Journal December 28, 2013 Arbequina olive setting flower buds

When I first decided to grow olives, one of my main concerns was how I would get them through our winter while providing the conditions that they require to fruit.  It seems that I should not have been all that concerned, as the trees have adapted fantastically to being indoors.

Another concern was lighting, with visions of leggy trees struggling to find adequate light,  Again, that is not the case.  The above photo shows the tip of my small bushy Argequina, which by the way is setting buds, which also means OLIVES!  Simply looking at the tight internodal spacing it is evident that the tree is receiving all of the light it needs.  The fact that it is setting buds is an indicator that the light level is ideal.  

Considering the tree is sharing a 36 watt LED grow light with another tree, and, that the light is about two feet from the tree, my decision to use multiple low power LED grow lights seems to be a good choice.  It has been possible to winter about twenty trees, using less than 200 watts of lighting to do so.