Saflax - Bonsai - Common Olive - Olea europea - 20 seeds - The most typical cultural tree of southern Europe / Cold house Bonsai. With germ-free and air-permeable coconut fiber substrate for successful cultivation. Worth knowing: The evergreen Common Olive is the most typical cultural tree of southern Europe and can reach an almost biblical age of some hundred years, during which the significant trunk becomes even more gnarly. The blue-green coloured and oval-shaped, longish leaves have a white-grey colouring on the bottom side and create the silvery shimmer of the tree.. Natural Place: The Olea europea has been cultivated in the Mediterranean region since the 4th millennium B.C. Cultivation: Seed propagation indoors is possible throughout the year. To increase the germinability, you can slightly roughen the hard seed with a soft file or a piece of sandpaper and place it for about 24 hours in warm water for priming. Then, plant the seeds about 0,5 cm deep into moist potting compost, put some compost earth on top and cover the seed container with clear film to prevent the earth from drying out. Don’t forget to make some holes in the clear film and take it every second or third day completely off for about 2 hours. That way you avoid mold formation on your potting compost. Place the seed container somewhere bright and warm with a temperature between 25°C and 30°C (for instance near a heater) and keep the earth moist, but not wet. It usually takes four to twelve weeks until germination. Place: Keep your bonsai plant in a sunny place and during summer even on the balcony or porch. Care: See that the earth is always moist. Waterlogging can damage the roots, but if it is too dry, the plant will cast the leaves. You should provide fluid fertilizer for bonsai plants every two weeks, except during hibernation between October and April. The Common Olive is with its small leaves and the bizarre stem with the cracked bark an attractive sight, whether as a small or a big bonsai plant. Since it sprouts rather good from the old wood, it can easily be cut to the desired form. To avoid weakening the plant, you should keep the new shoots until lignification. The sprouting leaves can neatly be pruned to a round shaped crown. The Common Olive shoots rather strong and oppositely, which makes wiring mostly unnecessary. If you do choose wiring to form your bonsai, make sure you do so during summer and without bending the branches strongly because they might break easily. Young plants should be repotted every three years, matured trees every five years. Preferably you use a permeable substrate that contains a fair part of gravel and provides proper drainage. During Winter: Bonsai: Yes Picture credits: Because of technical limitations links are shown as text. 24346-olea-europea-seed-package-front-german.jpg - © JoaquimFP - About © : Contact SAFLAX - saflax.de/copyright 14346-olea-europea-cultivation-instruction-german.jpg - Frank Laue - © Saflax - saflax.de/copyright 14346-31-Olea-europea.jpg - Drew Avery - CC-BY-2.0 - creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0 14346-32-Olea-europea.jpg - Ragesoss - CC-BY-SA-4.0 - creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0 14346-34-Olea-europea.jpg - © JoaquimFP - . - 14346-34-Olea-europea.jpg - © JoaquimFP - . - - - - - - - - - -