Arbequina Olive Tree Care Guide

Arbequina is the olive most US home gardeners should start with. It is self-fertile, so one tree can set fruit on its own; it stays smaller and bushier than most olive varieties; it often begins bearing within a few years of planting; and it is among the more cold-tolerant olives. Grow it in the ground in roughly zones 8 to 10, or in a container almost anywhere if you can move it under cover for winter. The keys are full sun, sharp drainage, restrained watering and feeding, and, if you want olives rather than just a pretty silver-leaved tree, a cool winter to trigger flowering. Here is how to care for one from planting to harvest.

Part of our Trees & Shrubs guide →

In this guide

1. Arbequina at a Glance
2. Hardiness and Where It Grows
3. Planting in the Ground
4. Growing Arbequina in a Pot
5. Watering and Feeding
6. Getting Arbequina to Fruit
7. Pruning
8. Harvesting and Curing
9. Arbequina Care Through the Year
10. Common Problems
11. Frequently Asked Questions

Arbequina at a Glance

Trait	Details
Origin	Catalonia, Spain
Pollination	Self-fertile; a second variety can increase yields
Size in ground	Commonly 10–20 ft unpruned; easily kept at 8–12 ft
Size in a pot	Usually 4–8 ft depending on container and pruning
Hardiness	In-ground in roughly USDA zones 8–10; containers elsewhere
Fruit	Small, round, green ripening to purple-black; high oil content
Harvest	Fall into early winter, depending on climate and use
Bearing age	Often within 2–4 years of planting nursery stock

If you want the broader story of olive growing, including other varieties and propagation, start with our guide on how to grow an olive tree. This article sticks to what is specific to Arbequina. More tree and shrub guides live in the trees and shrubs hub.

Hardiness and Where It Grows

Olives are Mediterranean trees that want hot, dry summers and cool, mostly dry winters. California, Arizona, Texas, the Gulf Coast and the warmer parts of the Southeast and Pacific Northwest can all grow Arbequina in the ground, with some care. Established trees in good health generally ride out brief overnight frosts into the low 20s °F. Prolonged cold, hard freezes into the teens, or freezes after a warm spell when the tree is actively growing can damage branches or kill young trees to the ground.

• Zones 9–10: plant in the ground with little winter worry.
• Zone 8: plant in the ground in a sheltered, sunny spot, such as near a south-facing wall; protect young trees with frost cloth during cold snaps.
• Zone 7 and colder: grow in a container and move it into a cool garage, sunroom or greenhouse when nights drop below the mid-20s °F.

Humidity is less of a barrier than wet soil. Gulf Coast gardeners can grow Arbequina, but must plant on a mound or raised bed so roots never sit wet, and should expect more fungal leaf spot than in dry climates.

Planting in the Ground

1. Pick the sunniest spot you have, with at least 6 to 8 hours of direct sun and good air movement.
2. Check drainage. Dig a hole about 12 inches deep, fill it with water, and let it drain. If water remains after a few hours, plant on a 12 to 18 inch mound or raised bed.
3. Plant in spring after frost danger, so the tree has a full season to root in before winter.
4. Dig wide, not deep. Make the hole two to three times the width of the root ball and no deeper. Set the top of the root ball level with or slightly above grade.
5. Backfill with native soil. Olives do not need rich soil; heavy compost in the hole can hold too much water.
6. Stake loosely if the site is windy, and remove the stake after a year.
7. Water deeply and mulch with gravel or a thin layer of bark, kept a few inches from the trunk.

Growing Arbequina in a Pot

Arbequina’s compact habit makes it the most popular olive for containers. Start a young tree in a pot a few inches wider than its nursery container and step up every year or two until it reaches a planter around 20 to 24 inches wide and deep, or a half barrel. Terracotta and unglazed clay suit olives well because they dry out quickly. Choose a pot with large drainage holes and set it on feet.

• Potting mix: a cactus and citrus mix, or a standard potting mix blended with about one-third pumice, perlite or coarse grit.
• Watering: water thoroughly when the top 2 inches are dry, then let the excess drain. In summer heat that may be every few days; in winter, every couple of weeks.
• Moving indoors: place in the brightest, coolest spot available. A cool, bright garage or unheated sunroom is better than a warm living room, because winter warmth prevents flowering.
• Root pruning: once the tree is in its final pot, slice off an inch or two of outer roots and refresh the mix every two to three years.

For help choosing a container, see our roundup of the best planters for trees. If your olive will live indoors most of the year, our guide to growing olive trees indoors covers light and humidity in more detail.

Watering and Feeding

Young in-ground trees need regular deep watering, about once a week in the first summer, more in desert heat. Once established after two or three years, Arbequina is drought-tolerant and needs deep watering only every two to four weeks in dry summers, and little or none in rainy winters. Fruit size and yield do improve with moderate summer water, so do not let established trees go completely dry while fruit is sizing.

Olives are light feeders. Apply a balanced or slightly nitrogen-heavy fertilizer once in late winter or early spring, at the label rate for the tree’s size. Container trees benefit from a half-strength liquid feed every four to six weeks during spring and summer. Too much nitrogen produces lots of leafy growth and fewer flowers.

Getting Arbequina to Fruit

The most common complaint about container Arbequinas is that they never flower. Olives form flower buds in response to winter chilling: several weeks of cool temperatures, with nights roughly in the 30s to 40s °F and days not much above the 50s or 60s. Trees kept in a warm house all winter usually skip flowering.

• Leave potted trees outdoors in fall as long as nights stay above the mid-20s °F, then move them to a cool, bright space rather than a heated room.
• Give the tree full sun in spring; flowers appear in mid to late spring as tiny creamy clusters.
• Arbequina is self-fertile and wind-pollinated. Indoors, gently shake branches when in bloom to help pollen move.
• Expect fruit drop after flowering. Olives set many more flowers than they can mature.
• Olives tend to alternate: a heavy crop one year is often followed by a light one.

Pruning

Olives fruit on the previous year’s growth, so heavy pruning reduces next year’s crop. Prune lightly each year in late winter or early spring, after the worst frost risk and before flowering.

• Remove dead, damaged and crossing branches.
• Thin the center to let sun and air reach the interior, aiming for an open, vase-like shape.
• Remove suckers from the base and water sprouts shooting straight up from main limbs.
• Shorten overlong branches to keep the tree at a manageable height, especially in pots.
• For a lollipop topiary in a pot, keep a single trunk and shape the head each spring.

Harvesting and Curing

Arbequina olives ripen in fall into early winter. For green table olives, pick when fruit has reached full size but is still green to yellowish. For milder, richer olives or oil, wait until they turn purple to black. Pick by hand or rake them onto a tarp.

Fresh olives contain oleuropein, a very bitter compound, and must be cured before eating. Common home methods:

• Water curing: slit or crack olives and soak in fresh water, changing it daily for one to three weeks, then store in brine.
• Brine curing: submerge olives in salt brine and change it periodically over several weeks to months.
• Dry salt curing: best for fully ripe black olives; layer with coarse salt for several weeks.

Follow a tested recipe from your state’s cooperative extension service, especially for brine strength and storage. Arbequina’s small fruit size makes it best known as an oil olive, but the cured fruit is also good eating.

Arbequina Care Through the Year

• Late winter: light pruning, one feeding, and check for scale on stems.
• Spring: move potted trees back outside after the last hard frost; watch for flower clusters in mid to late spring and keep soil evenly moist through bloom and fruit set.
• Summer: deep, infrequent watering; half-strength liquid feed for container trees; pull suckers from the base.
• Fall: harvest as fruit colors; clean up dropped olives; spray copper for peacock spot in humid regions if it has been a problem.
• Winter: protect young in-ground trees with frost cloth on cold nights; keep container trees cool and bright, watering sparingly.

Common Problems

Problem	Likely cause	Fix
Leaf drop, yellowing, wilting	Overwatering or poor drainage	Let soil dry between waterings; improve drainage
No flowers	Warm winters indoors or too much shade	Give a cool winter and full sun
Brown, dry leaf tips	Underwatering or dry indoor air	Water deeply when soil dries; avoid heater vents
Round dark spots on leaves	Peacock spot (fungal), common in humid areas	Improve airflow; copper spray in fall per label
Bumps and sticky residue on stems	Scale insects	Horticultural oil; prune heavy infestations
Maggots in fruit	Olive fruit fly, mainly in California	Harvest early, clean up dropped fruit, use traps or kaolin clay
Galls on branches	Olive knot bacteria	Prune out in dry weather; disinfect tools