The olive tree is the heart and soul of the Mediterranean. Honestly, can you even imagine Italian, Spanish, or Greek cooking without that liquid gold we call olive oil? I definitely can’t! Because these trees evolved in such warm, sunny climates, they’ve developed some pretty unique ways of growing—especially when it comes to their roots.
Going Deep and Wide
If you’ve ever spent a summer in the Mediterranean, you know it can go weeks without a single drop of rain. To survive those long dry spells, olive trees have become masters of finding water. Over thousands of years, they’ve learned to send their roots incredibly deep into the earth—sometimes reaching down as far as 23 feet (seven meters) to find moisture!
A Massive Root System
But the olive tree doesn’t just dig deep; it also spreads out. The root system is surprisingly wide, often reaching a radius of 23 feet or more around the trunk. This is exactly why you’ll see olive trees spaced so far apart in professional groves—they need plenty of “elbow room” to thrive.
It’s not just about water, either. Many Mediterranean soils are actually quite nutrient-poor. Even though olive trees are slow growers and pretty low-maintenance, they still need that massive root network to soak up enough nutrients to stay healthy.
What This Means for Your Potted Trees
Now, here’s the catch for us: since olive trees aren’t fully winter-hardy, they usually won’t survive a harsh winter planted in the ground in cooler climates. Most of us end up growing them in pots so we can move them indoors when it gets chilly.
Because a pot naturally restricts those ambitious roots, your tree can’t go hunting for its own water or food. To keep a potted olive tree happy, you’ll need to step in as its personal caretaker. This means watering it about once a week and refreshing the soil by repotting it every two years or so.
To wrap it up, here’s the lowdown on olive tree roots:
- In the wild, roots can dive up to 23 feet deep.
- They spread just as wide as they go deep to find nutrients.
- Because potted trees can’t grow these massive root systems, they need a little extra TLC from you to stay healthy.
