Olive Tree Losing Leaves? (How to Save it)

Olive trees lose their leaves due to overwatering, a lack of sunlight and cold temperatures. Indoor olive trees leaves curl and drop off due to fluctuations in temperature, humidity and because they are in too much shade.

Olive trees are Mediterranean in origin and to prevent your olive tree from dropping leaves it is important you need to replicate some of the growing conditions of their native environment with well draining soil, full sun and protection from freezing temperatures.

Keep reading to learn why your olive tree is losing its leaves whether its indoors, in Winter, after repotting or for any other reason and learn how you can implement the solutions to save your Olive tree from leaf drop…

Olive Tree Losing Leaves in Winter

Olive tree are well adapted to hot and relatively dry Mediterranean climates that have mild Winters usually without freezing temperatures.

If you live in a climate where temperatures reach freezing in Winter then you should grow olive trees in pots and give them some form of protection in Winter.

Olive trees do become more tolerant of cold temperatures as they mature, with thicker truck older gnarled olive trees tending to be more cold hardy then the skinny trucked immature trees.

The leaves of olive trees often drop in Winter to some extent (particularly if they are in climates that significantly contrast the Mediterranean) due to cooler temperatures, fewer hours of light and lower light intensity. However all olive trees should be protected to reduce the number of leaves dropping as the olive can die in particularly adverse conditions.

Ideally move the olive tree to a heated greenhouse as this has the benefit of a higher average temperature as well as far more hours of sunlight (olive trees need full sun). You can also place the olive tree in a cool porch or in a conservatory that ideally has a South facing aspect for a much light as possible.

It is particularly important to keep the roots insulated (as they are the most cold vulnerable part of the tree) so use some horticultural fleece or bubble wrap around the pot to keep the cold out.

It doesn’t necessarily have to reach freezing for the leaves to drop off the olive tree. If the temperature suddenly decreases the this sudden contrast is likely to trigger the leaves to drop.

If all the leaves have dropped off due to cold temperatures then protect the olive tree from freezing temperature for the rest of the Winter, locate it in a sunny location and new leaves should emerge in the Spring.

Indoor Olive Tree Losing Leaves

If you have recently brought your olive tree indoors to protect in Winter or recently bought one from a garden center, then the olive tree often loses some, if not all of its leaves due to the contrast in conditions between the outdoors and the indoor environment.

Olive tree are often cultivated in very specific, controlled conditions before sale in a commercial greenhouse and when they are moved, the transplant stress often causes dropping leaves.

Olive trees are sensitive to sudden variation in environmental conditions and can start to curl and then drop their leaves indoors due to:

• Sunlight. Olive trees are native to warm climates with full sun, so there are often too few hours of light indoors for the olive tree to support its leaves and grow.
• Temperatures. Olive trees are not cold hardy, so when they are moved inside their is often a significant contrast in temperatures which causes the plant shock and results in dropping leaves. Indoor heating can also cause the temperature to increase at night whereas the olive tree is adapted to cooler temperatures in the evening, which also contributes to falling leaves.
• Humidity. Houses in Winter (or at anytime of the year) often have much lower levels of humidity then outdoors which can sap too much moisture from the leaves causing them to curl up and drop off.
• Airflow from air conditioning, forced air or convection currents from other sources of indoor heating, saps moisture from the leaves of the olive tree, causing them to drop to conserve water.
• Differences in the watering frequency or rainfall, can also cause stress and contribute to leaves dropping indoors.

It is very common for olive trees to drop their leaves when they are brought indoors, but this does not mean the tree is going to die, but it is just a reaction to the fluctuating conditions indoors, and there are ways to mitigate the impact of the stress, so that the olive tree survives after dropping its leaves indoors…

How to Revive an Olive Tree that Has Dropped its Leaves Indoors

To revive the olive tree after losing its leaves and to mitigate any further leaf drop…

• Houses in Winter are particularly low in humidity, so I recommend occasionally misting the olive tree (once every 2 days) to counteract the dry air indoors. This should help prevent the leaves curling and dropping off.
• Always locate your olive tree in the sunniest window of the house. Bright light is typically not enough for olive trees as they are adapted to growing in open sunny areas so try to find an area with as much direct sunlight as possible. This should provide them with more energy for photosynthesis and help retain any leaves.
• Try to maintain a fairly consistent temperature range as sudden fluctuations are a major cause of falling leaves. Keep the olive tree away from any radiators or direct sources of heat as this can dry out the soil too quickly and sap moisture from the leaves.
• Avoid locating you olive tree in the path of any air currents from air conditioning or forced air.
• Higher indoor temperatures, dry air currents, low humidity and a lack of natural rainfall all cause more water loss from the olive tree then it would typically experience outdoors which means you may have to increase the frequency of watering to avoid the olive tree losing its leaves due to drought stress. However this is a balancing act as overwatering can also be responsible for falling leaves. Give the olive tree a good soak in the Spring and Summer once a week and scale back the watering to once every 4 weeks in Winter. If the leaves start to curl before dropping, increase the frequency of watering and the humidity by misting the leaves.

If you olive tree has lost all of its leaves indoors it can still recover as long as you address any environmental concerns (such as low light or low humidity) and the olive tree should be able to grow leaves when the conditions are more favorable in the growing season in the Spring and Summer.

Overwatering and Slow Drainage Causes Olive Trees to Drop Leaves

Olive trees are native to the Mediterranean region of Europe where they grow best on rocky slopes in well draining soil of low to medium fertility with high temperatures and relatively low rainfall.

These conditions ensure that the soil around the roots is aerated, porous and drains efficiently to avoid water logging.

If the olive tree has too much moisture around the roots then this contrary to their natural preferred conditions and can interfere with root respiration and promote the conditions for root rot.

The most common reasons for too much moisture around the roots are:

• Overwatering.
• Slow draining soils.
• Pots without drainage holes in their base.
• The use of any saucers or trays underneath the pot which cause water to pool around the base.

Heavy clay soil or even unamended potting soil can all retain too much moisture for too long after watering for the olive tree to tolerate which causes the leaves to turn yellow or brown and drop off.

How to Save an Overwatered Olive Tree That is Losing Leaves

Whilst you do not need a Mediterranean climate to grow olives trees, it is important replicate aspects of the native environment to create favorable drainage soil conditions.

• The most important factor is to scale back the frequency of watering. Olive trees need the soil to be relatively dry between each bout of watering or rainfall. Water potted olive trees about once per week in the Summer and only water every 2 weeks in the Spring if there has been no significant rainfall. Only water olive trees in Winter (about once every 4 weeks or so) if they are indoors. How often yo water of course depends on your climate with potted olive trees in arid climates needing more frequent watering and olive trees in more rainy, overcast climates needing less water, so adjust your schedule accordingly.
• Olive trees need well draining soil that replicates the soil conditions in their natural environment. If the soil is too rich and retains too much water then this has the same affect as overwatering and results in falling leaves and possibly root rot.
• I personally use a potting mix of about 50% potting soil amended with 25% horticultural grit and 25% horticultural sand (by volume of the pot). This creates the optimal well draining soil structure. The different sized particles composed of sand and grit is very effective at mimicking the drainage conditions of the olive tree’s rocky environments creating excellent drainage.

Good soil drainage helps to counteract overwatering and high rainfall to ensure the olive tree’s roots remain healthy.

• Place your olive tree’s pot on ‘feet’ which elevate the pot and inch or so off the ground. This helps to further promote drainage, which is particularly important in climate that have higher levels of rainfall then the Mediterranean.
• Ensure that pots have a drainage hole in the base, if not repot your olive tree to prevent root rot.

If your olive tree is planted in normal potting soil then I recommend repotting as soon as possible, regardless of the time of year as if its remains in damp soil, it is likely to die of root rot.

Once you scale back the watering and improve the drainage conditions the olive tree should be less stressed.

Even if it has lost it leaves, olive trees are surprisingly resilient and the leaves can regrow (in the Spring and Summer) when growing conditions are more favorable.

Olive Trees Losing Leaves due to a Lack of Water

Whilst it is more common for olive trees to lose their leaves due to overwatering, it can also lose leaves if the root ball dries out completely and bakes hard in the sun.

If the olive trees leaves shrivel or curl before dropping then this typically indicates the olive tree is suffering drought stress.

The leaves curl to reduce their surface area which helps to conserve moisture. The leaves drop off in extreme drought as a survival strategy to prevent further water loss.

Olive trees can lose their leaves from drought stress because of:

• The pot is too small, and therefore is unable to accommodate the olive tree’s extensive root system. One of the olive trees key adaptions to drought is that the roots are deep and able to access moisture deep underground. If the pot is too small then it has less capacity for soil and therefore dries out much quicker. this is often exacerbated by the fact that olive trees need full sun which cause the olive trees pot to heat up quickly and bake hard, depriving the olive tree of moisture and the soil can be hard and difficult for the roots to grow.
• Watering too lightly. Olive trees do not need to be watered as often as a lot of plants due to their resistance to drought, but they do require a good soak. If the soil is watered too lightly then the moisture does not infiltrate the soil and reach the roots where it is required.
• Keep in mind that a lot of olive trees have dark fashionable pots which can absorb extra heat from the soil and dry out the soil too quickly.
• Excess heat from Summer heat waves and low rainfall can also cause some leaves to drop.

How to Revive an Olive Tree Losing it’s Leaves due to Drought Stress

Olive trees that have lost their leaves due to a lack of water often recover due to their resilience to drought.

After a period of drought it is important to soak the olive tree’s root ball as effectively as possible.

When the soil dries out completely, it can bake hard and repel water off the surface, causing the water to run down the side of the pot without reaching the roots.

Therefore it is essential to soak the entire pot and even submerge it (if possible) for 10 minutes or so.

If you entirely submerge the pot of the olive tree in a basin or perhaps a wheel barrow full of water for around 10 minutes or so, then the moisture can infiltrate the soil effectively and the olive tree can get the drink it requires to help it recover.

If this is not practical (due to the weight of the tree and pot) then water the olive tree as generously as you can and scratch back the surface of the soil to assess whether the water is infiltrating properly.

In this case I would recommend buying a moisture meter which is a good way to detect whether the water is soaking into the soil properly.

Once the soil has been thoroughly soaked, the structure changes and it should not repel water in the same way as long as you don’t leave it too long between bouts of watering.

A good way to prevent this from happening is when you come to repot your olive tree, use a more porous potting mix of 50% potting soil, 25% horticultural grit and 25% horticultural sand to create the open porous structure that allows water to easily infiltrate even when it has been baked in the sun.

This process allows the olive tree to recover from drought stress and as long as you adjust your watering schedule, to prevent the soil from baking in the sun, then the leaves should regrow in the Spring and Summer.

Olive Tree Losing Leaves Due to a Lack of Sunlight

Olive trees can drop their leaves if they are in too much shade.

Olive trees have specifically adapted to growing in open areas in full sun in their native Mediterranean habitat, so if they are in the shade the leaves can turn yellow and fall off with poor overall growth of the tree.

Always locate your olive tree in as much sun as possible, whether that is out i the garden, green house or in a South facing window indoors.

It is particularly important to locate olive trees in South facing, sunny windows when bringing the olive tree indoors for Winter protection as there are less hours of sun and lower intensity of light in Winter so the olive tree requires as much sun as possible to stay healthy and prevent leaf drop.

Lack Of Fertilizer can Contribute to Olive Trees Losing Leaves

Olive trees are not especially heavy feeders as they are adapted to growing in rocky soils that do not necessarily retain a lot of nutrients.

However if they have been in the same pot for several years then the olive trees extensive root system can exhaust the potting soil of available nutrients, which can reduce the rate of growth and causes the leaves to turn yellow or brown and fall off.

As olive trees are specifically adapted to growing in specific conditions in the Mediterranean, it is important to use a olive tree fertilizer (instead of an all purpose fertilizer) which provides the olive tree with the right nutrients at the optimal concentration.

This helps to provide the tree with all the nutrients it needs to prevent leaves falling off and to provide the nutrients it requires to grow new leaves in the Spring and Summer.

Olive Tree Losing Leaves After Repotting

Olive trees often lose some of their leaves after repotting due to stress. This is very common and the leaves grow back in the Spring and Summer as long as the growing conditions are favorable such as:

• Locating the olive tree in full sun.
• Watering when the soil has a chance to dry out ( to prevent root rot).
• Protecting the olive tree from freezing temperatures.
• Repotting the olive tree into a pot that is only slightly larger then the previous pot.
• Repotting the olive tree in potting soil that is amended with horticultural grit and sand for improved drainage.

Larger pots have a greater capacity for soil and therefore a greater capacity for moisture. If your repot you olive tree into a pot that is too large then the soil is likely to take too long to dry out which promotes the conditions for root rot and causes the leaves to drop,so always choose a pot that is only slightly larger then the previous pot.

Remember that olive roots like to grow deep more so then outward, so if possible choose a deeper pot rather then just a wider pot.

Avoid firming in the potting soil too much as this pushes out the oxygen from the soil which interferes with root respiration.

The olive tree should recover after a few weeks and new growth should emerge in the Spring.

Key Takeaways:

• Olive trees lose their leaves as a reaction to cold temperatures, overwatering, a lack of sunlight and because of a contrast in growing conditions when the are brought indoors for Winter protection.
• To revive olive trees that are losing leaves it is essential to protect them for the cold, locate them in full sun and only water when the soil has dried.
• Olive trees can regrow their leaves when you recreate the conditions of its native environment with more sunlight, gritty well draining soils and mild temperatures in Winter.
• Indoor olive trees leaves can curl before falling off in dry homes due to the lack of humidity, fluctuating temperatures and lack of sunlight. locate the olive tree in a sunny South facing Window, mist the leaves and keep it away from any direct sources of heat and the leaves should regrow in the Spring.