Article from
VSCNews, Vegetable and Specialty Crop News
by Breanna Kendrick
Research Progress on Growing Olives in Florida
When olives began to be investigated as a potential crop for
Florida, it made sense for Mack Thetford to be involved with the
research. He has traditionally worked in plant propagation, dune
restoration and evaluation of plants for drier landscapes, which is
where olive trees are typically grown.
Thetford’s research is
aimed at improving establishment of olive orchards in Florida. He has
been working with a team of researchers to look at establishment of
olives in North Florida and in North Central Florida around Citra.
Some
people in Florida have been growing olives long enough that they are
harvesting and squeezing oil. However, field research has just begun
within the last couple of years. Thetford and other researchers are
only in their second year of a tree-establishment experiment.
Thetford’s
initial question is: Does the transplant size (how tall the tree is or
how large the container volume is) at the time of planting influence
transplant survival, or might it influence how quickly a tree can
become productive? The research also seeks to determine what the basic
fertility needs of olives are in Florida soils.
“We’re just now
finishing up our first year in the ground with trees. They went through
a nice cold winter, so we got some preliminary data on initial
survival,” explains Thetford. “We are seeing some differences between
the initial transplant size, and we’re also seeing initial differences
between orchards planted in the northern part of the state versus the
central/southern part of the state. I think by the end of our two-year
study, we’ll be able to make some preliminary recommendations on
transplant sizes.”
There are three different varieties that
Thetford and his team are planting: Arbequina, Arbosana and Koroneiki.
They’ll see if there’s a big difference between these varieties in
initial transplant survival, tree growth and cold hardiness.
The
research is also trying to determine what the basic nutrient
requirements are for olives. This is important because when a soil
sample is sent to the lab for a fertilizer recommendation, the lab must
have a baseline of information for comparison. “We will publish the
soil and plant nutrient information, and then our data will be
available … so labs here in Florida will have a basis for making a
recommendation for fertilizers in the future,” says Thetford.
It’s
not yet known if olives can be successfully grown in Florida. While the
focus of this research is to answer large-scale production questions,
the research team has prepared a publication to assist homeowners with establishment and management of olives in Florida landscapes.
Thetford
says he monitors the olives for pests and does basic treatments on the
trees. “We haven’t really had any pest problems,” he states. Pest
monitoring and management in olives is a research area of UF scientist
Jennifer Gillett-Kaufman, who brings her knowledge on this subject to
the research team. She has published a summary of the pests found in Florida-grown olives.
Marck Thetford is an associate professor of environmental horticulture
with the University of Florida (UF) at the West Florida Research and
Education Center in Milton.
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