Olive
Can I Grow Mission?
Mission is California's heritage olive — brought by Spanish missionaries in the 1700s and still producing after centuries. A dual-purpose variety that excels as both a cured table olive and a rich, peppery oil olive.
Growing Requirements
Chill Hours
300
Hardiness Zones
8-9-10-11
Harvest
September to February
Results
Enter your zip code to see if Mission will thrive in your area.
You checked if it'll grow. Now make sure you remember what happens when it does.
Pruning dates, harvests, spray schedules, what worked. The gardeners who get the most from their trees are the ones who kept records.
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About Mission
Mission is California's heritage olive — brought by Spanish missionaries in the 1700s and still producing after centuries. A dual-purpose variety that excels as both a cured table olive and a rich, peppery oil olive.
Mission requires 300 chill hours — the number of hours between 32°F and 45°F during winter dormancy. Without enough chill, the tree may fail to flower properly or produce poor fruit.
⚠️ Common Challenges
Slow to bear (4-5 years); alternate bearing without proper pruning; susceptible to olive knot disease in wet climates.
❌ Common Misconception
Will Mission produce more fruit in colder climates?
Not necessarily. Mission only needs 300 chill hours. Planting in very cold zones (7 or colder) risks winter damage without improving fruit production. The ideal zones are 8-11 where the tree gets enough chill without excessive cold stress.
If you plant it, write it down.
Variety, rootstock, planting date — and every pruning and harvest after that. Future you will thank you.
Free for up to 30 plants. No card needed.
Other Olive Varieties
Chill hour data from ERA5 reanalysis (Copernicus/ECMWF). Variety information compiled from university extension services.