The production of healthy propagating material requires at a start point a very small number of plants of each variety, 100% free from pests and diseases and fully protected.
These plants are kept in special insect-proof areas, i.e., greenhouses covered internally with very fine nets and positive pressure entry chambers.
The mother plants are derived from the few plants in the insect-proof area and grown in pots in a controlled environment, away from other infected olive plants.
All unrooted cuttings and scions for grafting are collected from those mother plants.
In the propagation of plants by leafy cuttings in mist, the rooting areas & rooting beds are among the most necessary and demanding installations, where due to the high density of plants, it is very easy to lose any phytosanitary control.
Rooting areas are not, as many believe, simple greenhouse structures with a misting system, but complex structures of high standards, in which under controlled conditions and with the influence of appropriate rooting hormones, the unrooted cuttings strike roots.
The rooting time of unrooted cuttings varies according to the plant species and variety and generally ranges from 4 weeks to 3 months or more.
After rooting area - mist propagation, the rooted olive cuttings are transplanted into small pots or into the final pots to grow.
The rooted cuttings and young olive trees are grown in glass houses, under sunshades and outdoors on benches that ensure excellent drainage and protection from pests and diseases.
Depending on the destination of the plants, the growing media (substrates) may consist of soil or soil-free mixtures suitable for export to the most demanding markets.
The growth of young olive plants in our nurseries lasts from a few months for the production of 30/40 cm high plants, up to 5 years for bigger plants in 9½ - 12½ or 18,0 liters pots.
