Hey! So I don't know if this is the right forum for this... I also posted in the Trees forum. It IS a tree, but it's also in a pot. I'm basically going to cut and paste my post, see if I can get an array of advice!

i recently bought an olive tree from an online nursery. They are grown from branch cuttings. It arrived, it's about a foot and a half tall with all the branches coming off the main trunk at the top. The branch that was cut to create the tree has a nice root system started, but it's THIN! Spindly thin, and has a sharp bend in the middle where it forked at one point and the other branch cut off. It can't support its own weight, it came to me staked on a heavy rod of bamboo.

What is the best way to get the trunk to thicken?! I've always been of the mind that staking a tree will not help it, as it's being completely supported then and has no need to grow a thicker trunk. But it HAS to be staked. How can I encourage thickening? It is outside in a big pot right now.

I would also like it to be a bit straighter. I was thinking of tying it tightly to a straight stake while the trunk is still young and whippy and bendable, and in a few months when it has trained into the straighter shape, untie it and stake it similar to the image linked below to allow some movement (I've heard trunk flexation and wind will thicken it) but not allow it to fall over. Or should I do both at the same time? Here are some pics:

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Thoughts?

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:42086}}