Date palm in the conditions of an ordinary home, it is still more of a curiosity than an ordinary thing. It is not difficult to germinate a seedling from an ordinary seed. However, not everyone has the patience and diligence to properly care for it for several years before the tree becomes an adult. Homemade dates will never bear fruit, but they will fit perfectly into the interior and decorate your home.
The common date can be sprouted from the seeds of the fruit, which are sold in the store. The culture has other varieties - Canarian and Robelena. They are propagated and sold only in flower shops. Dates that have not passed through can be used as seed material. heat treatment. For example, dried or dried. Seeds for planting must be processed immediately after receiving them.
It is best to start work in February or March. Prepare several seeds, even if you only want one palm tree. Indeed, during the growing process, young seedlings often die. The procedure should begin with water treatment of the seeds. Impregnating the seeds with moisture will significantly speed up the process of seed germination: 2-3 weeks versus 4 (if you skip this stage).
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Subsequence:
- Remove the seeds from the date and remove as much pulp as possible from them.
- Place the seeds in a glass of warm water for 48 hours. Renew the liquid 2 times a day, maintaining the temperature in the container above +22°C.
- Remove the swollen growths of pulp with a knife.
- Give the seeds a 5-minute bath of hot water (about 80°C).
Many people use cotton wool during soaking. A cotton pad with a bone is placed in a plate filled with water. Cover it with another damp cotton wool on top. You can also use rolled gauze or sawdust as a material.
Advice. To further reduce the time it takes for the seeds to hatch, you can sand them or scratch them with a knife. A damaged shell allows moisture to pass through more easily, which gives vitality to the sprout.
How to plant a seed correctly
Suitable substrate for planting is indoor flowers from the store. You can prepare it yourself: mix peat, raw sawdust and river sand. This soil is optimal for young plant, but in the future, during the first and subsequent transplants, the pot will need to be filled with other soil. Proportions:
- humus - 40%;
- turf land - 20%;
- leaf soil - 20%;
- sand - 20%;
- peat - 10%.
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The planting process should be carried out as follows:
- Place the cleaned and treated seeds into the soil in a strictly vertical position.
- Sprinkle a centimeter layer of the same soil on top.
- Place the container and seeds in a warm place (+22...25°C). You can directly on the heating radiator.
- Water moderately: so that the soil does not dry out, but the water does not stagnate.
Attention! At proper care After 2-3 months, a sprout will emerge from the ground - a juvenile leaf. Then it will grow into an arrow consisting of 2-3 sharp leaves.
Transplantation and further care of date tree seedlings
After the sprouts reach 10 cm, each of them needs to be transplanted into a wider pot. Florists advise doing the procedure annually for the first 5 years of the palm tree’s life. The size of the container must constantly increase to meet the growing needs of the plant's root system. For the final transplant you need a spacious pot.
Advice. After acquiring the date permanent place periodically change residence instead of transplantation top layer soil without disturbing the plant.
Replanting is the most delicate process in caring for a date palm. In inexperienced hands, more than one seedling may die. The reason is the tenderness of the root system of this crop. Even if it hurts a little long root, the plant will die. There is only one method suitable for replanting - transshipment. It involves transferring the root along with a lump of earth.
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Plant care has the following features:
- While the date has not yet formed, it needs weekly feeding in spring and summer. During the dormant period, organic and mineral fertilizers apply no more than once a month.
- It is important that the soil always remains moist. In summer, water the plant generously, even collecting water in a tray. In winter - least of all.
- The palm tree responds well to spraying in warm time year. In addition, give the plant a weekly shower with water at room temperature. During the procedure, you need to protect the soil from excess moisture.
- Dates love a lot of light and will withstand even straight sun rays. Without proper lighting, palm leaves will become long and brittle.
- The air temperature in the room should be moderate, in the range of +16...+22°C. Placing a palm tree near a heating radiator is risky: it will die from the heat. In summer, the plant is taken out onto the loggia or veranda, limiting drafts. In winter, the temperature can range between +13…14°C.
Even if you care for your date correctly, don’t expect quick results. The palm tree will turn into decorative tree around the 5th year. But after this, the plant will become a real decoration of your home.
Growing a date palm from a seed: video
IN natural conditions date palm grows in Africa, South America and Arabia. It belongs to the cirrus palms. Growing such a tree at home is not very difficult. But you won’t be able to get its fruits.
The dates sold in the store are harvested from the common date. A tree or bush grows 15 m in height, but can reach thirty meters. The size of the beautiful feathery leaves reaches 5 m. They are renewed: the old ones fall off, and new ones grow in return. Gradually, the leaves remain only at the top of the tree, and the straight trunk becomes covered with longitudinal scars left from fallen leaves.
Date palm blossoms in natural conditions yellow flowers, collected in an inflorescence-panicle.
The fruits of the date palm hang down in whole bunches. At home, in desert oases, his life passes in difficult climatic conditions. To extract moisture from the soil, its thick roots penetrate to great depths. However, the water temperature there is quite low. At this time, the top of the palm tree is constantly under the scorching rays of the sun. These conditions are common for the date palm. They are the ones who provide active growth and fruiting of the tree.
At home, Canary date palm and Robelena palm are usually grown. Of course, its dimensions will be much more modest. After all, it is unlikely that it will be possible to create conditions close to natural even in a greenhouse. But even a relatively short palm tree sometimes grows to such a size that it does not fit in the room. The Canary palm tree grows and develops much faster than a tree obtained from a “store-bought” seed.
You can grow a date palm from store-bought fruit seeds. Fruits that cannot be cooked are suitable for this purpose. Usually they are planted not just one, but several, for guarantee. Seeds removed from the fruit can be immediately placed in the soil without drying or stratifying. You can soak it for a day in warm water. This will allow you to remove any remaining pulp from their surface. The water is changed several times.
Landing Features:
- It is better to scarify (break) the outer shell, but so that the seed inside is not damaged. This will facilitate and speed up the germination of the sprout from the shell. Each of them must be placed in a separate pot. This will help avoid injury to the roots during replanting.
- The soil for germination is taken special for palm trees or vermiculite is used. You can prepare it yourself by mixing peat in equal proportions with ordinary soil or sawdust.
- The pot must have drainage holes. But they need to be covered with large stones. If this is not done, the roots will quickly find the holes and grow into them. This will complicate the process of replanting the palm tree. After all, its roots are very fragile. The plant may die from their damage.
- Moisten the soil and place date seeds in it. The planting depth is equal to one and a half of its length. Install them vertically.
- Optimal temperature for germination up to 30°C. At this temperature the soil high content the peat dries out quickly and the sprout dries up.
- Keep it hydrated at all times. It is good to cover it, which retains moisture, or cover it with glass. The soil should not be wet, just damp.
A sprout from the seed may not appear soon; the first ones will appear on the surface in about 2 weeks. But sometimes you have to wait six months. Therefore, there is no need to rush to throw away the pot. If the seeds are germinated in vermiculite all together, you need to take the opportunity to plant them in separate containers.
At first, the vegetation emerging from the palm's growing point bears little resemblance to palm leaves. They are thin and narrow, similar to shoots. Cats love them, so you need to protect the sprout from being close to them. Only in the 4th year of the plant’s life do the shoots begin to turn into feathery leaves.
Growing conditions and care tips:
- A pot with a palm tree is placed on sunny place. This may be a south or southeast window. Do not allow the earthen clod to dry out completely. This can cause it to dry out.
- The plant is regularly rotated so that all its sides are exposed to sunlight. If the leaves don't get enough light, they will become brittle. And they will begin to form more on one side, spoiling the shape of the crown. Each time a leaf arrow appears, turn the plant so that it is directed towards the room.
- Do not place the date palm pot in a draft. But the room must be well ventilated.
- It is a mistake to think that the date palm requires intense heat to grow and develop. Temperature for palm trees in summer 15-20°C. In winter it is even lower, the temperature can be lowered to 12°C.
- Water the palm tree with soft water. It is better to defend it by waiting until the temperature reaches 18°C. It is unacceptable to water the palm tree with chlorinated water. The amount of moisture should be moderate. Do not overwater the plant. In spring and summer they add more water, in winter – less.
- The humidity in the room where the date palm grows should be 50%. Date palm leaves are regularly moistened by spraying water from a sprayer or rinsing with a soft sponge. Once a week, give the plant a shower, covering the soil plastic film from water ingress. Of course, this only applies to small plants that can be brought into the bathroom.
- If the room temperature in summer is below 18°C, then the roots of the date palm stop growing and the plant stops developing. It does not grow even when the soil is too acidic. For normal development, the acidity indicator must be pH 7.0.
- Feed the date palm with liquid fertilizers weekly in the spring. By autumn, reduce the amount of fertilizing. In winter, it is enough to fertilize once a month.
- You cannot shape the tree crown. The only point of its growth is the top.
The roots of the date palm are very fragile. Therefore, it is transplanted by transferring it from a smaller pot to another, the diameter of which is 3-5 cm larger than the previous one. The first time this procedure is performed is a month and a half after the sprout appears on the soil surface. You can carefully remove the seed and transplant it along with the sprout into another container. To prevent the roots from being injured, it is better to take the entire contents of a small pot and transfer it to a new, larger one. The resulting holes near the walls are filled with prepared soil. This could be a palm compound mixed with vermiculite. You can mix part by part peat, turf, humus and sand (2 parts), add a handful of charcoal.
The new pot with the transplanted plant is placed in its original place, but the window is covered from direct sunlight during adaptation. Water the soil and spray the above-ground part of the sprout. The next time they are transplanted is another month and a half later. During this time, the plant should grow by approximately 10 cm. The height of the new pot is about 15 cm. A drainage layer is laid at the bottom, this will ensure the outflow of water.
The palm tree must be replanted annually until it reaches the age of five.
Then it becomes problematic. They begin to replant every 3 years, and after reaching 15 years - every 5. Sometimes at this age you can remove the top layer of soil and replace it with a new one containing nutrients. The roots of the date palm are long, so the pot for it should be high. Each time you replant, increase the thickness of the drainage layer. More turf soil is added to the soil.
Consequences of improper care:
- Sometimes they appear on the leaves of date palms. brown spots. These are signs of chlorosis. They can be caused by watering too much or using hard water. It is necessary to reduce the amount of moisture received by the plant and filter water for irrigation.
- Change in color of leaf tips indicates too dry or cold air, insufficient watering. Having assessed the conditions of detention, change one or more parameters of care.
- If all the leaves turned brown and the trunk became soft, then the roots began to rot. You urgently need to remove the plant from the pot, shake off the soil and carefully examine the roots. Rotten ones are cut off, the cut area is disinfected with crushed charcoal. Prepare new soil and transplant the plant into it. The old soil is thrown away. If there are no living roots, the entire plant is thrown away.
- Palm leaves turn yellow when watering is insufficient. They can go down. White spots appear from burns from direct sunlight. In this case, you need to shade the plant.
Sometimes the date palm is affected by pests that are common to most indoor plants. This spider mite, scale insects and mealybugs. Methods of dealing with them are standard. If it is possible to remove the palm tree from the living room, you can treat it with an insecticide, for example, Actellik or Confidor. If not, treat with a solution of laundry soap, garlic infusion and other folk remedies, removing insects from the plant. In this case, it is necessary to cover the soil from contact with the soap solution. Treatments should be repeated until the pests disappear completely.
Plants adjacent to the palm tree, which can be a breeding ground for pests, are also examined.
Weakened date palms can be affected by fungal diseases: leaf spot and pink rot. Treatment is carried out with fungicides containing the drugs mancozeb and methyl thiophanate. The interval between treatments is a week.
More information can be found in the video:
It is quite possible to grow a date palm from a seed. To become the owner of an ornamental foliage plant, you need to know a few simple rules. A palm tree planted in an apartment will never bear fruit, but will delight you with beautiful leaves.
How to plant a date seed at home: expert advice.
How to plant a date from a seed
Remove the pulp from fruits bought in a store or market. They must be fresh or dry, but not heat-treated. Place them in a glass of water for two days. It must be placed in a warm place, and the water must be changed twice during this time. If you end up with pulp on the pit, this process will help remove it completely. This is necessary to prevent mold from forming on the pit during planting.
The seed is planted vertically in moist soil. Peat or moss is best suited for this. You can also mix them with sand to help the substrate retain moisture better. The volume of the pot should be small: 30−40 ml. Sprouts appear after 1-3 months. At this time, the substrate with the seed needs to be watered, but quite moderately. The temperature for germination should be quite high: about 25-30 degrees.
After the sprout appears, the pot must be moved to a brighter place. When the sprout grows several arrows, the plant needs to be transplanted into a pot. large volume with good drainage. Don't forget to feed the palm tree. Bird droppings or potassium nitrate are suitable for this.
To make the date sprout faster, you can use the advice of experienced gardeners:
- use the seeds for planting immediately after they are removed from the fruit;
- To make sprouts appear faster, some amateurs violate the integrity of the hard shell of the seed. This can be done using sandpaper or a knife;
- Before planting, the seed can be pre-placed in well-moistened cotton wool, gauze or hydrogel. A container with moistened cotton wool is placed on the battery. Water is added to the container daily. After the seed swells, it can be planted in the ground;
- It is best to plant the seed in February-March;
- When soaking, you can add natural biostimulants to the water, for example, a sodium humate preparation.
Following these tips will allow you not to wait for sprouts for several months, but to receive them within 3-4 weeks.
The date palm is an excellent opportunity to decorate any room, be it ordinary apartment or office. This idea can be implemented in several ways. The easiest way is to purchase a plant that has suitable sizes and appearance. However, growing a date palm on your own will bring much more joy to a person. Naturally, to do this, you will first have to get acquainted with the agricultural technology of working in our climate, which is an order of magnitude different from the tropics.
Selection of seeds and their preparation for planting
Regardless of the tree that you are going to grow at home, the first thing you need to do is prepare planting material and provide it with favorable conditions for development. If you want to get a beautiful date palm from a pit, you should choose a variety that can grow indoors. To do this, you do not have to seek help from specialists, since any dates that have not undergone heat treatment are suitable for this.
Most suitable planting material are fresh dates. You don’t need photos for this, because if you don’t have them, you can replace them with dry fruits, which can be found at any market.
Choosing dried dates to grow decorative palm, it doesn’t hurt to first ask the seller if they were boiled in sugar syrup. You should not buy fruits that have undergone such heat treatment, since the seeds taken from them will not germinate.
Preparation of planting material
When you have seeds, you can start preparing them for planting:
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One more way can be proposed to speed up the ripening process. To do this, the prepared bones are placed in hot water, heated to a temperature of 80 degrees, and kept in it for one to two minutes. A sign that the seeds are ready for planting will be their swelling.
Conditions for growing date palms
The photo of the tree should make it clear that growing a beautiful date tree is not so easy, since you need to be careful at every stage.
Even before you plant the seeds in the soil, you need to decide important questions:
- find suitable premises, where the date palm will grow best;
- find a container of suitable size;
- prepare the ground.
Considering that natural environment The habitat of palm trees is the tropics; they can grow well with sufficient lighting and air humidity. But this should not be considered as a recommendation that in the tub you need to create conditions reminiscent of a swamp. For the normal development of date seedlings, it is necessary not only to frequent watering, but also provide direct sunlight for at least three to four hours a day. The most favorable conditions for growing date palms can be created on the south side.
However, keep in mind that the date palm is a fairly tall tree that can reach up to 30 meters. But it is unlikely to grow as high in room conditions, usually its height is limited to 2–3 meters. Moreover, to reach such a mark, it will take at least 5 years. To avoid delays in palm development must be ensured optimal quantity lighting throughout life. In the first years, it is allowed to grow young shoots in a pot on the windowsill. However, when the seedling matures, you will have to find suitable place, well lit by the sun.
You can grow date palms in any suitable sized pots. But we must remember that in the first years of life they form a root, after which they form leaves. Growing a palm tree begins with planting seeds on common garden bed, from which the seedlings are already planted in separate tubs.
Soil
To plant seeds you will need soil suitable composition. The easiest way is to buy it at flower shop. However, this must be a special soil, where there is an indication “for palm trees”. If you want to be sure of quality planting soil, it is recommended to prepare it yourself.
A good base for soil will be raw sawdust, peat and sand, taken in equal quantities. Other types of soil looseners, such as perlite, are also suitable for this. Before filling the pot soil mixture drainage is placed at the bottom. Subsequently, when the palm tree continues to mature, it must be replanted, each time preparing new soil.
Stages of transplanting a date palm from a seed at home: from seed to palm
Proper preparation of seeds before planting is certainly an important step. However, this does not guarantee that they will grow into strong beautiful plants. If you do not follow the care rules at one of the subsequent stages, then at any moment the tree may wither and die. This can be avoided if you carry out the following activities throughout the life of the plant:
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Specimens at the age of 5 years must be replanted every year. Subsequently, replanting is carried out taking into account the size of the plants. This can be determined by the roots sticking out of the ground.
When the time comes for replanting, it is imperative to shorten the felt layer formed by the roots. This will prepare the young palm tree for artificial conditions cultivation, thereby increasing its survival rate.
Home date palms: photos
Rules for caring for a date tree
If you want to enjoy appearance date palm, you will have to provide appropriate care. Considering that she is used to growing in the tropics, the following will be useful for her:
- sunlight;
- moderate humidity;
- soft loose soil;
- periodic shower, which can be replaced by wiping the leaves with a damp cloth;
- high temperature;
- space. It is possible to grow a date palm only if there is a large enough free area so that light reaches it from all directions.
Other factors that are not included in this list are harmful to the palm tree. You can determine the deterioration of a tree by changes in leaves. They usually turn black. Most probable cause this is a disadvantage sunlight or poor watering. It should also be taken into account that the plant can be affected by disease if there is a draft from the window in the room. For this reason, you need to ensure that there are no sudden temperature fluctuations in the room.
Having realized that the plant has begun to feel worse, you need to immediately take urgent measures to correct the situation. It can often be helped by increasing the air humidity, which can be done by spraying it with ordinary water from a spray bottle.
Conclusion
The date palm is interesting not only because it is a representative of a tropical climate, but also because of its original appearance. Even at a height of 2–3 meters, it can make the interior of any room attractive.. Growing dates at home is not so difficult if you start paying attention to the plant from the stage of sowing the seeds. It is important to remember that a date palm will only grow well if it is given enough space. Therefore, at the moment when she becomes high enough, it is necessary to find her optimal place, where she will not feel constrained.
Currently indoor palm tree is very popular because the plant looks magnificent and prestigious, but the prices for such magnificence are high. What to do if you want an exotic palm tree, but you can’t afford it? There is a way out - to grow it yourself. Watch carefully and you will notice amazing things begin to happen!
How to grow a date palm from a seed
The date palm is not a capricious plant that can be grown at home without much difficulty, the main thing is to follow the instructions for planting and caring for it. Dates are big sun lovers, so the plant will be comfortable on the south side. The first five years the plant looks very modest; the decorative value of the date will appear only after 5-7 years.
Instructions:
- You can plant a date palm from fruit seed. To grow this plant, seeds from dried or dried fruits are suitable, which are planted immediately after extraction. It is recommended to take a Robelen date seed. This is a low-growing palm tree growing in several trunks.
- First, carefully remove the pit from the date and rinse it thoroughly under warm water. Make sure that even the smallest particles of pulp are not left on the seed coat, which could cause rotting processes in the soil after planting.
- Slightly sharpen the bone with a nail file or sandpaper. Soak the treated seeds in warm water at a temperature of approximately 35 degrees for three days, changing the water once every 6 hours. When the seeds have noticeably swollen, they can be planted in the ground.
- For planting, take a container with drainage holes. Add a layer of any drainage and a soil substrate mixed from equal parts of sand and peat.
- Plant the soaked seeds in the ground vertically, not very deep, about 1.5 cm of its length. Place the container with the seed in any warm place. Don't forget to water.
- Seeds grow within 1-6 months. When the first sprouts grow 8-10 cm in length, plant them in separate pots with a diameter of about 9 cm. flower pot fill with soil mixed from two parts of turf soil, part of leaf soil, the same amount of sand and humus.
- The optimum temperature for date palm is 22-25°C in summer and 16-18°C in winter. Good lighting is equally important for the plant; the main thing is that direct sunlight does not fall on it, especially in summer, otherwise burns cannot be avoided. To water palm trees, warm, settled water is used. Water the tree 3 times a week in spring and summer, and once a week in winter will be enough.
- It is recommended to transplant a young palm tree once a year into a new pot, the diameter of which is two centimeters larger than the previous one.
Agree, growing a date palm at home is absolutely possible. Don't stop there, expand your collection exotic plants and soon you will be able to create a real greenhouse. After all, such winter garden- the dream of every gardener, which is completely feasible.