Journal January 20, 2016 - Olives budding

Today I noticed buds forming on some of the olive trees.  This is really early for them to be forming buds, however there is not much I can do about it, so I turned on the blooming phase of the grow lights to push them along.

The Koroneiki and Arbequina plants are forming buds, which I sort of expected, as they flowered in February last year.  It may be wishful thinking on my part, but I think, repeat think, buds are forming on the Picholine also.  If that is the case, then this will be the very first olive tree other than the early fruiting Koroneiki and Arbequina varieties to flower.

It would have been much better to have the plants flower outdoors in the spring; why they flower at this time of year is baffling.  The light cycle has been reduced to coincide with the local sunrise/sunset, watering and feeding have been drastically reduced, but still they are budding.  Beats the heck out of me.

All of the other varieties show no signs of budding, so I am hopeful that if they do bud, they will hold off till they are outdoors in spring.