How old am I?

Olives are fascinating plants—some can live for over 1,000 years! As with other trees, determining the age of younger trees is relatively simple: just count the growth rings. Dark rings form in summer and winter, while lighter ones appear in spring.

However, olive trees have a unique self-healing ability. As they age, new tissues grow over old ones, making the rings irregular and difficult to count.

We can also determine a tree’s age without cutting it down. For olive trees, we estimate their age by multiplying the trunk diameter (in centimeters) by a coefficient of 3. For example, if an olive tree has a trunk diameter of 6 cm, we multiply it by 3, estimating the tree to be 18 years old.

Thanks to modern technology, we now know that the oldest olive trees in this grove are over 400 years old!