🫒 Olive
Olea europaea
Mediterranean royalty attempting Florida — bring low expectations and good drainage.
Sun
Full sun, 6+ hrs
Days to harvest
3–5 years to fruit
Spacing
15–20 feet apart
Soil pH
6.0–8.0
How to grow
Olives are a stretch in Florida — they want chill hours we don't have and dry summers we definitely don't have. If you must, try 'Arbequina' or 'Arbosana' in the Panhandle on a slope with perfect drainage. Treat it as an ornamental that might fruit, not a fruit tree that will.
Water & feeding
Deep but infrequent — olives hate wet feet more than almost anything. Sandy Florida soil is actually a plus here.
Common problems
- Insufficient chill — shy bearing in most of Florida
- Fungal leaf spots in humid summers
- Olive fruit fly where fruit does set
Harvest
Table olives must be cured (brine, lye, or dry salt) — raw olives are inedibly bitter, which is the tree's way of saying 'do your homework.'
Nerdy fact: Olive trees can live over a thousand years — there are working groves in the Mediterranean older than most countries. Your Florida olive won't, but dream big.