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Need help and advice with an Olive tree indoors
iurii.iurchuk
Posts: 8
in Plants
Dear Ladies and Gents, any help and advice would be super appreciated!
So we got tricked into "saving" a 7 feet tall potted olive tree, were told it will be "just fine" indoors, and it is not possible to return it now, due to the circumstances of the 'deal'.
The room is bright-ish, but without any direct sunlight, 9 foot ceilings, and no way to keep it outdoors (cities...). And the tree is not doing so well.
And so I am trying to solve a puzzle now on "how to give it all the light" it apparently requires to feel good... As well as a thousand other questions... Looks like we will need to add some artificial growing lights to help it. So the questions:
1) What if the light source is lighting the tree from the bottom up. Can the tree still photosynthesize in that case and would it be helpful (especially as we don't want it to grow any taller). Could not find much on that apart from - https://www.quora.com/Do-the-undersides-of-leaves-also-photosynthesize
But practically, how important to have an artificial light source to the side, as opposed to lighting the tree from the bottom?
2) Schedule. This is the room we use daily. Having a bright light source in our eyes would be tricky. But what if we leave it on overnight?
https://homeguides.sfgate.com/24hour-light-schedule-bad-plants-95954.html - this source seem to claim that it would work for some plants and not work for the others... Generally, on the internet they say 'as much of light for Olive trees as possible' (and days/winters are dark in UK, where we are, especially through the window).
But I also read that some plants might wither if lightened up by different light sources at different times...
3) How MUCH artificial light is actually too much? Our tree is 7 feet tall, and only the upper 3rd of it has leaves, not too dense, its roughly a ball of 1 meter in diameter (the crown?).
How do we figure out how much power is too much? How much is too little? How close to put it to the tree? Would something like that from 1.5 meters be sufficient (again, ran during the night) - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Spectrum-Stepless-Adjusted-Gooseneck-Replaceable/dp/B07YS9SJ8M/
4) Moisture... Another cause of the yellow leaves are, apparently too much moisture in the soil (OR too little) - that's what's confusing... We got a moisture meter which shows 0% - 100% scale. But then, a few days from the watering - it is 20% at the rim of the pot and 50% in the middle... How to use these measurements correctly to figure out how often/much to water it?
Thank you SO VERY MUCH to anyone who would read all that be so kind to help in our struggle to save Oliver
So we got tricked into "saving" a 7 feet tall potted olive tree, were told it will be "just fine" indoors, and it is not possible to return it now, due to the circumstances of the 'deal'.
The room is bright-ish, but without any direct sunlight, 9 foot ceilings, and no way to keep it outdoors (cities...). And the tree is not doing so well.
And so I am trying to solve a puzzle now on "how to give it all the light" it apparently requires to feel good... As well as a thousand other questions... Looks like we will need to add some artificial growing lights to help it. So the questions:
1) What if the light source is lighting the tree from the bottom up. Can the tree still photosynthesize in that case and would it be helpful (especially as we don't want it to grow any taller). Could not find much on that apart from - https://www.quora.com/Do-the-undersides-of-leaves-also-photosynthesize
But practically, how important to have an artificial light source to the side, as opposed to lighting the tree from the bottom?
2) Schedule. This is the room we use daily. Having a bright light source in our eyes would be tricky. But what if we leave it on overnight?
https://homeguides.sfgate.com/24hour-light-schedule-bad-plants-95954.html - this source seem to claim that it would work for some plants and not work for the others... Generally, on the internet they say 'as much of light for Olive trees as possible' (and days/winters are dark in UK, where we are, especially through the window).
But I also read that some plants might wither if lightened up by different light sources at different times...
3) How MUCH artificial light is actually too much? Our tree is 7 feet tall, and only the upper 3rd of it has leaves, not too dense, its roughly a ball of 1 meter in diameter (the crown?).
How do we figure out how much power is too much? How much is too little? How close to put it to the tree? Would something like that from 1.5 meters be sufficient (again, ran during the night) - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Spectrum-Stepless-Adjusted-Gooseneck-Replaceable/dp/B07YS9SJ8M/
4) Moisture... Another cause of the yellow leaves are, apparently too much moisture in the soil (OR too little) - that's what's confusing... We got a moisture meter which shows 0% - 100% scale. But then, a few days from the watering - it is 20% at the rim of the pot and 50% in the middle... How to use these measurements correctly to figure out how often/much to water it?
Thank you SO VERY MUCH to anyone who would read all that be so kind to help in our struggle to save Oliver
0
Posts
I wish you luck for your tree.
I felt sad when I read your thread - it seems to me that people in towns want to bring the country to them - a bit like bringing Africa to a cage.
Got to solve that puzzle.
I hear you about bringing country into town sentiment. If it were my will, towns would be way more like the country of course
@tuikowhai34 This looks awesome. But I think its a very different situation we are talking here about
I think you’ll have to accept the fact you made a duff choice. Sell it now before it dies and becomes worthless. And there’s no point in investing money in lighting and watering systems that might keep it lingering on before dying in 18 months’ time.
However the dry /warm air is usually listed as something Olives actually enjoy, plus there are quite a few mentions on the internet, that Olive trees can be quite happy indoors.
So at the moment I am studying options, re additional lighting with a couple of very particular questions (those are not too expensive, really):
1) What will happen if the lighting schedule will be extended (e.g. 6 hours of darkness, 4 hours of bright growing lights, 4 hours of full spectrum LED lamp (regular lights) + 10 hours of non-direct window daylight. Give or take
2) What would happen if the growing lights are positioned under the tree (and in that case duration of those could be extended, to 12 hours per day if needed).
Would be really interesting to interview someone who actually had experience with the above with "some" trees, or had experience of taking care of Olive tree indoors...
https://www.olivegroveoundle.co.uk/advice-faqs/
It’s a bit cheeky but I would find a plant on their website that is closest in size and shape to your one and drop them an email saying you’re interested in purchasing it but have to keep it indoors. You could then describe your growing conditions and tuck in your questions about grow lights and watering regimes.