Olive tree water needs, year one in the ground

Hey everyone,

I just planted 6 olive trees, each a couple years old, all supposedly cold hard to Zone 7. I am in zone 8 but this is beside the point.

I planted them mid-February to try to avoid the coldest temperatures this winter and let them establish. They're planted in Northern California in Siskiou county where we have a Mediterranean climate with moderately hot, dry summers. Probably no rain fall from mid-May to late October most years.

How much water will they need their first year? I don't have them on the drip and I am hoping they will get to a point where they need very little supplemental water. Any olive tree experts out there with experience?

Thanks,
Blaise

Blaise,

I'm in a hotter part of California. When I planted my 7 olive trees, I was watering manually 2 times per week, 10 liters per tree per watering. 5 of them died, because they were in the low spot on my property and 2017 rains finished them. After 2 years I stopped watering them. I have one Manzanilla and one Picual. Manzanilla is producing a little, I just picked one cup of small olives today. Picual never produced and then was damaged by the fire we had here, but is regrowing. I think my climate has too cold nights for them to thrive. I still want to try Cornicabra, but can not find the source for them.

These are all up on a hill, I don't think it's possible for them to be flooded. And we have pretty warm nights during the summer. Did they ever show signs of drought stress during the summers when you watered less?

After 2 years of summer watering, I stopped and watered maybe once per month and another year I stopped completely and did not observe any stress.