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manzanillo

Origin: Spain
Purpose: Dual
Cold Tolerance: Medium
Self sterile
Productivity: High, alternate
Start of bearing: Early
Ripening: Early
Oil content: Medium

Growth: Manzanillo is low to moderate in vigor, with a spreading growth habit and medium density. It is the most widely planted table olive variety in the world and accounts for the majority of the table olive production in California. It tends to alternate bearing, but this can be ameliorated with appropriate cultural practices. In Spain it is treated as self fertile, but in other countries yields are improved by the presence of pollinizers. Mission and Ascolano are not suitable pollinizers for Manzanillo. It is moderately tolerant to both cold and drought.

Pests: Manzanillo is very susceptible to verticillium wilt and olive knot. Preventative application of a copper spray is advisable after episodes of frost injury; bark cracks caused by cold are an ideal entry point for the olive knot bacteria. Manzanillo is also attractive to olive fly. Its susceptibility to scale insects and peacock spot is moderate.

Fruit: The fruit of the Manzanillo is round and freestone, with a high ratio of flesh to pit. It is harvested green for curing as “California black ripe” style olives, but can also be picked when changing color. Manzanillo can also make a good oil with distinctive varietal character. The oil is notoriously difficult to extract, however, particularly when the water content of the fruit is high. The oil obtained from early harvest Manzanillo is usually regarded as superior to that from riper fruit, which is fortunate because ripe Manzanillo is also harder to work with. It results in a wet sticky paste that forms emulsions easily and hinders the extraction of the oil.

Harvest: The removal force of Manzanillo is high. Traditionally it is harvested by hand for table olives, but recently developed mechanical harvesters are showing some promise.

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