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| Bulk Discounts Prices | |
| Quantity | Price |
| 1 | $75.00 |
| 5 | $67.50 |
| 20 | $60.00 |
| Specification | Value |
|---|---|
| Appearance | Brown / Black powder or flakes |
| Solubility | Complete |
| pH (1:5 water) | 8.0 – 11.0 |
| Moisture (%) | 5.0 |
| Organic Matter (%) | 50 – 60 |
| Nitrogen (%) | 1.0 min |
| Phosphorous (%) | 0.8 – 2.0 |
| Potassium (%) | 16 – 22 |
| Alginic Acid (%) | 10.0 min |
| Mannitol (%) | 4.0 – 7.0 |
| Iron (%) | 0.2 min |
| Magnesium (%) | 0.2 – 1.0 |
| Total Amino Acid (%) | 1.5 – 3.5 |
| Cytokinin & Gibberellin (ppm) | 600 – 800 (Natural Hormones) |
| Vitamins (ppm) | 600 min |
| Zinc (ppm) | 20 – 200 |
| Manganese (ppm) | 5 – 30 |
| Copper (ppm) | 1 – 30 |
| Packaging | 1 kg bucket or 20 kg box (special order) |
| File | Title | File Description | Type | Section |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seagold_Prodsheet.pdf | Seagold Analysis | Brochures | Document |
A successful Grove Management Plan must cover these key areas:
"A grove without an effective irrigation system is unlikely to deliver consistent yields year after year. Many growers still underestimate the water needs of olive trees, and few actually monitor soil moisture levels. This is why so many groves have never achieved a commercial crop." Marcelo Berlanda Specialist Olive Consultant
Water stress negatively affects flowering, fruit set, oil accumulation (oil production), fruit size (table olives), fruit quality, and overall tree health. However, many growers lack a proper system to monitor soil moisture or manage irrigation effectively.
Marcelo recommends:
"Growers should inspect soil moisture weekly during spring and summer, and every two weeks in autumn and winter. Use a shovel to dig at least 400mm under the tree canopy to check moisture. If the soil is hard to dig, it’s too dry – even if the canopy shows no visible signs of stress."
Advanced soil moisture monitoring tools can also provide reliable data on a digital display or computer dashboard.
For optimal grove health, growers must consistently check soil moisture and prevent water stress.
As discussed previously, taking leaf samples is essential to assess your trees’ nutritional status. This information guides the creation of a fertiliser program, a critical component for boosting or maintaining yields.
Typically, no fertiliser is needed in winter, unless you’re addressing soil amendments. However, some groves have severe nutrient deficiencies requiring fertiliser even in winter. Where proper irrigation systems aren’t in place, growers must broadcast fertiliser before rain to allow rainfall to incorporate nutrients into the soil profile, an inefficient use of resources but often the only option.
When applying fertiliser in these conditions, target the area beneath the canopy and, if possible, cultivate the soil to improve incorporation and reduce product loss.
Olives need four essential nutrients: Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, and Calcium. Check product labels carefully. As a general guideline, aim for:
Avoid pruning during the coldest part of winter and when it’s wet or foggy to reduce the risk of bacterial and fungal disease spread.
The main goals of pruning are to remove dead wood, reduce canopy size, restore tree balance, encourage healthy new growth, and increase fruit set in spring.
Tip: After pruning, apply a copper-based spray to protect wounds from infection by fungi and bacteria.
Pest and disease management is crucial for sustaining yield and tree health. Winter’s colder temperatures reduce insect activity, offering a prime time to tackle pest issues.
Set up a comprehensive Pest and Disease Monitoring Program. During winter, check marked trees (previously affected by pests or diseases) every two weeks; in spring, check weekly. Look under leaves and on new growth for signs like crawlers, yellow spots, black sooty mold, or anything unusual.
Proactive, weekly management is essential for a successful grove.
If you need further assistance, please contact us.
INFORMATION SHEET - PEST & DISEASES
Occasionally a sap-sucking insect known as Brown or Black Olive Scale will be seen on olive trees. It is rarely a problem if the trees are in good health. We usually only spray our mature trees for scale every two to three years and only then if they need it. However, certain areas of Australia are more prone to the scale.
If your olive tree has black spots on branches or an infestation of black scale, it's crucial to act quickly. Scale on olive trees, including black olive scale, appears as dark bumps that weaken growth. For black scale treatment, use a proven treatment, introduce beneficial insects, and prune for better air circulation. If you're wondering how to get rid of black scale on an olive tree, early detection and prompt action are key to protecting your grove.
The adult females are very easy to recognise on the olive tree stems. They are dome shaped, dark brown to black in colour, and about the size of a match head.
The tiny eggs laid under the female, look like piles of very fine sand. Mainly during the summer, these eggs hatch into tiny, six-legged, cream coloured ‘crawlers’. The crawlers move up the stems and usually settle along the veins of young leaves. At this stage they don’t have the impervious shell of the adult and can usually be killed with one or two applications of white oil about two weeks apart. White oil should be used only as directed on the label by the manufacturers (and by your agricultural department) and never during the hot part of the day. It puts an oil film over the young ‘crawler’ and suffocates it. If applied in the hot part of the day it also stops the leaves from breathing properly and can be detrimental to the tree. The White oil application will also tend to rid the tree of ‘sooty mould’ as discussed soon.
If the crawlers are allowed to live, they will moult after about one month and then migrate to the young stems and twigs of the tree. Here they will mature and lay more eggs and their protective brown shells will be impervious to white oil. Squash the scale between your fingers to see if it is alive. If it is alive, then your fingers will be wet from the juices squeezed out. If it is dead then your fingers will be dry and dusty.
Bad infestations of live mature scale may need spraying with an insecticide such as Supracide. (Important: See note regarding “Treatment”) In Greece, Supracide is the main spray used for most olive problems. Once again, check with your local agricultural chemical supplier and the product label, for directions.
Probably the damage done by the scale itself to the tough olive tree is negligible compared with what happens next.
As the scale feeds, the ‘manure’ they excrete is a sweet, sticky, ‘honeydew’. This excreted sticky liquid can finally cover the leaves of the entire tree. A fungus known as sooty mould feeds on this food and multiplies until the entire tree may be covered with the black sooty mould. This is where the real problem lies.
The leaves are coated with the black deposit, so the sun’s light can’t penetrate the leaves properly. Therefore photosynthesis can’t take place efficiently. Therefore, ‘root producing’ food is not manufactured in the leaf. Therefore roots don’t develop properly. Therefore the poor root system can’t collect enough food and water from the soil to send up to produce more leaves, which in turn will produce more root. Once the vicious cycle begins, a stunted and unhealthy tree with poor crops is the result.
To make the problem worse, sweet ‘honeydew’ on the leaves also attracts large numbers of ants. It appears that as the ants constantly move over the scale, they frighten away the small wasp parasites which in normal cases would keep the scale under control.
Adult scale on the underside of olive leaves
Overturned scale with orange crawlers showing.
An olive branch covered in sooty mould.
Closeup of sooty mould on olive leaf.
The good news is that healthy olive trees don’t get the scale, sooty mould, and ant infestation to any great extent. More good news is that heavily infested trees are easily fixed.
Normally, one thorough spraying of the entire tree and soil below with a systemic insecticide will be adequate. Nevertheless, to be sure, a second spray about two weeks later may be worthwhile.
Now, if there is no more live scale, there is no more eating, therefore no more ‘honeydew’ excreta, therefore no more sooty mould and ants. Over a period of time the dead sooty mould deposit will peel off the leaves from exposure to the rain, wind and sun. The green leaf surface will be exposed and growth will continue as normal. Treat the tree to an occasional feeding of Seagold fertilizer/mulch and foliar application and some water and watch its health come back.
Black scale adult females are about 0.20 inch (about the size of a match head) in diameter. They are dark brown or black with a prominent H-shaped ridge on the back. Young scales are yellow to orange crawlers and are found on leaves and twigs of the tree. Often, a hand lens is needed to detect the crawlers. Black scale usually has one generation per year in interior valley olive growing districts. In cooler, coastal regions multiple generations occur. Black scale prefers dense unpruned portions of trees. Open, airy trees rarely support populations of black scale.
Young black scale excretes a sticky, shiny honeydew on leaves of infested trees. At first, affected trees and leaves glisten and then become sooty and black in appearance as sooty mould fungus grows on the honeydew. Infestations reduce vigour and productivity of the tree. Continued feeding causes defoliation that reduces the bloom in the following year. Olive pickers are reluctant to pick olive fruits covered with honeydew and sooty mould.
Pruning to provide open, airy trees discourages black scale infestation and is preferred to chemical treatment.
A number of parasites attack the black scale, the most common are Metaphycus helvolus, Metaphycus bartletti, and Scutellista cyanea. These parasites, combined with proper pruning, provide sufficient control in northern and coastal orchards. In other regions, biological control is often ineffective because the black scale’s development pattern hampers parasite establishment.
Cultural and biological control and oil sprays. Organic pyrethrum sprays like Pyganic ( Pybo is no longer organically certified).
If infestations are resulting in honeydew, treat the crawlers. In interior valleys, delay treatment until hatching is complete and crawlers have left protection of the old female body. Once crawlers have completely emerged, a treatment can effectively be made in summer, fall or winter provided the scales have not developed into the rubber stage (later second instar, which are dark, mottled grey, and leathery, with a clear H-shaped ridge on the back).
Due to the chemical nature of the treatments, Please check with your agricultural chemical supplier as to the suitability, application and safety precautions of your chosen scale treatment for olives. Some growers have used Summer or Petroleum Oil and Supracide. Californian olive growers use Oil Emulsions, Diazinon 50WP, Methidathion and Carbaryl. The use of chemicals reduces the microbial population in your soil and can inhibit the uptake of certain nutrients to your trees. Harmful residues of chemicals can also build up in your soil structure.
A new product Admiral has become available which acts as an insect growth regulator rather than a kill-on-contact pesticide, it has been quite effective and like any treatment of scale; timing is essential. Ants can be controlled with an Ant Bait suitable for Horticultural use. We suggest Distance Plus Ant Bait.
“Olives – Pest Management Guidelines” (UCPMG Publication 8, 1994). These guidelines cover the major olive problems found in Australia and California and are available for free from their website http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/selectnewpest.olives.html . (The information comes from California so all references to places, seasons, months and treatments are Californian). If you have any questions, please contact The Olive Centre, PH: 07 4696 9845, Email: sales@theolivecentre.com.au
URGENT FERTILISER SUPPLY UPDATE – MAP & DAP SHORTAGE
This summer cropping season is facing unprecedented challenges in fertiliser supply. Availability of MAP fertiliser (monoammonium phosphate) and DAP fertiliser (diammonium phosphate) is expected to remain extremely limited worldwide, with serious implications for growers planning their nutrient programs.
Since 2021, China has imposed strict quotas and inspection rules on phosphate fertiliser exports to protect domestic prices and safeguard food security.
The impact has been dramatic:
Although Morocco, Russia, the USA, and Saudi Arabia also produce MAP and DAP, they cannot offset the sharp drop in Chinese exports.
The result is:
For olive growers and other professional producers, the impacts are already being felt:
Do not wait for traditional ordering windows. Place orders immediately and consider forward contracting for next season. Securing current pricing now helps protect your operation against higher costs and potential shortages later.
Due to Tropical Cyclone Alfred, our operations may be affected over the coming days.
If we experience disruptions to phone or internet services, please reach out to us via:
Contact Form: The Olive Centre - Contact Us - https://theolivecentre.com/contact
We appreciate your patience and will keep you updated as the situation unfolds. Stay safe!
PC: Higgins Storm Chasing
