Manzanillo Olive Fruit |
Easy pit removal & excellent flesh
quality. Vigorous trees. Used for table fruit. Also popular in landscapes.
Picked very early (Sept) when they are green. Very productive, while self
fertile pollinated is enhanced by Arbequina,
Sevillano or Barouni.
Manzanillo is
ranked as the world's number one table olive. Its cropping ability, disease
resistance, texture and flavor combine to place it at the peak of medium sized
table olives, and its medium/high oil content also makes it a valuable oil
cultivar. Manzanillo was introduced to California in 1875.
Manzanillo is the most popular canning variety. Not quite as cold hardy as
Mission it is still wildly grown in California. A more rounded, spreading tree
growing to 30-35 feet. The fruit matures in October and early November but is
usually harvested in September. Fruit is processed as mostly black-ripe and
green-ripe olives. They are also suitable for oil as oil content is good
(20.3%).
The olive can withstand
low temperatures of 18 deg F or even14 deg F, and even lower as long as it is
not subjected to them for many hours, thawing proceeds slowly and the tree is
not at the active growing period [March - October in California]. During the
vegetative stage, the olive tree is sensitive to low temperatures which can
cause damage to twigs and secondary branches, and even to the trunk and scaffold
branches. Resistance to cold is a varietal trait. To ensure it fruits well, the
olive does, however, need temperatures close to 32 deg F which induce vegetative
rest. It withstands high summer temperatures well, and even lack of ground
moisture, although it then adjusts its growing activity to an essential minimum.
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