is below 50 degrees Fahrenheit, the return of warmth in spring produces more consistent, widespread flowering all at once across the tree. However, if the winters are too mild, the trees will bloom slightly later in spring or early summer. By fall, olive flower buds have formed on the branches and they remain dormant across the winter.

The Look of Olive Flowers

According to Olivia da Olive, here is the explanation about the olive flowers. The flowers of the olive tree are very small and they are clustered in long inflorescences. The buds of the flower form in the axils of leaves and each inflorescence has 10 to 30 flowers depending on the genotype and the position of the inflorescence and the twig that bears it.

There are four petals in the olive flowers and they are white or creamy white. Olive flowers produce 3 species including male, female and hermaphrodite. What are the differences among those species?

• Female Olive Flowers

Female olive flowers are also called perfect or pistillate flowers. They are complete flowers which have 2 stamens and 2 fuse ovaries. It means that they have male and female parts. for pollination and able to develop into olives usually female flowers depend on male flowers

• Male Olive Flowers

Male olive flowers are also called staminate flowers. These flowers do not have pistils and have only the pollen-producing parts. They are needed for pollination and fruit sets.

• Hermaphrodite Olive Flowers

These types of flowers are fully functional because they have male and female reproductive organs in the same flowers. The proportion of these flowers depends on the genotype or cultivar and the factors of environment such as the position of the branch, the position of the inflorescences on the twig.

How about the smell of the olive tree flowers? The smell of the olive tree flower is slight and lovely.

The Reasons of Why Olive Tree Flower Drop

There are several reasons why olive tree flowers drop. According to Olivia Da Olive, here are those reasons.

• Environmental Changes

For your information, olive trees are sensitive towards changes which happen in their environment and if there are fluctuations which suddenly happen in temperature or climate, it can make olive tree flowers fall off.

• Frost

The flowers of the olive tree cannot tolerate frost. Cold spring weather in areas which usually stay warm can cause the flowers to drop. Frost nipped olive tree flowers and buds will change brown and mushy and then drop from the tree.

• Transition Shock

If you grow olive trees in containers, it will make it easier for you to move them in winter and move outside depending on the weather. If the olive trees are potted like this, they can be more prone to olive tree flower drop or leaf drop. Why? It is because of the frequent environmental changes that they undergo when they are moved in and out.

• Cool Drafts and Watering Problems

Cool drafts and also under or overwatering can be the reason why olive tree flowers fall off. If you see your olive tree drop flowers, it may be a sign of drought or other changes in watering.

• The Deficiency of Nutrients

Olive trees usually have the ability to grow in soils which are poor or under-fertile. However, if you see that your olive tree drops their flowers, it can mean that it experiences a potassium deficiency. For your information, potassium is important for flower and fruit sets. It is also important for overall health and vigor for most of the trees.