There was a good sized sucker growing out of the roots of one of the manzanillo seedlings I was discarding, so I thought I would give it an opportunity to grow. The sucker is about 1 inch high, however, the roots are, in proportion to the plant, gigantic.
Purchasing seedlings is OK, but I am bound and determined to grow some of my own plants. That said, the cuttings are a disaster, as so far not a single cutting has taken. I think the reason is that I have been keeping them too moist, and I need a rooting hormone for hard to root cuttings. Mort Rosenblum, in his book Olives, writes that taking olive cuttings is an art form. It is too bad that he did not go into more detail about the process.
Out of curiosity I uncovered the olive seeds that we planted at the beginning of November to see what, if anything, was going on with them. A few show no changes, and a few have enlarged by about 25% and the seed coat has turned from dark brown to light tan. I guess I will have to let nature run its course with the seeds.
Somewhere I read that the growing tips contain active cells, which will grow whatever is required, kind of like stem cells I guess. As I was pinching out some growing tips to direct the growth sideways, I decided to try to root the tiny tips. The tips were coated with rooting hormone and placed in horticubes, and the horticubes were place in a covered dome under a grow light.
If this works, I will have three new plants, and some additional experience. If not, I am out twenty four cents.
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