Olive tree cuttings: when and how to take them

Olive cuttings: semi-ripe wood, July to September in the RHS calendar

Q: How do you plant an olive stone?

Sow in spring at 13-15 °C (55-59 °F) . The tree will not reproduce the olive's variety because the stone results from a cross between two trees: seed is mainly used for rootstocks .

Take olive (Olea europaea) cuttings when current-year shoots have hardened bases and flexible tips, July to September in the RHS’s UK seasonal calendar. A 10 to 15 cm (4 to 6 in) cutting cut below a leaf and kept under humid cover in sandy mix reproduces the variety exactly, whereas a seedling differs from its parent. Success depends strongly on variety: some root almost universally, others almost never.

Verified sources · Updated on October 21, 2026

Two hands hold an olive cutting above a small pot of sandy potting mix, its bare stem cut below a node and just four leaves remaining at the top, with pruning shears and removed leaves on the bench

When should you take olive cuttings?

When current-year wood is semi-ripe: July to September in the RHS’s UK calendar. The RHS lists olive among trees propagated by semi-ripe cuttings in summer¹, and its cutting guide places this stage from July to September: the shoot base is firm, the tip still soft².

Semi-ripe cutting: July to SeptemberCurrent season’s shoot · firm at the base, with a tip that is still flexibleSource: Royal Horticultural Society
Sowing seed: In springat 13–15 °C (55–59 °F)Source: Royal Horticultural Society

Propagation calendar olive: months given by the sources. Reference months; adjust for local seasons and the plant's growth cycle.
Conditions	January	February	March	April	May	June	July	August	September	October	November	December
Current season’s shoot	no propagation	no propagation	no propagation	no propagation	no propagation	no propagation	Semi-ripe cutting	Semi-ripe cutting	Semi-ripe cutting	no propagation	no propagation	no propagation

Timings not given in months by the sources appear in the guidelines above.

Before midsummer the shoot is still softwood; after mid-fall the wood has hardened, and hardwood cuttings take over². Summer cuttings generally need no bottom heat, whereas fall cuttings root faster in a heated propagator².

Why cuttings rather than seed? France Olive includes woody and semi-herbaceous cuttings among cloning techniques preserving cultivars exactly³: the resulting olive bears the same olives as its parent.

Which shoot should you take for an olive cutting?

A healthy current-year shoot, preferably horizontal, with closely spaced leaves. The RHS rejects damaged, diseased or atypical wood and over-vigorous growth². On olive, this excludes long, widely spaced central watershoots in favor of side shoots with short internodes.

When: morning, to avoid wilting².
How: sharp pruning shears, then shoots straight into a plastic bag, in shade or the fridge in very hot weather².
Deadline: pot up cuttings within 12 hours².

Pruning shears at the base of a side shoot with closely spaced leaves against a gray olive branch, while the other hand holds open a plastic bag containing two shoots — Cut a current-year side shoot with closely spaced leaves at its base in the morning and put it straight into a plastic bag.

Les rameaux à bouturer naissent de la taille de printemps : pruning an olive tree sans retirer plus de 30 % du feuillage.

Taking olive cuttings, step by step

A 10 to 15 cm (4 to 6 in) cutting, four leaves, half potting mix and half sand, and humid air. These are the RHS steps for semi-ripe cuttings².

Trim the cutting to 10 to 15 cm (4 to 6 in), just below a node, where roots will emerge².
Remove lower leaves and the soft tip. Usually four leaves remain².
Wound the base for difficult varieties: remove a thin strip of bark 2.5 cm (1 in) long from one side².
Insert into equal parts free-draining peat-free potting mix and coarse sand, water and let drain².
Cover with a plastic bag or place in a propagator, warm and bright but without direct sun².
Keep the mix moist, removing excess condensation and any dead or diseased cuttings².

Three small pots of olive cuttings each covered by a clear plastic bag secured with an elastic band and supported by two sticks, with condensation inside — Humid cover: a clear bag held away from leaves by two sticks keeps air moist; keep the cutting bright but out of direct sun.

Watch the leaves. In a trial under mist, cuttings losing the most leaves rooted least⁴: a cutting keeping its leaves is on the right track. A cutting inserted directly into the ground beneath a cold frame may not have proper roots until late the following spring².

Rooting hormone: useful for olive?

For difficult-to-root varieties, yes. In trials, olive cutting bases are dipped in an auxin, indolebutyric acid (IBA), before going under mist. Studied doses range from 2,000 to 4,000 mg per liter (0.27 to 0.53 oz per US gallon)⁵⁴.

Effects vary by variety. Arbequina's best rooting rate came in summer with IBA at 2,000 ppm; for Kalamata, no hormone exceeded a few per cent⁵. An Iranian trial on two varieties even found IBA alone produced little rooting, requiring combination with another substance, putrescine, for satisfactory results⁶.

Medium matters too: in the first trial all three varieties rooted better in an organic medium than in peat and perlite⁵.

Not all varieties root successfully

Variety matters more than technique. France Olive includes propagation ability among distinguishing olive characteristics⁷, and trials quantify it:

Variety	Rooted cuttings, at best	Rooting ability
Arbequina	up to 96%	Easy⁵
Mastoidis	up to 60%	Moderate⁵
Kalamata	2 to 5%	Very difficult⁵

Maximum rooting rates of leafy cuttings from three olive varieties under mist, according to Denaxa et al. (ISHS).

Another study attributes poor rooting in Kalamon to leaf drop from its cuttings⁴. If yours is a difficult variety, take many cuttings to keep a few, or use grafting.

Sowing an olive stone

A stone germinates, but does not reproduce the variety. It results from fertilization between two different trees: seed does not preserve the cultivar, and is mainly used to produce rootstocks³. The RHS recommends sowing in spring, at 13-15 °C (55-59 °F)¹.

A seed-grown olive remains fruitless for a long time: juvenile growth before cropping lasts 1 to 7 years³. For a tree producing good olives, a cutting or subsequently grafted seedling is preferable.

Basal swellings and grafting: other propagation methods

France Olive lists three other techniques, all true to cultivar³:

dividing basal woody swellings;
grafting, often onto seed-grown rootstocks;
micropropagation, reserved for laboratories.

After rooting: harden off, then pot up

A cutting rooted under cover must adjust to open air before potting up. The RHS allows two to three weeks of hardening off, outdoors by day and sheltered at night, or in a cold frame opened during the day². Only then does each cutting move to its own pot.

Pour la suite, du premier pot au grand bac : growing an olive tree in a pot demande un contenant à la taille des racines.

Un jeune plant craint le froid bien plus qu'un arbre adulte : overwintering an olive tree commence dès le premier hiver.

Your cutting has rooted? Add it to Floralens: the app reminds you about watering and feeding, season by season (Pro mode). Get reminders

Frequently asked questions

When and how should you take olive cuttings?

On current-year shoots with firm bases, July to September in the RHS’s UK seasonal example². Cut a 10 to 15 cm (4 to 6 in) length below a leaf, keep four leaves, insert into equal parts potting mix and coarse sand, then cover with a plastic bag in bright light without direct sun².

How do you take a stem cutting?

Take a current-year stem in the morning, put it straight in a bag and pot it up within 12 hours². Trim just below a node, remove lower leaves and the tip, then keep under humid cover until rooted.

How do you plant an olive stone?

Sow in spring at 13-15 °C (55-59 °F)¹. The tree will not reproduce the olive's variety because the stone results from a cross between two trees: seed is mainly used for rootstocks³.

Which olive varieties root best from cuttings?

In a mist trial, Arbequina gave up to 96% rooted cuttings, Mastoidis up to 60% and Kalamata 2 to 5%⁵. France Olive includes propagation ability among variety-selection criteria⁷.