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<pre>Mike wrote

>However, we are also wondering if we have the correct mix of trees to
>effectively cross pollinate the varieties we have planted. In one grove I
>have a block of 500 Frantoio and a block of 500 Nevadillo Blanco, with a
>small stand of eucalypts in between. The NB flowered bout 2 weeks before
>the Frantoio, so there seems to have been little cross pollination.
>
Just an observation that I am sure most people in Oz have already noticed.
Olives and Eucalypts don't mix. Your stand of Eucalypts may be a possible cause
of your pollinating problem although it may also be the distance involved that
Brian C mentioned.

In any event, those in Oz must have noticed how poorly olive trees grow in
proximity to Eucalypts. I have not done too detailed a record but olives
planted near (say 20 metres) Murray River Red Gums are spindly and sickly
compared to same grove/variety olives 40 metres away. I have also noticed that
(in mid Victoria, Australia) Grey Box have a similar influence on the
development of the tree and therefore it's pollinating capacity.

That said I wonder about the foothills of Adelaide (South Australia) where the
olive is declared a noxious weed but from which (apparently) award winning oils
were derived from the olives grown there. Mmmmm.

Peace be with you all at this time of year. May the olive branch be extended by
all, to all.



Regards
Peter Caird
www.victorianolivegroves.com
AUSTRALIA


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