October in the Olive Grove

​Growth is strong in Marlborough with everything looking very green.  Grass and weed control is critical at this time of year as we head towards flowering and pollination.  Keep grass and weeds in check under your olive trees so there is good air flow both to help with dispersal of pollen at flowering and also to keep foliage clean and dry to resist disease.
You should be finishing off your pruning by now as we head towards flowering.  Already the trees are budding up in anticipation and pruning work my dislodge those precious little buds.

​With flowering imminent, now is an important time to apply a dose of soluble boron.  This can be applied either as a foliar spray directly onto the trees or to ground around the drip line.  With soil moisture levels still quite good the uptake should be rapid as the trees are sucking up nutrients for Spring growth.  Boron is an important element for flowering and later fruit set and unfortunately very sparse in our NZ landscape.
This is the best time to plant if you are setting up a new grove or replacing trees.  Make sure you give the trees a good water in their pots the day before and a deep water again after planting.  Continue with a weekly deep water to encourage the roots down into the soil.  Olive trees will tend towards shallow rooting which can make them unstable as the canopy grows.  Also make sure they are staked and tied securely against our nor’west winds.   Do check your trees after one of our good nor’west blows and retie as necessary.  New trees will put on a lot of growth in their first year if they have a stable root structure.
Established trees will be putting out suckers down at ground level so remove them now before they turn into branches by summertime.
Lets hope the frosts have passed, we continue to get a good dose of rain from time to time and those nor’westerlies peter out soon.  Spring in Marlborough is always full of variety!!