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<pre>A while ago I posted to this list that I had encountered some problems with
Kalamata. After much messing about and research I have discovered what went
wrong.

The olives were supplied to me by Olives Australia, and were grafted onto
Paragon rootstock due to a perceived weakness in Kalamata's own roots. They
were planted and left to their own devices for some time, then had problems
with vigour, mineral deficiency, leaf drop, olive lace bug, the works.

Now at 4 years old they are starting to produce their first crop I have been
able to identify the problem in many of them. Due to lack of attention to
detail, I had allowed some suckers from the Paragon to grow, and these
vigorous shoots have now totally taken over the tree to the extent that some
trees are now 90% Paragon to 10% Kalamata. The shape, size and development
stage of the the two olives is quite different, so I have little difficulty
in telling them apart.

I must strees that this is not Olives Australia's fault, but mine for not
chopping of the suckers quickly enough. As a result I have 40 trees, of
which some are still all Kalamata, but most are carrying two different
species. I also discovered that my UC13A6 are actually Manzanillo so the
whole make up of my grove suddenly changed last week!

Regards,

Mike Wilson
Hunter Valley.
</pre>
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