Olive tree from seed??

[Pots Of Fruit]

I'm just wondering is it possible to grow an olive tree from a stone found in a shop bought olive? Will it bera fruit?

Thanks! here's hoping

[redadmiral]

well, olives that have been kept in brine will not germinate because the brine will have killed the pit. however, i have heard rumours (don't know if it's true!) that if the olive has only been stored in oil then the pit might still be viable.

however, i think olives grown from seed revert to wild olive trees, so if you DO manage to grow one, the fruit the tree eventually produces will be small and bitter.

also, i believe olive seeds are notoriously hard to germinate! my own attempts from bought seeds testify to this - 0% germination, doh!

[Pots Of Fruit]

well, ya gotta ask...

Thanks for that...sounds like you've followed all leads on that one....I think I'll have to see can I find an actual olive tree then.
Do you have olive trees growing?

[redadmiral]

yeah sorry about the bad news! there are seed companies that produce olive pits that are viable, but as i said above they seem to be hard to germinate. that being said, someone i did a seed swap with told me she just put hers in pots on a sunny windowsill and they came up so it may be worth a try!

i know what you mean though, i've always wanted to grow an olive from seed. it's something about them being able to get so ancient, i rather like the idea of being there at the very beginning!

i don't have any olive trees growing unfortunately no, though i'd love to one day. seems like quite a lot of people on here do though. if you do a search for olives you'll find a couple of other threads that might be of interest.