Texas Fruit and Nut Production Olives Aggie （德州水果和坚果生产橄榄农科大学生）.pdf

EHT-021 6-13 T e x a s F r u i t a n d N u t P r o d u c t i o n lives O Larry Stein, Jim Kamas, and Monte Nesbitt Extension Fruit Specialists, The Texas AM University System he olive is an exotic fruit crop in Texas. Olives are native to the Mediterranean Basin, which usually has mild, rainy T winters and hot, dry summers. In contrast, Texas some- times has severe winter freezes that can kill olives to the ground. The best area in Texas to attempt commercial olive produc- tion is in the southwest region north of Laredo and southwest of San Antonio (known as the Winter Garden). The late Earnest Mortensen of the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station brought olive trees to the Winter Garden in the 1930s. Some of Mortensen’s trees survive today. Although research by Texas AM University has indicated that olives could be grown for fruit production in large parts of East, Central, and South Texas, those studies also found that grow- ers should expect severe winter freezes to kill trees to the ground about 3 years of every 10. Over the past 10 to 15 years, olive plantings have increased in Texas, primarily southwest of San Antonio and in the Hill Country. Not all of these plantings have been successful. In North and West Texas and the Hill Country, freezing Figure 1. In Texas, ‘Manzanilla’ olives are primarily pressed for oil. temperatures occur too often to allow for olive cultivation. Extreme South Texas does not typically experience enough cool weather for the olive to set fruit. There, it may be grown as an ornamental.