Another year as come and gone and with it has come the joys and challenges of growing an olive tree indoors. Lucky they only challenges we had last year was a bird flying by the window and taking our last olive branch with olives growing on it. Other than that an the day it dried out to much and lost fruit on a hot day in the window it has been a breeze to take care of. Indoor olive trees are very easy to care for and make for an easy low maintenance and tasty addition to any home. In this blog we have basic care and maintenance information for caring for your lovely indoor olive tree.  

Sun

Olive trees are desert plants and love to be in full sun. It is best to try and face your olive tree in a south facing window so it can get 6 to 8 hours of full sun. If you don’t have a south facing window the brightest window you have will do but it’s possible that lack of sun will keep it from producing fruit. Note: That most indoor olive trees or ornamental and will never produce fruit so this may not be a concern for your plant.

Soil

Back to the reason why olive trees are so easy to care for is because they are desert plants which means they don’t like to be in soil that holds in moister. A sandy cacti potting mix is prefect for them.  

Water

In the summer you can water your olive tree once every 2 to 3 weeks or whenever the top 2 inches of soil are dry. In the winter you can reduce the times you water your plant to once a month. When you water it make sure to soak I thoroughly all the way to the roots and remove any excess water from the base. If you bottom water your plant (watering in from the bottom up) place the plant in a bowl and fill it with warming room temperature water and leave the plant to soak it up. Keep adding water until the plant soaks it all up and then move it back to its plant tray making sure to remove any excess water as needed.

Food

You can feed your olive tree with a special olive tree plant food made specifically for them. If you can can’t find one or one isn’t available in your area which is an we have faced before you can use an organic seaweed based liquid plant food watered down so that it isn’t as strong (aka don’t follow the package instructions) and feed it to your plant once a month, or twice a month if it is fruiting.

Annual or Perennial

Olive trees are slow growing evergreens and are perennial. Their leaves stay on all year so if your olive tree starts to lose it leaves in great quantities then something is wrong. It either needs more sun, plant food, or more water.

Climate/Hardiness

Olive tree can that are large can tolerate cooler temperatures but love being warm and hot. Anything prolonged temperatures below 40 degrees celsius may harm them. Smaller trees especially ones in pots must stay indoors during cool season because they can easily freeze, get to cold, and died.  

Harvest

Olive trees should be ready to harvest in late summer early fall depending on the climate in your area and when your hottest seasons are and how long they last for.

Transplant

Transplant your olive tree when you start to see the roots come through the bottom drainage hole which should be every 1 to 2 years. Fall is the recommended time to repot an olive tree so you don’t disturb it durning fruiting season when it will not be growing roots. Only go up one pot size to avoid moister, rooting, and fruiting issues.  

Tips

Olive trees can be pruned and propagated though we do try to avoid it with all of trees but sometimes they do need it.