Fruitless olive tree question

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Hi all!
I am new here. We just finished our new backyard and want to keep everything looking awesome in my backyard. We have two fruitless olive trees and one seems to have some yellow leaves. I'm wondering if this is because of too much or too little watering. Or is there some other reason? We live in Southern California and it was quite warm a few weeks ago but it has cooled off now.
 
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Welcome to the forum! :)

Might be useful to have a little more information here - are they in pots, how much do you water them, which aspect do they face, etc.
 
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Welcome aboard!
They look young to me but I have never grown olive trees and I didn't know you can grow them in California. I know you can grow avocado there. There are plenty of expert gardeners in here so they will give you an answer soon.
 
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Welcome to the forum! :)

Might be useful to have a little more information here - are they in pots, how much do you water them, which aspect do they face, etc.

They are in the ground. Right now they are watered via drip. They were being watered more often right after we planted them but now they are down to three days a week...15 mins. They get a good amount of sun. You can see the sun rising from the east there and it will be overhead for much of the day. There is a wall behind the tree but I can't imagine that obstructs the sun too much. We are zone 9a. But the trees haven't been through a winter here yet.
 

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We have another on the west side of the yard. Don't mind the pool toys please!;) This one has less yellow.
 

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Hi and welcome.

Firstly I would just say - as olive trees are best suited to hot arid desert like climates with an extremely long dry season - meaning around 6 - 8 months or more without rain - they are best kept on the very, very dry side - especially as moisture is an olive tree's worst enemy - as not only does too much water quickly lead to various fungal diseases and root rot - but also a rapid untimely demise.

So as someone who grows a vast amount of olives - my immediate thoughts are - that although one or two yellow leaves are generally nothing to worry about - the amount on your trees are very definitely a sure sign that you need to cut back on the watering - particularly as every few days is way, way too much for an olive tree.

Regarding fruiting - it very much depends on the cultivar and although there are a couple that do begin fruiting as early as 3 years old - the majority don't generally start to bear fruit until the trees are somewhere between 5 to 12 years old - that said - as you mentioned that you trees haven't yet been through a winter yet - if by that you mean they were only planted this year - its unlikely that they will bear fruit until they are fully established - which could be another few years yet.

A couple of other things worth bearing in mind are that - too much shade and especially on the trunk and the lower part of tree can also inhibit fruit set - as can too much fertilizer and especially so if the nitrogen content is high - as well as the fact that - although the majority of olive trees are self pollinating - there are also quite a few cultivars that are not and of course - there many non-fruiting cultivars too - grown purely for their ornamental value.
 
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Thanks for the info on watering. I'm glad I already cut it back substantially. It was certainly getting too much water. If it likes arid...then it is otherwise in the right spot. We basically live in an arid climate...hot and barely any water. Summer days can be above 105 often.

The tree with the yellow leaves had two olives...but I'm hoping that is it. We actually wanted them to be fruitless... So as few as possible the better. Hopefully we didn't end up with one that will fruit.

When I do water... Should I just do one long soaking.... Like once a week?
 

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