Are cheaper olive trees any good?

Wild_Violet · May 2023

Hi, I’m feeling tempted to buy a small olive tree from a well known bargain shop for £19.99. That’s half the price of a more upmarket supermarket and at least a third the cost from an online plant supplier.
As I’m in Scotland, I’m aware this plant would need special care in inclement weather so I wouldn’t consider spending hundreds on an established specimen that I couldn’t move about. But has anyone had any luck with this plant from a bargain store or is it really just a waste of £20?

Thanks for any insight.

Lizzie27 · May 2023

@Wild_Violet, you could take a chance. My potted bush olive by the front door must be getting on for 10 years old now and only cost £10 in a nursery's reduced section.

However we are in the south west of England and I reckon yours might really struggle in Scotland. Yes, you could lug it in and out but eventually they get too big. Sorry!

Wild_Violet · May 2023

@Lizzie27 Thanks for your reply. Good that your £10 olive is doing well - I’ll research how fast growing they are should I be lucky enough for it to take. 🌿🙏

Dovefromabove · May 2023

Remember that it’ll need pitting in a loam-based growing medium such as John Innes No 3 with an addition of some horticultural grit in ratios of about 4:1.

That’ll be much heavier than a pot of multipurpose compost, so kind your back when you move it. 😨

Wild_Violet · May 2023

@Dovefromabove Thank you for the potting advice. I think I’ll give it a go and try to live the Mediterranean dream! 🪴

Fairygirl · May 2023

It'll depend where you are - I wouldn't bother if you're in the west unless you can keep it under cover from autumn onwards, but @Balgay.Hill mentioned having one. He's in the east, so much drier.

Balgay.Hill · May 2023

As @Fairygirl said, i bought a £1.99 6 inch olive 'twig' from ALDI/LIDL about 10 years ago. It is a 3ft shrub now. It is in a sheltered spot against a west facing wall, and on well drained, poor rubbly soil.

bédé · May 2023

To get a real bargain, you have to understand what you are buying. I think you are on the right track.

I bought on impulse a 5 ft lollipop olive from Morrisons for £10 about 5 years. It is doing well. It is now in a heavy clay pot with JIN03 compost. The pot rim suffered more from the frosts this year than the olive (touched a little, close to the house, under a single fleece, in highland Surrey. I will be repooting* this year into a larger pot freed up by a winter-victim agapanthus. But I will never let it het too big; like a bonsai, there has to be a balance: plant to pot.

* repooting, now that's a new word! A cross between repotting and rebooting?

Wild_Violet · May 2023

Thanks all for your input. I’ve purchased said little olive and will give it a cosy home until temperatures are consistently higher. 🪴😊

Joyce Goldenlily · May 2023

I also bought a £10.00 rooted twig, from Morrisons, about 15 years ago. It is growing well, had a heavy crop of proper olives last year for the first time. It has suffered neglect on my part, almost died etc, but is till going strong. It is in a 10 litre pot against a Souh facing wall and did not enjoy last winter. No protection. It is replacing lost foliage so hopefully will make a good recovery.
Go for it, it is good to take on a challenge.

debs64 · May 2023

I bought a small olive 5 years ago about £8 and it now lives permanently in my unheated greenhouse in the West Midlands hoping for fruit this year. It looks healthy so fingers crossed 🤞

Are cheaper olive trees any good?

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