Training initiation date affects height of nursery olive trees

Abstract

An experiment was carried out to determine when to initiate training potted rooted cuttings of olive (Olea europaea L.), so that tall and well developed nursery trees could be produced in an 8-month growing season. Initiating training to single shoot when average height of tallest shoots was 38 cm (15.0 inches) produced 1-m (3.28-ft) tall nursery trees in 7.5 months, with training restricted to the last 2.5 months. Taller plants [1.17 m (3.84 ft)] and some lateral shoots growing above 1 m were produced following another 0.5 month of growth. Five training months were needed to produce 1.43 m (4.69-ft) trees if training was initiated when main shoots were only 16 cm (6.3 inches). Initiating training at the beginning of the growing season did not produce significantly taller trees. Untrained plants only reached a height of 69 cm (27.2 inches) at the end of the test period.