Hardly any container plant is overwintered wrongly as often as the olive tree. Most bring it indoors far too early and far too warm, keep watering diligently and wonder why it drops its leaves in spring or dies outright. Yet the olive is robust; you just have to understand what it really needs.
The decisive error: frost is not its enemy, but wet and darkness. Grasp that and you bring your olive tree through the winter with ease. This article shows you how.
Frost is not the problem
Olive trees tolerate short, light frosts surprisingly well, older specimens often well below zero. What really kills them in a pot is something else: wet roots in cold soil that rot, and a warm, dark winter quarters in which the tree exhausts itself from lack of light.
So the olive is one of the most undemanding container plants in winter, as long as you avoid these two mistakes. It wants it cool, bright and dry, not warm, dark and wet.
The right winter quarters
Ideal is a bright, frost-free, unheated room: a cool stairwell, a conservatory, a bright garage or a cellar with a window, at about 0 to 10 degrees. The cooler the olive stands, the less light it needs, because its metabolism is shut down.
Avoid the warm living-room corner. There it is warm but too dark; the tree pushes weak, long shoots and loses leaves. An olive that overwinters in the living room almost always ails.
How to bring the olive through winter
Bring it in late
Leave the olive outdoors as long as possible; it tolerates cool and light frost. Only when severe, lasting frost threatens does it come into quarters, usually not until November or December.
Set it cool and bright
Put it in the brightest cool spot you have, frost-free at 0 to 10 degrees. Better a few degrees cooler and brighter than warm and dark.
Keep it almost dry
Water only a little in winter, just enough that the root ball does not dry out completely. Never leave standing water in the saucer, or the roots rot.
Do not feed
In the resting period the olive gets no fertiliser. Feeding only begins again when it breaks bud in spring and stands outdoors.
Bring it out again early
From spring it may go back outside, at first to a sheltered spot so the leaves gradually get used to full sun and do not scorch.
It is not frost that kills the potted olive, but wet and darkness. Overwintered cool, bright and almost dry, it comes through reliably.
The core rule on the olive
Frequently asked questions
How cold may a potted olive overwinter?
Best cool at 0 to 10 degrees and bright. The olive tolerates short light frosts, but not lasting severe frost at the root ball in the pot. A bright, frost-free, unheated room is ideal.
Why does my olive lose its leaves in winter?
Almost always because it stands too warm and too dark. In warmth the metabolism runs, but without enough light the tree cannot cover it and drops leaves. Setting it cooler and brighter solves the problem.
How often do I water the olive in winter?
Very rarely. The root ball should only just not dry out completely. Waterlogging is the most common cause of death: wet roots in cold soil rot. Never leave water in the saucer.
Can the olive tree overwinter outdoors?
In very mild wine-growing regions with winter protection, sometimes yes; in a pot it is risky because the root ball freezes through. Safer is the cool, bright, frost-free quarters. You can leave it out until the first severe frost.
Do I have to feed the olive in winter?
No. In the resting period there is no feeding. Feeding begins again only in spring with the new growth, when the plant stands outdoors and grows actively.
