Trader Joe’s $11 Fan-Favorite Plant Is Back for Fall, and You Should “Run, Not Walk” to Get 3

published Aug 31, 2024
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Trader Joe's Retail Strip Mall Location. Trader Joe's is a chain of specialty grocery stores in the U.S. II
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They’re baaack — and even earlier than they were last year! Trader Joe’s just brought back its famous mini olive trees, and if you haven’t yet gotten one then now is the time to finally pick one up for your houseplant collection. And yes, they actually grow real olives that you can eventually eat.

“Run, don’t walk, to Trader Joe’s for these cute little olive trees!” Krish from @oaskrish on TikTok wrote in a recent video caption posted on August 19. “Now how big of a pot should I pot it in?”

Olive trees are relatively easy to care for. They like a lot of light, so place them in a south-facing window that gets a lot of direct sunlight. Remember, olive trees are native to the dry, hot Mediterranean, so they don’t need to be watered super often. Just give them a good drink when the top inch or so of their soil gets dry. And make sure you’re using a well-draining potting mix and have your tree planted in a pot with drainage holes at the bottom to prevent any root rot.

These trees are best grown indoors for most places throughout the U.S., but in warmer climates you can plant them outside. In fact, one Southern California Reddit user did just that after picking up their Trader Joe’s olive tree and after two years of growth, it got to be about 10 feet tall and started producing a ton of olives.

“Going to cure them and see how they turn out,” Reddit user HastenDownTheWind wrote in a post last year.

To increase your chances of your indoor olive plant growing fruit, you can put the houseplant outside during the summer to let it get the most sunlight possible during the warmest months. Then, bring your plant inside for the winter. This will hopefully get the olive production process going and you may start to see fruit growing in the following seasons.

Get to your nearest Trader Joe’s to get your hands on one of these beautiful little olive trees for just $10.99 and watch it thrive in your growing houseplant collection.