Olive bonsai loosing leaves

[maroun.c]

Hi,
Had this one for close to a year and was doing great. Its been loosing leaves over the last couple of weeks which coincided with start of winter and me moving it inside (was receiving daylight but not sun inside). Leaves are still a nice green and no yellow or poor colors...
Should i keep it outside? Is it normal for olive bonsai to shed leaves at winter time?
Would some fertilizer help?
Thanks for any info or suggestions.

 

[JudyB]

I know little of your climate and temps for this time of year. What is your weather like now? And also what kind of olive do you have? I keep mine inside in the winter in a sunny spot, with florescent lighting over it. Mine doesn't loose leaves often, but yours could be sensing the move inside. How wet are you keeping it? Olives don't like being overly wet.

 

[maroun.c]

Winter is only starting i just moved it in to avoid excessive water from rain and wind... Temperature is still in the 20 degrees celsius and would not drop below 8-10 except for a limited number of days and only at night. Its not that cold and we do get sunny days (2-3 days per week) in winter. I water it every 4-5 days and usually the soil is starting to get dry at that time.
Thanks for any help you can give.

 

[JudyB]

I'm not sure you even need to bring it in, your temps are not very low. If you can find a protected spot outside, but still in the sun, I'd leave it there. I don't bring mine in till it hits 45F or so. It could be shedding old leaves.

 

[Milly]

Hi Maroun, Your winter temperatures sounds like ours here in the Western Cape where we have typically Mediterranean weather - cold wet winters and hot dry summers.
Olives love this weather and do not need winter protection from lots of rain providing you have a free-draining growing medium.

 

[Alain]

Lebanon is part of the Mediterranean basin, olive trees are natives from the Mediterranean basin, I'd let my tree outside all year long if I was you

 

[maroun.c]

Ok will do that,
I have 2 options a shaded area where it'll be out of direct sunlight and away from direct rain. And out in the open where it'll get Sun for 3-4 hours a day on sunny days. The soil it's in allows good draining.
thanks for all your replies.

 

[JudyB]

Sun,sun,sun.. They love sun.