Date palm attracts attention in the interiors of various rooms. Now there is an opportunity to grow a tree yourself. To do this, you need to learn the techniques of agricultural technology and the process does not seem complicated. Not everyone has the opportunity to buy a finished plant, but to grow dates is real. Most likely, it will not bear fruit, but it will decorate the interior of the apartment, office, country house.
Palm trees are considered a symbol of fertility and hospitality among different peoples of the world. In ancient times, it was called the “queen of oases” and “desert bread”. The plant is hardy and can adapt to closed ground.
Types of dates that can be grown from seeds
There are species with inedible fruits. Bred by more than a thousand varieties of breeders.
At home, only three of them can be grown from seeds:
- Canary - grows up to 15 m, with one trunk. Differs in orange, small fruits.
- Palmate - in stores fruits of this variety are sold. Its trunk is constantly exposed in the lower part, grows up to 15-20 m.
- Robelena - has several thin trunks, it has black fruits, undersized up to two meters. It can be grown indoors.
How to grow dates from a stone
Growing a palm from a bone at home will be long, you will have to wait a few years to admire a beautiful tree. Her leaves will appear in the third year, the plant blooms very rarely. Height over the years will reach two meters.
Selection and preparation of planting material
It is not easy to choose a date for a future palm; not everyone sprouts. For growing, dried fruits that have not undergone heat treatment (fresh or dried) are needed, otherwise they will not germinate. Palm fruits contain a large and hard bone. She retains germination for several years. Dates are sold all year round, for planting you need to take a few pieces.
Each first carefully inspect, sort out defective, damaged by insects, diseases.
Before planting seeds, you should:
- Rinse under running water and remove any remaining pulp.
- Put in a glass of water at room temperature (change several times).
- Remove the remaining pulp, after swelling it is easier to do.
- Rinse.
- Allow to dry.
- Place the date kernel in a thermos with warm melt water for two days and add humate (a few grains).
- Place seeds in moist soil (sawdust, peat, sand equally). For the prevention of diseases, it must be disinfected with potassium permanganate or doused with boiling water, calcined in the oven. Layer height not less than 8 cm.
- In the center, make a recess, vertically place the seed to a depth of 1.5 times its size.
- Sprinkle, put moss on top.
- Cover the pitted container with polyethylene.
- Spray the soil regularly, do not water.
- Maintain a temperature of + 35 ° C.
- After emergence of shoots to remove a film.
- Water moderately.
Sprouting a bone is not easy, it takes 2-3 months, sometimes it takes more time.
To speed up the process, the bone should be subjected to more radical measures:
- Prick the surface of the seed with a needle.
- Walk on it with sandpaper.
- Make cuts with a blade.
- Pour boiling water over.
Next, place the bones in moist cotton wool, put it in a glass, cover it. Keep the dishes warm: (on the battery, on a sunny window). Do not dry out. If desired, replace the cotton with sawdust, hydrogel. After swelling, drop off.
Florists use another method of seed germination in vermiculite (a special mixture for plants). The bone is planted to the depth of its growth or in a separate dish or in a common container. Cover with a film or glass. Air twice a day to remove excess condensate. Regularly watered as they dry, do not fertilize. Dive when the sprout is 4 cm.
Secrets of planting and caring for them
For planting, they take hacked bones with the first leaves.
Planting seedlings
Seedlings are placed using the land where the seeds grew. Prepare a separate deep pot for each. The substrate is made from a mixture of turf, leaf, clay soil, humus in one part and ½ part of peat and sand. Add crushed charcoal. A 2 cm thick drainage is made of expanded clay and charcoal. The next time the plant is replanted when the first leaf is 15 cm long. They put in a bright room.
Date palm growing conditions
After planting seedlings, they need care in compliance with lighting, humidity, temperature.
| Parameters | Conditions |
| Lighting / Location | Diffused light, without direct sunlight. To take to the street in the spring when the temperature is established + 15 ° С. The room is on the east, west sides. In winter, daylight hours up to 12 hours are required (for this, install phytolamps). For uniform growth, rotate 180 degrees every two weeks. The room must be ventilated, avoiding drafts. |
| Temperature Humidity | + 20 ... +25 ° С in the summer period. + 12 ... +16 ° С - in the winter. Humidity 50-60%, spray once every seven days. Wipe the leaves with a damp cloth. |
| Watering | In the summer 3-4 times a week, pour soft water. Make a warm shower. Remove the liquid from the pan, wipe the bottom. Use water +30 ° C, settled. In winter, after drying, pour water once a week. |
| Top dressing | During the period of active growth 2-3 per month, fertilize with liquid mixtures for palm trees under the root and on the leaf. Use chicken droppings 1: 3, once in ten days. In autumn - once a week, in winter - once a month. |
Transplanting young palm trees
When the young palm grows to 15 cm, it is transplanted, then it is done every year along with the soil (its roots are very vulnerable) in April, then every three years. In plants older than 10 years, the topsoil is changed. The day before, they well water the earth. Drainage (brick, expanded clay) is laid at the bottom of a high pot; the composition of the soil does not change. The dishes are selected more than the previous one by 4 cm. The palm is removed from the old pot very carefully, trying not to damage the roots and leaves, shake the ground, put into another container, fill the voids with soil.
You can’t cut off the top and form a crown near the palm, it is a tree growth point, only damaged and old leaves are removed
Pests and Disease Dates
The appearance of pests and diseases is determined by the following signs:
| Pest / Disease | Signs | Control measures |
| Spider mite | Yellow, gray plaques appear, then a thin web. | To process with infusion of garlic, onion peel or Actellik, Fitoverma. |
| Shield | Brown, yellow spots on the plant, sticky leaves. | Use tools to combat the spider mite. |
| Worm | Leaves wither and dry. | To process with a soap solution, then spray Aktara, Calypso. |
| Thrips | Light leaves above, brown below. | Spray with Topsin, Fitosporin. |
| Pink rot | Leaves soften. | Remove affected areas and treat with copper sulfate. |
| Spotting | Stains form near the veins, blacken over time. | Treat with Mancozeb, Ridomil and reduce watering. |
Problems in growing date from a stone
If you do not comply with the care requirements, the date will fall ill:
- Dry tips - little moisture, more often spray the plant.
- Yellow leaves - moisture deficit, increase watering.
- Dark leaves - too abundant watering, cut back.
- Growth has stopped - the room is too cold. If the reason is hard water - transplant.
- Yellow, brown spots on the leaves, they twist, dry out - a deficiency of potassium. Feed with potassium humate, wood ash.
- Bright yellow spots on the edges - little magnesium. Add magnesium sulfate to the soil.
- Leaves brighten, the plant stops growing - nitrogen deficiency. Fertilize with ammonium nitrate, manure.
- Chlorosis of leaves is a lack of manganese. Add manganese sulfate. Feed the tree with appropriate fertilizer.
Another Date Propagation Method
In addition to the seeds, there is another way to propagate the date palm - the processes that do not appear in all species. This is done if there are developed roots. Cut the shoot with a sharp knife without touching the trunk. Transplanted into the soil for seedlings. Cover for several days with a film.
General tree information
A date tree from the Palm family grows in India, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Tunisia, the Canary Islands, Iran, Morocco. The palm tree prefers a sultry and tropical climate, the trunk grows up to 30 m, a diameter of 80 cm, the tree lives up to 150 years. Its leaves are pinnate, curved up to 5 m in length, 12 new grow in a year, there are no branches. Inflorescences are meter-long with male and female flowers, nutritious fruits are formed from the female ovary. Fruits are eaten, fed animals, exported to other countries.
