Journal February 11, 2013

One of my best performing olive varietals, in terms of growth,  is the Amfissa olive tree that I received from Greece on December 17, 2012.  The top photo shows the tree on the day I received and potted it, and the photo below was taken today, February 11, 2013

It has been necessary to pinch out the growing tips several times to keep the tree as compact as I would like it to be.  As this variety tends to produce olives fairly early, perhaps in only a year or so,  it should be interesting to see what spring and summer in the greenhouse do to this plant.

Yesterday I noticed that one of the Trilye seedlings, received from Turkey on January 14, 2013, is beginning to sprout.  When I first saw them, I really thought that they would take at least several months to come out of dormancy.

And, last but not least, the Manzanillo olive tree I call Fernando El Magnifico, is still the real star of the show.  I have removed several cuttings from the tree and pruned it a few times to control the shape.  I would like to balance the left and right sides of the tree so that they are more or less equal.  The left side of the tree has been turned away from the light to direct more growth to the right side of the tree.  Still, it is a great looking tree.

 As I expected they would, all of the olive trees are responding very well to being grown hydroponically under LED lighting.  I did a web search and did not find anyone else growing olive trees hydroponically, let alone under LED lighting.