Is it the end of the Legendary Olive Trees of Southern Italy?

   It appears that there is a relatively new bacterium Xylella fastidiosa that is threatening to kill off Southern Italy's Olive trees and in turn destroy Olive Oil Production from the world's oldest Olive Trees. These trees are around 2,500 years old! 

Their current plan is to kill down perfectly healthy trees and develop a zone free of Olive Trees in the hopes that it will stop the spread of the disease. The reasoning is that the insect that spreads it the meadow spittlebug. They figure if the insect can't find the olive trees, they can't spread the disease. They have created a buffer zone between the infected area and the still healthy areas.

This disease is not limited to Olive trees. In California, Florida and Texas, pesticides, heavy pruning and crop replacement with Xylells resistant varieties have worked in controlling the disease in grapes. It will take time to develop disease resistant varieties, time which they do not have. Here is a perfect example of how GEo can come to the rescue if it was used to develop Olive trees that are resistant to this disease. But even having resistant varieties is not the answer, it is only a delay tactic since it does not address the real cause.

I like to talk a lot about cause and effect. The effect is the disease so what is the cause?

Also, why am I talking about Olive Trees in Italy here in Malibu? Well, we do have Olive Trees here so if you have an Olive Tree, I would pay attention to what I have to say about this disease.

First, I have a few questions to the folks in Italy:

First, yes, they are old and have been around for a long time. So I think that they must have a local source of nutrients available to them. It would be great if I could talk with the locals and ask them how these trees are fertilized. I am betting that they are not fertilizing them at all because they have been growing fine on their own for all these years?

Somewhere along the way, the local farmers must have decided to fertilize these trees? I notice that the word Organic does not appear anywhere about the trees and I am thinking that the local farmers had decided to fertilize chemically these trees? I am betting that it must have happened within the last 50 years or so (no chemical fertilizers before that).

You can see the direction I am going with this.

If you are a regular reader of this column, you can pretty much guess what I am going to say next.

This disease is spread by an insect that has evolved to attack the olive trees if certain conditions are present in the Olive trees.

Gee, I wonder what condition is that?

Chemically fertilizers are not healthy foods for plants. They cause stress and reduce mineral availability to the plants. A stressed out plant that allows mineral deficient will be sooner or later attacked by whatever insect sees an opportunity.

When plants are mineral deficient, They will have a low Brix Level, which will result in High Levels of Simple Carbohydrates. A plant with High Brix levels will have high levels of Complex Carbohydrates. Simple Carbohydrates are insects primary source of energy, but they cannot digest Complex Carbohydrates. Don't ya just love  Mother Nature? 

It is never too late to stop using chemical fertilizers and learn how to grow things organically. Just using organic fertilizers is not exactly growing Organically. 

Growing Organically is a simple that incorporates the health of the soil, as well as the health of the plant. It incorporates proper pruning methods, clean water, clean air. One needs an understanding of how plants get their minerals and what these minerals do to the health and protection of the plants.

A friend, (who is not into Organic growing and thinks minerals are minerals so chemical sources are the same as natural sources with complete disregard to how plants accumulate the minerals), he also uses a lot of pesticides to control the bugs, which he says is normal. 

He doesn't understand the relationship between pest and mineral deficiencies.

So the solution is to grow these trees Organically and to provide the trees a source of trace minerals in a form that the trees can digest. This would be to bring the soil back to life by adding the microbes needed for healthy soil along with a source of rock dust. Just adding rock dust will not do it.

They should start a foliar spraying program with compost tea that is minerally rich with rock dust. They should start making compost that is made from animal manure mixed with rock dust. 

They will see that the insect will not attack any trees that their mineral levels have been increased.

If you have an Olive tree, I would start taking better care by providing them the proper minerals they need to stay healthy. A regular monthly foliar spraying of a minerally rich spray would do it. I would also start using compost as healthy soil is also important.

any questions?

Invisible Gardener, Andy Lopez

andylopez@invisibleGardener.com