Black Olive Question....Mr. Martin?

steez

Every year I take my Black Olive (Bucida) into my basement greenhouse and every year she drops leaves like a maple in Maine. My question is...Should I take er' upstairs where its in the 70s with no humidity or just let it stay where its at 64 to 66 degrees F with 50% humidity. My other Olive cacade has faired much better. I could maybe make a tent to keep in moisture. I'm just wondering if its too cold down there. TIA

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Steve

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RonMartin(deceased)

Three things that a black olive doesn't really like is low humidity, cold in the root zone.and low light.
If the basement has good light and at least 50% humidity I would say that is probably the best place for it. Go to a nursery supply house and get yourself a propagation mat. ( similar to a heating pad but waterproof.) Set the pad at 70 F and put your olives on that.
Hopefully this will help. Let me know how it turns out for you.

BonsaiMon

Sounds like a light issue.. the sixties don't usually cause them to drop all there leaves but lower light will. What type of lights are you using? The propagation mat is a great idea.. to keep the in leaf you may need 400w or more. I had a few nice bucidas but they didn't survive moving to Tn from Fl. My greenhouse in Tn would sometimes get into the thirties .. once there were icicles' hanging from the plastic. The black olives did not like this.. neither did the buttonwoods, tamarinds, or mahogany.

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peace,
tom stoute

http://bonsaiinsights.spaces.live.com/

RonMartin(deceased)

Well , you can bet (almost) that it is one of the three things I mentioned that is causing the problem.
What kind of light set up do you loose in the basement. ?
Have you ever checked the overnight temperatures in your basement. ?
How do you measure and control your humidity there ?
The answers to these questions might just point you to the cause of the problem.