Date palm is a widespread houseplant, which is very easy to grow with your own hands from seeds. And in the subtropics of the Black Sea coast, dates can grow in the garden.
What are date palm trees and how do they multiply
In nature, several varieties of date palms are known, of which two species are most interesting for indoor cultivation - Canarian dates and palm dates.
Absolutely all date palms belong to dioecious plants, in which male and female flowers are formed on different trees.
In indoor conditions, dates do not bear fruit and are grown solely out of curiosity or for decorative purposes.
Real date palm (palm date)
Finger date is the same palm tree that gives tasty sweet dates sold throughout the year in stores. Each date contains an elongated bone with pointed tips. Seeds from store dried fruits retain germination and are suitable for sowing.
Fingers of date palmate - famous sweet and tasty dates
Fingered date grows in the hot tropical deserts of Africa and Arabia. At the base of old trees, numerous root shoots are often formed, due to which plants are renewed.
Real date palms grow in tropical deserts
Canary Date Palm
Canary dates in the wild grow only in the Canary Islands. It is often grown as an ornamental plant in the subtropics around the world, including in Russia on the Black Sea coast. This palm of the root offspring does not form and propagates only by seeds.
Canary date palm is grown as an ornamental plant in many countries.
Fruits are not consumed due to their small size and fibrous pulp. The seeds of the Canarian date have an oval shape with rounded tips. You can collect ripe fruits in December - January in the cities of the Black Sea coast, where these palm trees grow in abundance.
The fruits of the Canary date are easily identified by more rounded bones than a real date
In my opinion, for home cultivation, the Canarian date is more interesting: its plants have more elegant leaves and a more fluffy crown, they look much more attractive than potted palm dates at a similar age.
Canarian date plants look very attractive
Room conditions are generally not particularly comfortable for a real date palm tree, accustomed to a hot desert climate.
Fingered date is less decorative, but its seeds are easier to find.
How to plant date seeds at home
For planting, seeds from dried or independently picked fresh dates from a tree are suitable. The landing technology is very simple:
- Remove the seeds from the fruit and rinse thoroughly with water. For fresh, a simple rinse is enough, seeds from dry store dates can be soaked for two days in boiled water at room temperature.
Date seeds are extracted from fruits before sowing.
- Place each bone in a separate small cup with moist ground. You can stick them vertically (no matter which end up - blunt or sharp) or lay horizontally with the gap down. Above the planted seeds there should be a centimeter layer of constantly moist earth.
Date bones are stuck vertically into the ground or laid horizontally with the slit down
- Keep pots with crops in a warm place with a temperature of + 25 ... + 35 ° C. Before the emergence of seedlings will take from one to three months.
- Date seedlings should be kept on the lightest windowsill with a temperature of + 20 ... + 30 ° C.
Date palm seedlings at first look like wide blades of grass, not an adult palm
Shoots of a date palm tree are not at all like adult palm leaves, but look like wide grass with a fold. Before the appearance of true cirrus leaves in young plants, at least a year will pass. If the leaves of two-year-old palm trees still remain whole, this is a sign of insufficient lighting.
Sometimes it is advised to pre-germinate the seeds before planting in wet sawdust or hydrogel on a heating battery, but this method has at least two major drawbacks:
- it’s very difficult to keep track so that the sawdust on the battery never dries out in a month;
- the sprouts are quite fragile, and there is a risk of breaking them off when planting - it is much easier and more convenient to plant ungrown seeds in the ground.
Growing a date palm from a stone - video
Transplanting and caring for date dates
Date palms are very sensitive to root damage and do not like transplants. Until the age of five, they are transplanted once a year in the spring into a slightly larger pot, while more adults - once every three to four years. Pots need tall, stable and heavy, with drainage holes and a layer of pebbles at the bottom. When transplanting, it is important to keep the earthen coma with roots intact. The soil mixture is prepared from mixed in equal amounts:
- sheet land
- turf land
- coarse river sand.
The soil in the depths of the pot should always remain a little damp, when the earthen coma is dry, the palm tree dies. In adult plants, in large tubs, it is advisable to let the top layer of the earth two to three centimeters between the irrigations to dry, so that mold does not appear.
In the summer, date palms are good to keep outdoors.
The optimum temperature for wintering date palms is about + 15 ° C, in the summer it is advisable to expose them to fresh air, first at partial shade, then to a brighter place, gradually accustoming to direct sunlight. Dry air dates are well tolerated, but the leaves must be wiped weekly with a rag from dust.
Landing dates in open ground
In the subtropics of the Black Sea coast, the Canary date palm tree successfully grows and bears fruit in the open ground.
On the Black Sea coast, Canarian dates grow well in open ground
Residents of the subtropical zone of the Krasnodar Territory and the southern coast of Crimea can plant a young palm tree grown from seed in the garden, taking care of winter protection for the first ten years after planting. It should be planted in a sunny place with well-drained calcareous soil. It is best to plant potted young seedlings aged 3-4 years. When planting, it is important not to damage the brittle roots and maintain the previous position of the root neck relative to the soil level. Young palms should be watered in a drought so that the soil at the roots does not dry out. Adult specimens do without watering.
The Canarian date blooms in the fall from the age of five, and if there are nearby female and male plants it will bear fruit. Fruits ripen by December next year after flowering, they are theoretically edible, but fibrous and tasteless.
The fruits of the Canarian dates are not used for food due to their small size and fibrous pulp
Adult copies of the Canary date palm tree endure short frosts up to -8 ... -9 ° C. Young plants need protection from agrofibre or matting for the winter. The most vulnerable place in the palm of the palm is the apical growth bud at the base of the leaves; when it is damaged, the plant dies. If only the leaves themselves are damaged, it is not fatal, they can be cut, then new ones will grow in their place.
The palmate date in the Black Sea subtropics does not survive due to excess moisture.
Reviews
I also just stuffed into the ground. They ascended pretty quickly: after 2-3 weeks. Now she is probably 3 years old. And still 3 leaves sticking out. But I am patient, so I will wait for the beautiful palm tree.
Inna//www.flowersweb.info/forum/forum48/topic9709/messages/?PAGEN_1=2
My date palm is 1.5 years old, and already three cirrus leaves. It's all about lighting. This palm tree loves sunlight very much.
Sergei//forum.homecitrus.ru/topic/11311-finikovaia-palma/
It is best to stick in a pot and forget, but not allowing the earth to dry out. I started “special” pots by sticking seeds in them with a gap of a couple of cm. For the sake of the experiment, some sawed, others soaked, others just like that. I did not notice the difference in germination. About half of the planted sprouted.
Coffee//www.flowersweb.info/forum/forum48/topic9709/messages/?PAGEN_1=2
The soil must be moist. The dates of the drying of the soil will not tolerate. If it dries, then forever.
Donna rosa//forum.homecitrus.ru/topic/11311-finikovaia-palma/page-5
Growing a date palm from a seed is quite easy, but it takes a long time to wait for the result. It is clear that she will never give a harvest of fruits on the windowsill, but there will be an interesting exotic plant grown in her own room in the room.
