Biological or
conventional farming for our olive trees and fertilization, sprinkling,
watering, varietie, insemination
Biological or conventional farming for our olive
trees?
Biological farming of olive groves provides us
olives - olive oil with much more polyphenols. It does not necessarily produce
tastier fruits. Dry olive groves produce olive oil of better quality but dry
trees do not prosper, which means they do not sprout anymore, making them less
productive. The tastier fruits are usually harvested by mountain olive groves
(250-400 meters of altitude, as there is less humidity) and calcareous soil (so
the soil composition plays a major role but with less productivity). There are
other factors as well, such as the microclimate (dry and warm is the best).
This explains why Greece produces better olive oil than Spain or Italy.
Another factor is the weather. During a year,
presence or absence of olive fruit bee infestation and the farming procedure.
Biological protection from this bee is effective when their population is
average to low. In larger populations the best protection is the chemical one.
Chemical fertilization produces more fruit but of lesser quality. If the
biological fertilization has covered the nutritional needs of the tree and the
soil, the chemical one offers nothing more. The best fertiliser is manure and
it is used since the ancient times.
Hydro-fertilization is absorbed faster and probably
better for our olive trees. Watering with water that is enriched with manure is
particularly nutricious. It is very important to add boron to the soil every
three years. Open three holes, 15 cm each, vertical to the tree, insert the
boron and cover it. This helps in fruit setting.
Once every four years you should apply copper
fungicide paste on the trunks. Ask your agriculturist about the ideal age of
the trees eligible for application. Depending on the consistency of the soil,
it would be wise to sprinkle your olive grove with lime powder. Marble powder
is not advised because it may come from chemically processed marbles.
Single fertilisers
are better than complex (because they provide the trees the nutrient they need
at the right time), however they are more difficult to be applied and need time
- work - extra salaries for workers as they are applied 2 or 3 times. Consult
your agriculturist about fertilisation of your olive grove, but i believe that
using half or 2/3 of the chemical fertilisation will produce fruit of bigger
size. The fertilising elements will probably be absorbed during the second year
(at that time the changes to the tree or the darkening of the leaves or new
vegetation will be become apparent).
Even if you performed the best possible
fertilisation, if the weather is not ideal the trees will not fructify during
blooming). It would be good for our trees to dig holes of 10-15 cm next to the
tree, insert hay and cover it with soil. The hay will prevent development of
weeds for one to one and a half year. In addition, with its decay it will
provide our trees with nitrogen and its roots with warmth. In case the trees
have bloomed and there are hot/dry winds together with high temperatures, make
sure to water them as much as possible in order to same as many as possible flowers.
In general, we do not interact with the trees during blooming.
In the end of April, just before the blooming period,
water the trees if it hasn't rained.
Cut the weeds beneath
the olive trees when they approach to bloom, because as it is known, the olive
is fertilized with air. So, in order to ventilate the olive tree and under the
branches, the weeds must be cut under the olive tree to facilitate the fertilization.
Just before the inflorescences bloom, when
their color change from green to yellow, spray the trees with foliar boron.
During summer, it would be advisable to
water the trees two or three times for six hours in order to help the tree
acquire new plantation and achieve maximum productivity for the next year
compared to not watering them at all.
Olive trees without watering August 2017
20 days later after rain and temperatures have fallen
You should know that the most gourmet-spicy olive oil
comes from dry olives. Professional olive oil makers water their edible olives
5 to 6 times during summer for 5 to 6 hours, in order to achieve the best
commercial size. Lastly, beware of over-fertilising as it results to less
production. If your leaves have dark green color then your soil lacks nothing
and it does not need fertilisation. The best way of assessment for nutrients in
the soil or olive trees is soil analysis and leaf diagnostics. Olive groves
surrounded by carob trees (also found in northern Greece) or have caper plants
around them, they have less olive fruit bees. Olive trees rarely flourish next
to pine trees. Aromatic plants and pine tree forests do not influence the oil
that much as for its aroma. The major factors for quality olive oil are: the
fruit that is free from olive fruit bees, its transport to the olive press the
very same day and its proper modification to oil. The best biological shield
against olive oil bees is to spray the trees with kaolin. However, when the
fruits are taken to the press, they must be washed thoroughly in order to avoid
traces of kaolin in the olive oil.
Spraying for Chalkidiki variety
2014
March copper + remedy
for cycloconium
April spraying for
acarid only if we want the fruit to be edible. If we spray, the oil's quality
is not affected.
May moth + foliar
boron, just before blooming when the olive inflorescences change from green to
light yellow
July 10 or 20.
Spraying against olive bee. 10 may be omitted if there is no humidity and no
olive bees have appeared
End of September
olive bee and duration of pesticide must be calculated so nothing remains on
the fruit itself
October or November
after the fruits have been gathered, copper
December just before
Christmas, copper
Consult your
agriculturist to define if the copper will be fungicide or hydroxide
During humid days we
add a special glue together with the
pesticides in the tank
Spraying during
winter must be done when temperature is over 7 degrees Celsius and at 10 or 12
o'clock in the morning, not 8:00.
There is also a second session of spraying for olive
acarid, but i don't know when it is performed because i am interested in olive oil and not the olive
fruit. You may ask your agriculturist about it.
Reaming the olive grove or not
Many claim that an olive grove must not be reamed in order to avoid hurting the small roots between the olive trees themselves. No means of farming is cure-all. My personal point of view is that once a year weeds must be destroyed and once every two years the olive grove must be reamed (if the inclination allows it).
This way we do not interfere with the soil all the time but also we do not abandon it either. The pros of reaming are four:
1) The soil is aerated (we break through its solidity
2) The water circulates better when it rains
3) We destroy rodent tunnels (there are rodents that feed on olive trees roots and lead to its destruction)
4) In case of fire in a neighboring farm chances of the fire transfered to our olive grove are diminished.
Weeds must be cut either with a special machine either with a scythe once or twice every year to prevent them from absorbing the nutrients and not cover them.
The soil of an oil grove is not uniform in its consistency. In some places it may be softer while 5 to 10 meters further it may be not. A more solid cannot be easily improved by man (e.g. to make it softer). Maybe he could soften it up to a depth of 10 to 15 cm by adding manure. This is better for garden plants and less for olive trees, as their roots go a lot deeper.
Olive varieties and fruit setting
I will refer only to three varieties (from Chalkidiki, Megaritiki and Koroneiki) as i know them better from experience and have discussed with other farmers and agriculturists. The variety from Chalkidiki has a more fragile flower than the other two and it needs more ideal conditions to produce a fruit. The Megaritiki produces easier and Koroneiki even more from the other two (but as it is smaller, it is more difficult to collect).
Varieties - olive oil/olive fruit ratio
Koroneiki: 3,5 to 4 kilos of fruit produce approximately 1 kilo of olive oil
Chalkidiki: 5,5 to 7 kilos of fruit produce 1 kilo of olive oil
As far as green olive oil is ocncerned (fruits collected from 15 to 30 of October): 9 to 11 kilos of fruit produce 1 kilo of olive oil
First collection oil (fruits collected in September): we need 15 to 20 kilos of fruit to produce 1 kilo of olive oil. Its best not collect the fruit if it has rained some days earlier (if we plan to produce oil) because the fruit bloats (higher concentration in water). This means that when separating the oil at the press we will have greater losses in oil, less quantity of oil and at the same time, we have greater costs of production because workers gathering them are paid per kilo collected (about 0,20 Euros per kilo). Moreover we have more costs for transport.
We don't collect olives when it rains because we increase the risk of carcinoma of the tree.
Fertilisation
If you have plants
around your olive grove that block the wind, do not expect the tree to be
fertilised because it needs wind for this
OLIVE OIL SMELLS FROM
a) between nose and mouth grade 3
b) mouth grade 4
c) from the chin grade 5
(d) from
neck grade 6
e) from the chest grade 8
t
MOST IMPORTANT GREEK
VARIETIES FOR OLIVE OIL
TSOUNATI OR ATHINOLIA
perhaps even
more selective olive oil than that of the Koroneiki but less productive variety
KORONEIKI
world wide variety of
fine olive oil
KOLOVI
fine olive oil
AGOUROMANAKO
fine olive oil
But to get
extra virgin olive oil, remember that you need a good olive press and the
improvement you will taste in your olive oil will be great.
LIANOLIA CORFU
very good olive oi
MANAKI
very good olive oil
needs attention to oiling and storage difficult to find correctly due to errors
THROUBOLIA
Very good olive oil
KOTHREIKI
Very good olive oil
ADRAMYTTINI
very good olive oil
LEFKOLIA SERRON
very good olive oil
MARONIA or MAKRIS
gives very good olive
oil due to the low temperatures prevailing in the area
GALANI
METAGGSIOU
very good olive
oil a little better than Halkidiki
CHALKIDIKIS
very good olive
oil
WILD OLIVE
in itself it does not
excel it does not have a good balance between bitter spicy and fruity. It is
excellent to work in blends with other olive oils
AND WE
WILL SEE
And remember to love the olive trees, watch them, observe (quantum), talk to them, and they will reward you !!!
2800 years old olive tree variety Makris
Santorini fossilized wild olives 50,000 - 60,000 years old
http://www.musioelias.gr/el/node/89
