Probably the fruit setting is not the most popular topic on the web. For sure it is a specialist topic discussed among technicians.
In this short article we will try to describe this phase of the olive tree's life cycle in a simple way and with some photos we have taken these days at our olive groves.
The fruit setting is one of the most important phases of the olive tree's life cycle and is characterized by:
- the withering and fall of the corolla of the flowers that blossomed in May during flowering
- the transformation of fertilized flowers into fruit, very small olives
Fruit set typically occurs during the first half of June .
A good fruit setting is equivalent to have a high ratio between the fruits that appear on the fertilized flowers and the total flowers developed during flowering. Of course this ratio cannot be unitary, not all flowers can be fertilized. A too low ratio, however, indicates a year with low production.
At the end of the fruit setting, fruit growth follows. On the branches, the first small olives just sprouted continue to grow throughout the summer until they become beautiful olives ready for harvest.
Here above some photos taken by us that show the first small olives sprouted on some branches. Fruit setting has just begun. We hope it continues like this, leading to the formation of many other olives.
Now, as farmers, we may relax a little bit and touch those small, tiny olives that are the result of our hard work.
Long live nature!
