Waterlogged olive trees (forum)

Tash starts with ...
Hi. We have had an excessive amount of rain and my newly planted olive trees (both about 2m tall) ended up waterlogged. I have moved them back into pots - but one of them has brown leaves that are now dropping off. Is there any chance it may come back - or is it more likely I have lost it?

Time: 17th April 2009 2:36pm

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Dianna says...
Hi Tash, My whole orchard is water-logged. I seem to have an aquifer happily pumping water all over my backyard - it's like the Okefenokee Swamp. We'll find out if they like being waterlogged. Olive trees, avocado, peach, nectarine, plum, manderine, orange, cumquat. The first one to give up the ghost was the choko vine, two little fruits and then deadski! Good Luck Tash.


Time: 18th April 2009 6:18pm

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About the Author Dianna
Greenbank in Queensland
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Brendan says...
Tash, try replanting your olive tree 'on top' of the ground. I know it sounds strange, but trust me. Spread some Gypsum on the ground (fair bit), then cover that with a few sheets of newspaper, leaving a gap where you want the tree to grow. Make a mound with sandy loam, composted cow manure, more Gypsum to cover the paper, and make it at least 300mm high. Plant the tree in the middle of the mound and firm the soil around the tree. Cover with mulch, keeping it away from the tree trunk ~ 150mm. Give it a drink of weak Seasol (white bottle), that should do it. Don't fertilize for at least six to nine months, but you can give it the weak Seasol monthly.

Time: 19th April 2009 8:23am

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Tash says...
Thank Brendan - I'll try that because I specifically bought them for the position I had them in...

Dianna, good luck with your orchard. Hopefully we've finished the wet season for this year. I've had to dig up an apple (Anna), avocado, mulberry, pomegranate and the olives so far! We've only just moved in Nov' last year and I've been told it never usually gets this wet so I'm hoping my trees will do okay if I can get them established and we have dryer seasons. Hope yours survive and flourish.

Time: 19th April 2009 8:35am

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Dianna says...
Hi Tash, Brendan has got a good idea, the raised garden bed. I've done this, so has a friend, so has Don Burke, you make a raised garden bed or mound with unwanted soil, subsoil, etc. (put up one of those signs - fill wanted, no rocks or rubbish). Rather than making one mound per tree, make long mounds to take several trees. Be sure not to place them across the lie of the land or you'll make a dam out of it. I don't know why it is, but the plants were happier in these mounds than planted normally in the ground; in a drought and only watered with a bit of sullage. Good luck with your orchard.

Time: 25th April 2009 8:04am

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Steve says...
I've always planted new fruit trees on mounds, say min 300mm high by 1000mm diameter to help the roots stay a little dryer during times of prolonged wet weather.
Also for veggies & flower gardens I built raised beds.
However these become attractive housing estates for mice & rats who also enjoy staying dry.
Then the dog digs up the garden trying to get the rodents!
Why is gardening so hard?

Time: 6th May 2009 10:13pm

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Dianna says...
Hi Steve, Is it supposed to be good for the soul? I've got the ratty problem as well, would you believe that they like to eat chillies?
So far, the olive trees have survived the 'swamping', however, two avocado trees have gone to the great garden in the sky, it has to be some kind of fungal root problem. Now the next quandry - what can I plant in those spots that won't be affected by a fungal infection?

Cheers from Sunny Queensland.


Time: 14th May 2009 10:48am

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Brendan says...
Hi Dianna, I would retry avos, but plant them on raised mounds ~ 400mm high, and follow my instructions above on 19th April. Just plant them in a different place from the ones that died.
Good Luck.

Time: 16th May 2009 7:53am

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Dianna says...
Hi Brendan, The answer is the raised mound. The underground spring is still pumping water all over the vege garden and orchard, it's so wet that even the choko vine has died. But the olives live on! I will have to wait until the ground dries out, then put in aggy-pipe to drain the area, then bring in truckloads of fill. In the meantime - how do plant rice?

Cheers from Soggy Greenbank.

Time: 31st May 2009 9:36am

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Brendan says...
Hi Dianna, Actually, I have grown rice in my waterlogged garden. I just put in some brown rice and it grew, it turned out to be more trouble than it was worth. Cheaper to buy these days:-) Good luck with the avocados, the Shepard should grow well there, as they grow it up NQ, where it's very wet. It's a type 'B' too.

Time: 1st June 2009 7:58am

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Steve says...
Dianna - I suspect you may have phytophthora which thrives & is spread in water logged soil. The fungus invades the fine white feeder roots that grow during the spring and summer months,
Avo's & Custard Apple are prone, but it will attack any plant. I've given up growing avo's having lost so many plants.
Commercial growers inject their trees every few weeks with phosphonic acid,
formulated as potassium phosphonate.
I read somewhere that you shouldn't re-plant in the same position as a plant that died of phytophthora.
Raised planting with plenty of mulch/humus in the soil may help the plant in suspect soils.
Are you able to divert or drain the water away from your plants?

Time: 3rd June 2009 6:22pm

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amanda says...
Hi Coffs Harb' Steve - I read your post about avocados with interest - as I don't know anyone that's got one to grow in Geraldton either - and we are semi arid - so no water logging. I do have custard apples (2) tho'.

I recently learned (after my deaths in the family) that Avo's can't handle any kind of salinity - either in the soil, wind or retic water. I am interested if you (or anyone else) may have these conditions perhaps? (I am close-coastal)

I really don't want to spend the time and money on more attempts - only to see them drop dead at 1-2 yrs.

Time: 4th June 2009 10:03pm

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About the Author amanda19
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Brendan says...
Hi amanda, Gypsum is the natural enemy of salinity and phytophthora root rot. But, growing avos on a 300 to 400mm high mound of sandy loan (& more Gypsum),~ 1200 to 1500 diameter, then mulching heavily should do the trick. The roots stay above the wet ground in the mound, and 'feed' on the mulch. Don't fertilize for at least 6 to 9 months, and only after some new shoots appear. Also, you might want to check your soils pH and add some Dolomite as well. Good luck.

Time: 5th June 2009 6:52am

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amanda says...
Thanks brendan - might give the mound a go. My soil is calcerous alkaline so I have to be very careful with gypsum - it also is high in Mg so dolomite no good either. I have had some great tips from Speedy in the "blackwater" topic on how to overcome salinity issues - you may be interested in those too.

I am looking into humates and fungi for a long term solution.

Time: 5th June 2009 10:23am

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Steve says...
Never heard about salinity problems from coastal winds. I guess it might depend on close & how much a plant receives.
I live close to the ocean & in a high wind area, so my plants do receive some degree of salt spray, but I've never noticed salt to be a problem on any plants.
The winds do damage & break limbs & branches & I've planted wind breaks to help overcome this problem.
I've grown & lost about 4 or 5 avo's over the years, all very healthy established trees bearing delicious fruit, only to die suddenly during prolonged wet periods all due to the dreaded phytophthora.
I've almost given up trying to grow avo's as it breaks my heart to see a favourite, fruiting, established tree keel over. I suppose I could grow them if I chose to reguarly inject them but I reckon it's less trouble to grow something that suits the conditions instead of spending time & money on something that is prone to die from sickness, pests or disease.

Time: 5th June 2009 10:00pm

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Brendan says...
Yates do sell a product called 'Yates Anti Rot', and to protect fruit trees from phytophthora root rot, they say to spray the whole tree every 3 weeks or 5 to 6 weeks as a preventative spray. My flooded orange tree is on it's last legs, and I have used 'Anti Rot' on it, so I'm not too happy with it. Anyone else used it? My avocados on the other hand, seem to like it ?

Time: 6th June 2009 7:43am

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amanda says...
Hi Coffs Steve. We are very close to the ocean and quite exposed. But we don't have the rainfall that you probably do in order to leach out the salt. Salt can also build up for other reasons too tho': irrigation water, rising water table and the over application of chemical fertilisers, chook poo, grey water etc.

My trees ok too as they get flushes with scheme water with a very low EC reading. But I have been learning recently that the salinity may not be enuf' to damage the tree but can be enuf' to inhibit the growth of beneficial micro-organisms and fungi. This allows pathogens free rein to make themselves at home. A soil full if microbial life helps out-compete pathogens.

It's very interesting stuff as the human body works in a similar way. Gastro is a pathogen getting a hold in your gut - they are self limiting because your normal gut flora will multiply to out compete the pathogen (that's why a bit of 'bacilli' yoghurt helps this process) - that's the basic gist of it anyway...

Anyway - just a thought if u are ever up for another go! :)

Time: 6th June 2009 10:58am

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About the Author amanda19
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Steve says...
The secret to healthy plants is healthy soil. It's like the saying "you are want you eat".
You can never have enough humus/compost under fruit trees or gardens, one to smother weeds & second, to feed the micro-soil life which in turns supplies nutrients to the plants.
I now remember a neigbour having salt problems with young Jacaranda plants. The leaves were burnt & dying on the southern side, ie from the ocean wind. He protected the young plants with a hessian screen until they became established & he hasn't experienced any further problems.

Time: 6th June 2009 2:56pm

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amanda says...
Thanks Steve - sounds like u have thought of this stuff already! Yes - same problem with Jacarandas here (not in Perth tho' - stunning one's there)

I don't think I will ever have the right kind of soil for Avo's to start with - i have actually decided, like you, that they are probably more work than I feel like doing and I'm not into having to use chemicals to get something to just stay alive - it kind of defeats the purpose doesn't it?

I will just have to buy them :(

Time: 6th June 2009 7:20pm

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Dianna says...
Hi Everyone, Back in April I said that my orchard was waterlogged - it still is, it keeps raining and the underground spring keeps pumping. So far only the avocados, the choko vine and one tomato bush have died. Having read this page on phythophthora http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/r8100111.html from the University of Southern California, I don't think I have got phythophthora, I think they've just drowned. But this article has a few clues about the soil, the mulch (woody) and the use of gypsum. I'm going to try them in pots, with wheels so they can be moved about to catch the sun and avoid the wind, frost etc.
Now, where do I find dwarf avo's. . . .

Time: 10th July 2009 8:11am

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Brendan says...
Hi Dianna, Try your local nursery, Daleys or Bunnings for a dwaft avo tree. Look for a Wurtz or Rincon, both these are dwaft trees. The Pinkerton can also be kept (pruned) as a dwaft.

Time: 14th July 2009 6:35am

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John says...
our olive tree is half a meter from water-pipes and plastic sewerage pipes will it damage them. Cheers, John

Time: 19th September 2010 2:16pm

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Mandurah WA
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Wayne says...
It could lift/break the pipes John, I would re-run the pipes or move the tree

Time: 19th September 2010 2:22pm

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marion says...
Steve. have found This to be very interesting!

Time: 12th November 2010 9:57pm

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