Are you interested in changing the use of the land to olive groves?

Olive cultivation seems to be in fashion and currently we see that many lands are changing their use…

It must be taken into account that not all soils are appropriate for all types of olive trees… To guarantee good harvests, it is necessary to choose the olive tree variety carefully based on the type of soil. There are different soils in which an olive tree can grow. The ideal soil for the olive tree depends on the variety…

How to classify soil types:

According to chemical properties:

Salinity: Salinity in soil is measured by Electrical Conductivity (EC). There are 4 critical values ​​that affect olive grove production. Soils with less than 2.7 dS/m allow maximum production. Soils with approximately 3.8 mS/m reduce maximum production by 10%. Lands with approximately 5.5 dS/m reduce the expected production for a variety by 25%. And finally, soils with more than 8.4 dS/m reduce olive grove production by more than 50%.

PH: the best soil pH for olive trees is close to 7, known as neutral soils. There are other types of soil depending on the pH, such as acidic soils whose pH is 5.5 to 7, and basic soils whose pH varies between pH 7 and 8.5. Soils that deviate from these pH values ​​should be avoided.

Nutrients: The basic nutrients that the olive tree needs are Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium (NPK). If the soil is deficient in any of them, the land is classified as deficient in the specific element. If there is an optimal and abundant relationship between them, the land is classified as balanced soil. On the other hand, if it is not abundant it is classified as poor soil. The soils known as toxic for the olive tree are those that have more than 2 mg/kg of soil in Sodium and Boron, and more than 200 mg/kg of Chlorine or Calcium (limestone soil).

According to physical properties:

Texture: They are classified according to their grain size into Sand, Silt and Clay. You can find any mix of them.

Depth: Soils more than 1.2 meters deep (suitable for olive groves) and soils less than 0.8 meters deep (unfavorable soils for olive trees).

Aeration: They are classified as soils with poor aeration (harmful for the olive tree) and soils with good aeration.

According to cultivation history: We find two types:

Uncultivated soil. This does not present biological risks for the olive grove.

Precultivated soils. Depending on the type of the previous crop, phytopathogens may exist. It is not recommended to plant olive trees on soil previously cultivated with tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, melons and cotton.

In general and as a summary we can say that the best soil for planting olive groves is one that has a loamy texture, a depth of more than 1.5 meters, good aeration, salinity below 2.7 dS/m, a pH close to 7, an abundant and balanced NPK, low toxicity due to Na, B or Cl, and a soil previously cultivated with cereals.