spanish olive olea europaea fruit bonsai tree seeds

Olive trees (Olea europaea) grow in areas of long, warm summers and mild winters and can be grown in USDA growing zones 8-10.

Olive trees are primarily grown from cuttings but growing olive trees from pits or seeds is also possible.

How to Plant Olive Pits
Put the olives in a bucket and lightly hammer the flesh to loosen it. Cover the crushed olives with water and soak overnight, stirring the water on occasion.
Using two scouring pads or the like, rub the olives to remove any residual flesh and then rinse them thoroughly.
Carefully, nick the pointed end of the olive pits with a pair of bolt cutters.
Don’t break all the way through the hull or the seed will be ruined.
Soak them for 24 hours in room temperature water.
Now it’s time to sow the olive pits.
Use a well-draining soil mix of half sand and half seed compost in individual 6-inch containers.
Sow the olive seed to a depth equal to two times their diameter.
Put the pots into a shaded cold frame with a germination mat set at 60 degrees F. (15 C.) for about a month.
Keep the top 2 inches of each pot moist while the seed germinates but allow the top ¼ to dry out between waterings to deter fungal and bacterial disease.

Increase the germination mat’s temp to 70 degrees F. (21 C.) after the first month of warm stratification and continue to water as before. Seedlings should emerge in this second month.
When they do, begin to drop the temperature of the mat by 5 degrees each week until the temp is equal to the exterior temperature.
Acclimate the seedling to outdoor conditions gradually over the course of a couple of weeks.
Keep them in a lightly shaded area during the hot summer months and then transplant them in mid-autumn when the weather is again cool and moist.

1 seed