Okay, so, I’ve been getting into this whole gardening thing lately, and I decided to get an olive tree. I mean, who doesn’t love olives, right? But here’s the thing – I’m a total newbie, and I wasn’t sure about the whole watering situation. Do these trees need a lot of water? Or are they like, cacti, and can survive on just a few drops?
So, I started digging around, you know, just Googling stuff. Apparently, olive trees aren’t super thirsty, thanks to their crazy root systems. But, if you want them to be all healthy and give you tons of olives, you gotta give them some water.
I found out that generally, they need like 1-2 inches of water every week when they’re actively growing. I grabbed a ruler, and try to figure out how much it is, one inch is not really that much, but still, two inches per week is quite a lot. But that’s just a general rule. The real trick, I learned, is to give them a good, deep soak when you do water them. Like, really get that soil drenched, about 12-18 inches deep. That’s almost the length of my forearm! I used a stick to poke the ground, and make sure the soil is wet enough.
How Often to Water
- First Two Weeks: Every three days. I set a reminder on my phone, don’t want to drown it or dry it.
- After Two Weeks: Just once a week. That’s easy, I can do that.
- Summer: If it gets really hot and dry, my tree is in a pot, and I’m keeping an eye on it every 3-5 days. I just poked my finger into the soil, if it’s dry, I watered it.
And here’s a scary thought – overwatering! Turns out, these trees can get root rot if they’re sitting in water for too long. And even if they survive, they might not produce fruit again. That would be a disaster! I mean, imagine going through all this trouble and not getting any olives. So no way I overwater it!
Another thing I figured out is that olive trees are sun worshippers. They need at least 6 hours of direct sunlight every day. I made sure to put mine in the sunniest spot in my yard. It’s like they’re always on vacation, soaking up the rays. I also check the weather forecast every day, and keep my watering schedule flexible.
So yeah, that’s my olive tree watering adventure so far. It’s been a learning experience, for sure. But hey, I’m feeling pretty confident that I’ll be enjoying homegrown olives before I know it! Wish me luck!
