The average olive tree starts to produce olives at the age of 4-5 years and they will continue to eternity. There are findings suggesting that in some cases 1800 years old trees still produce sprouts. The olive tree responds greatly to irrigation and fertilization, while pruning is necessary at least every other year.
Humans have grown olive trees for thousands of years. The oldest known olive tree is 1500 years old, but the average life span is 500 years. Olive trees are loved for their fruits, eaten fresh or brined and pressed into oil. But not all olive trees bear olives.
Olive Tree of Vouves (Ano Vouves, Greece)
Located on Crete, the largest island in Greece, this tree has been estimated by scientists to be 4,000 years old. When this tree was just a seedling, humans of the late Bronze Age were developing new tools like axes and plows to aid in the growth of agriculture.
Olive trees maximum production for fruit arrives around 50 years old, will continue to bear fruit well after and live for an average of 300 – 500 years.
Olive trees need just the right conditions in order to produce fruit. If the tree isn't getting enough sun or is getting too much (or not enough) water, it's unlikely to fruit. Problem number one can be fixed simply by moving your tree to a better location, allowing it to soak up the sun's rays more easily.
If you find your olive tree isn't producing fruit it could be down to poor pollination or insufficient water when flowers are setting. Also, the variety may not be suitable for the location it is growing. So, to ensure a good crop, make sure the trees have plenty of sunshine and there is plenty of air circulation.
The Olive tree of Vouves in Crete, Greece is probably the oldest olive tree in the world and it still produces olives. It is confirmed to be at least 2000 years old based on tree ring analysis, but it's claimed to be between 3000–4000 years old!
With age estimates ranging from 2000-4000 years, this tree—located in the small Cretan town of Ano Vouves—is generally accepted as the world's oldest monumental olive tree.
It's estimated that the average lifespan of an olive tree is approximately 500 years.
To revive dying olive trees recreate some of the conditions of their natural Mediterranean environment with full sun, well draining gritty soils, and avoid watering unless their is a drought. Olive trees die back in Winter but often recover in Spring with warmer temperature and more sunlight.
It is not very common for trees to get that old because trees have to endure a lot, such as forest fires, natural disasters and the rise of human civilization. Most olive trees reach an average age of 100 years old, but olive trees from Spain can easily live more than a thousand years.
A mature olive tree will produce only 15 to 20 kilograms (33 to 44 pounds) of olives each year. Since it takes about five kilograms of olives to make a liter of oil, one tree is capable of producing only about three to four liters of oil per year—a small output by any measure.
Why do olive trees only produce fruit every 2 years (is there a scientific name for this?) Answer: Some varieties of olives will alternate year bear if left to their own devices. This can be prevented by proper fertilizing, pruning and culling.
Although most olive varieties are self-fertile to some extent, research has shown that cross-pollination generally improves the fruit set of most varieties especially when the environment conditions are not optimal.
We are unaware of the exact reason why olive trees live so long. However, we can make some excellent guesses. One reason may be that, since they are sheltered by the soil and protected from mutation, the roots of olive tree simply have no reason to not live forever.
Olives have been cultivated for thousands of years. Indeed, they are the oldest cultivated trees in existance and one of the most important fruit trees in history. The first documented plantings of olive trees may have occurred on the island of Crete and are believed to have been growing around 3500BC.
Do Olive trees lose their leaves in winter? No, olive trees are evergreen and they do not lose their leaves in winter. However, all evergreen trees constantly renew their leaves, meaning they gradually drop all of their leaves and produce new ones throughout a period of 6-14 months.
The wild olive tree originated in Asia Minor where it is extremely abundant and grows in thick forests. It appears to have spread from Syria to Greece via Anatolia (De Candolle, 1883) although other hypotheses point to lower Egypt, Nubia, Ethiopia, the Atlas Mountains or certain areas of Europe as its source area.
Al Jouf and Its Olives
Today, the largest modern olive farm can be found here — just check the Guinness World Records, which awarded this title to the Al Jouf Agricultural Development Company. With more than 5 million olive trees, the company produces about 15,000 tons of olive oil per year.
The combination of Spain's ideal climate and location makes it the best country for cultivating mouthwatering olives. You may be wondering which region of Spain exports olive oil worldwide – that would be Andalucía, a coastal area in the country.
Growing Olive Trees
Many varieties of olive trees require cross-pollination; that is, you need at least two different varieties to reliably get olive tree fruit. Perfect Plants offers the Arbequina olive variety (Olea europaea) which is self-fertile and a semi evergreen tree.
When establishing an olive tree, keep the soil moist, yet not saturated. Water an establishing olive tree once weekly for the first year or anytime the top 2” of soil becomes dry. After an olive tree is established, deep watering once monthly is sufficient.