Date palm: tropical exotic in your home. Indoor date palm - care, transplant, disease

Date palms are evergreen beautiful plants, which today can be seen in many homes, offices, hotel lobbies.

With their help, they decorate rooms, enliven a boring interior, zone the space. You can buy palm trees in greenhouses or flower shops, but they are quite expensive. Many experienced flower growers grow this type of plant at home from a date seed.

What do date palms look like?

Representatives of the genus are squat shrubs or trees. Among them, a well-known plant that can be grown from a stone is a tree with one trunk and pinnately divided long leaves, on the basis of which there are sharp thorns. dioecious plant when flowering produces paniculate inflorescences with yellow small flowers.

Date palm, Date or Phoenix in nature grows up to thirty meters. For the sake of obtaining its delicious fruits, trees are grown on an industrial scale. Home flower growers are often interested in whether Date will bear fruit in room conditions? In order for the plant to begin to bloom and bear fruit, it needs to grow to a height of at least fifteen meters. Therefore, it is not necessary to hope for its flowering and fruiting indoors.

Growing dates from the seed

If you decide to grow a date palm at home, then you should know - it will grow for a long time. For the first two years, she will have enough space on the windowsill.

A bone for planting should be chosen one that not heat treated. By simply sticking it into the ground, germination can be expected up to six months. To speed up this process, you should resort to some tricks:

Thanks to this soaking, the first sprouts can be obtained in one to three months. In any case, it is best to soak several seeds at once for safety net.

How to grow date seedlings?

The swollen bone is placed in a container with soil mixture, which should consist of peat, sand and raw sawdust (1: 1: 1). The seed is immersed vertically in the mixture and sprinkled with one centimeter of the same soil.

The containers are placed in a warm place with an air temperature of at least +25 degrees. Top container can be covered with glass or polyethylene. Every day the glass needs to be lifted and the soil moisture checked. It should not dry out, but it is not desirable that the soil be too wet.

As soon as the sprout hatches, the container is exposed to a well-lit place without direct sunlight. Having grown up to ten to fifteen centimeters, a small sprout is transplanted into a more spacious container with a diameter of ten centimeters. Date palms have long roots, so the pot should not be low.

Drainage from pebbles is laid at the bottom of the prepared container, charcoal or ceramite. A soil mixture is being prepared, which can be purchased at the store or prepared independently. Soil for dates should consist of the following components:

The transplanted sprout is well watered and placed on the east or west window sill. He will need replant every year in a new container, which should be slightly larger than the previous one. Because the palm tree tender roots, it is recommended to do transshipment so that the plant does not hurt and takes root faster in a new pot.

In no case should a small tree be formed or cut, since its growth point is at the top of the trunk. Date leaves will give only after three to five years of growth at home. For uniform formation of the crown, it is necessary to turn the pot from time to time around the axis. The new leaf arrow should be rotated towards the shadow.

Date palm care at home

A tropical plant loves good lighting, so it should be grown in a bright sunny and warm room. With insufficient lighting, the leaves of the date will become elongated and brittle.

The air temperature in summer can be anything. The tree can be put on the loggia or outdoor balcony where there are no drafts. In winter, the indoor air temperature should be in the range of 12-18 degrees Celsius. It is not recommended to put a palm tree near heating appliances at home. Its leaves will begin to dry, and the plant may die.

When caring for Phoenix Special attention should be given air humidity, which should be about 50%. To do this, palm leaves should be sprayed. In winter when heating appliances dry the air, spraying must be carried out several times a day.

The plant should be watered soft settled water at room temperature. It is impossible to allow drying of an earthen coma and at the same time stagnation of water in a pot and pan. In summer, watering can be plentiful. In winter, if Date is kept in a cool room, watering is minimal.

A palm tree will grow well and delight with its beautiful leaves if regular feeding is done when caring for it. In spring and summer, it should be regularly fertilized, alternating mineral and organic top dressing. In winter, complex fertilizers are applied once a month.

In the first five years, the plant is transplanted annually into pots, which should be 3-4 cm larger in diameter and depth than the previous one.

Older trees are transplanted only when necessary, as their roots do not like to be disturbed. You can simply update the soil every six months by removing for this upper layer soil and adding new potting mix to the pot.

It is better to transplant plants spring. Young plants in larger pots begin to grow rapidly. However, if the capacity is too large, the tree may stop growing altogether.

Diseases and pests of the date palm

Violations of the conditions of detention and care rules often lead to the appearance of scale insects, mealybugs and spider mites on the plant. If palm leaves stop growing, dry, curl, darken and plaques appear on them, then the date suffers from pests. It is recommended to regularly inspect the leaves and spray them at the first appearance of insects on them. garlic solution or wash with soap and water. Processing is repeated in a week.

A severely affected plant requires the use of insecticidal preparations. You can use Aktellik by dissolving it in water according to the instructions.

Sick and weak trees are susceptible to diseases:

• pink rot causes leaf and stem rot;
• spotting disfigures the leaves.

In this case, the plant is processed fungicides, which include methyl thiophanate and mancozeb. Processing should be carried out strictly according to the instructions that are attached to the preparations.

Possible Problems When Growing Dates

Why do palm leaves turn brown?

When caring for a plant at home, it is necessary to ensure that the soil in the pot is not too damp, and in the pan water did not stagnate. Otherwise, the leaves will start to darken and turn brown. This means that the roots have begun to rot. Over time, the smell of rot will come out of the pot, and the trunk will become soft. The plant may die. To prevent this from happening, the palm must be removed from the container and cut off the watery, dark and soft roots. The remaining roots are sprinkled with crushed coal, and the tree is planted in a new soil mixture.

The date palm turns yellow

If stagnant water in the soil leads to rotting of the plant and darkening of the leaves, then with insufficient watering, constant drying of the earthen coma and low air humidity, the palm leaves will begin to turn yellow. Need to follow up humidity of the earthen coma and constantly spray palm leaves.

Date dries

With insufficient air humidity on a palm tree, the tips of the leaves dry first, and over time they can dry completely. So don't be lazy spray the tree especially in winter when the radiators are turned on. To increase the humidity in the room, you can use a special humidifier.

Why is the date palm not growing?

There can be several reasons for stopping the growth of a plant:

1. Too big pot. If a palm tree is transplanted into a container that is much larger than the previous one, then until the roots fill all the soil available in the pot, the plant will not grow up. Therefore, the new container should be only 3-4 cm larger than the previous one.
2. High acidity of the soil. For good palm growth, it is necessary to select soil with an acidity of not more than 7 pH. It also contains iron and manganese.
3. Low air temperature. Date root growth slows down at temperatures below +17 degrees. This is explained by the fact that at low temperatures ah, the roots stop absorbing nutrients from the soil. As a result, the plant does not receive the required amount of trace elements and stops growing.

Growing a date palm from a stone requires not only good care and proper maintenance, but also a lot of attention and patience. But as a result, the Date will become an ornament of the apartment, an occasion for the admiration of guests and the pride of the owner.

The date palm or date (Phoenix) is a genus of plants that, according to various sources, includes from 14 to 17 species, and belongs to the Palmae (Palm) or Arecaceae (Arek) family.

This palm is common in tropical and subtropical regions of Asia and Africa. Translated from Latin, "phoenix" means "palm tree".

General information

Representatives of the genus are palm trees with several or one trunk, which can be of various heights with a crown of leaves, leaf sheaths or remnants of petioles on top.

Large, curved, odd-pinnate leaves consist of linear-lanceolate hard leaflets with a single edge, pointed at the top, arranged evenly or in a bunch. Petioles are short, often covered with strong spines. In the axils of the leaves are paniculate inflorescences, consisting of small yellow flowers.

Grow dates and how ornamental plant, and as a fruit crop (date finger). Date fruits are eaten in any form, and they are also fed to camels and horses. From the juice of some species make wine "tari".

This palm tree is also used for medical purposes. Since, the juice of the plant is an excellent remedy for treating burns, wounds, skin diseases, and compresses based on crushed palm leaves are used for mastopathy.

Small date palm species, such as Robelin and Canarian, are widely distributed as an ornamental houseplant. And the palmate date grows very strongly in a short time, so it is better for him to live in winter gardens and greenhouses.

Types of date palms

(Phoenix canariensis) is a plant with a straight, strong trunk that reaches 12 to 18 meters in height and up to 1 meter in diameter and is covered with the remains of leaves.

The dense crown consists of about 200 pinnate, with more than 150 pairs of leaflets and leaves up to 6 meters long. The leaves are about 50 centimeters long and up to 3.5 centimeters wide. Their coloration is bright green.

Relatively short petioles (about 80 centimeters) are covered with strong needle-shaped spikes that are up to 20 centimeters long. Two types of inflorescences are located in the axils of the leaves - female and male. The former are branched, up to 2 meters long, while the latter are much shorter.

Distributed in nature on stony and rocky places of the Canary Islands, cultivated as decorative palm trees grown indoors and greenhouses.

(Phoenix dactylifera) is a plant whose trunk reaches 20 to 30 meters in height and 30 centimeters in diameter. The trunk is covered with remnants of leaf petioles and has lateral shoots at the base.

In the upper part of the trunk there are arcuately bent pinnate leaves up to 6 meters long. The linear-lanceolate leaflets, cut in two at the top, have a length of 20 to 40 centimeters and are often combined into groups.

The thin, long petiole has a bluish-green color. The inflorescence, reaching more than a meter in length, is located in the axils of the leaves and hangs down under the weight of the fruit. The fleshy drupes have an oblong-ovoid shape and a length of 2.5 to 6 centimeters.

Used in food, both raw and dried, very sweet and nutritious. In culture, the date palm is common in North Africa, Southern Iran, Iraq, on the Arabian Peninsula. It is used for gardening of greenhouses and rooms.

Curved date palm (Phoenix reclinata)

Multi-stemmed trees with lateral growth, which gives them the appearance of a dense bush. Trunks can reach 8 meters in height and 10-17 centimeters in diameter.

Pinnate, with a drooping apex, curved leaves are about 6 meters long and up to 1 meter wide and consist of more than 100 pairs of leaflets. Hard bright green leaves are covered with whitish hairs that disappear with time, have a length of up to 50 centimeters and a width of about 2-3 centimeters.

The petiole is 1 meter long, covered with single or combined in groups of 2-3 needle-shaped, thin 3-12 cm spikes, which are directed in different directions. The inflorescences located in the axils of the leaves are highly branched and have a length of up to 90 centimeters.

AT natural conditions grows in damp tropical forests subtropical and tropical regions of Africa. Cultivated as an ornamental plant for growing indoors and greenhouses.

Date Palm (Phoenix roebelenii O'Brien)

One of the most compact representatives of the genus, reaching only 2 meters in height. This is a single or multi-stemmed tree, which is covered with the remains of the bases of the leaves.

Arcuate-curved pinnate leaves about 50-70 centimeters long have numerous soft and narrow leaflets, which are very densely placed on a thin rachis. The length of dark green leaves is from 12 to 20 centimeters. Younger leaves are covered with powdery powdery coating and whitish fibers. Axillary inflorescences are slightly branched.

Under natural conditions, this species can be found in the tropical rainforests of India, Laos, Burma. This date is suitable for growing in warm greenhouses and rooms.

(Phoenix rupicola) - a plant with a straight trunk up to 7 meters high and 20 centimeters in diameter. This species forms offspring and is not covered with leaf remnants.

The arcuately curved pinnate leaves are 2-3 meters long and consist of densely arranged green, linear, glabrous, slightly drooping leaflets, up to 40 centimeters long. The short petiole is covered with sharp spines along the edges. Under natural conditions, it grows on the hills and mountains in Sikkim, Assam (India).

Forest date palm (Phoenix sylvestris)

A plant reaching 12 meters in height, with a straight trunk with a diameter of 60 centimeters to 1 meter.

At the top of the trunk, there are downward-curved, arcuate-pinnate leaves about 4 meters long in an amount of 150 to 200 pieces. The leaf lobes are densely arranged in groups of 3-4 and have a length of up to 35 centimeters and a width of 4-5 centimeters. The leaves are bluish-gray in color.

The petioles, reaching a length of 1 meter, are covered with brownish fibers at the base, and along the edges with sharp strong spikes (from 3 to 15 centimeters long). The inflorescence with white flowers, directed upwards, has a length of about 90 centimeters. It grows wild in dry areas, river valleys and lowlands of East India.

(Phoenix zeylanica Trimen) - representatives of this species have a straight trunk, reaching from 3 to 6 meters in height and covered with the remains of petioles.

Relatively short pinnate leaves consist of numerous 18-25 cm bluish strong leaves. The short petiole is covered with spines along the edges. A branched short (30-35 centimeters long) inflorescence is located in the axils of the leaves.

Under natural conditions, the species is distributed on the island of Sri Lanka in wet lowlands. Cultivated for growing in cold greenhouses.

Date palm at home care and maintenance

Date loves bright sunlight and needs shading only in the midday summer heat. It is best to place small young plants on the windowsills of the southern and southeastern windows, larger and older plants - next to such windows.

For uniform growth and development of the palm tree crown, it is necessary to rotate it around its axis from time to time. AT summer time the plant will respond well to the content on outdoors in the garden or on the balcony, if this is not possible, then the room should be regularly ventilated.

If the autumn-winter days did not please with enough sunlight, then in the spring the plant must be gradually accustomed to exposure to direct sunlight in order to avoid leaf burns. They do the same with a palm tree, just brought from the store.

In winter, it is desirable to illuminate the dates with the help of lamps. daylight. With insufficient lighting, palm leaves begin to stretch and hang down, losing their decorative effect.

In the spring and summer, when the date grows, it needs to be kept at a moderate temperature of 20 to 25 degrees. These tropical beauties love and more high temperature up to 28 degrees Celsius, but it also needs high humidity air, otherwise the tips of the leaves of the plant will begin to dry.

In winter, dates have a dormant period and need a temperature in the range of 15-18 degrees. Robelin date is more thermophilic and optimal winter temperature for him is from 16 to 18 degrees of heat.

The Canarian date can spend the winter at a temperature of 8 to 10 degrees, and in adulthood, with a formed trunk, it suffers a short-term decrease to 5 degrees below zero. Palm trees do not like this kind of stagnant air. It is necessary to ensure regular ventilation of the room, while protecting the plants from drafts.

Watering the date palm at home

From April to August, the plant needs abundant watering, after which the water in the pan is left for 2-3 hours, and then drained. In autumn and winter, watering is reduced and produced only on the second day after the top layer of the earthy coma has dried.

At the same time, the lower the temperature of the content of the date, the less it is watered and vice versa. It must be remembered that the soil cannot be either waterlogged or overdried. Water for irrigation is taken warm, soft, separated.

Dates - moisture-loving plants. Very fond of daily spraying, which can be carried out all year round. Water for spraying is taken settled or, even better, filtered.

To maintain the required humidity, palm pots can be placed in a tray filled with wet expanded clay, moss or pebbles, so that their bottom does not touch the water. Once every two weeks, date leaves are washed with water to remove dust.

Fertilizers for date palm

Starting in April and ending at the end of August, they make organic fertilizers every 10 days. Sometimes organics need to be alternated with potassium nitrate, which is taken 1 gram per 1 liter of water. AT winter period fertilize dates once a month.

Date palm transplant at home

Dates do not tolerate transplanting well, since during it the root system of the plant is often damaged. Transplantation is carried out by the method of transshipment and only in the spring. At the same time, the earthen lump is not destroyed.

Due to rapid growth, young palm trees have to be replanted annually, while adult plants, as needed, every 3-6 years. If the palm tree is too large and heavy and it is not easy to remove it unscathed from the pot, then it is recommended to break it.

A new pot is taken not much larger than the previous one, while it should be deep and not wide. At the bottom of the pot, there must be a few centimeters of drainage from expanded clay, shards or charcoal with sand.

The soil is renewed annually, removing the top 2-4 centimeters of the old substrate and replacing it with fresh.

Date palm soil

Dates are not very demanding on the composition of the soil and can grow well in both neutral and slightly acidic soils.

To prepare the substrate, sand, humus, soddy soil and compost are mixed in equal amounts. For every 3 liters of the resulting mixture, add 1 tablespoon of superphosphate.

You can also use ready-made soil mixtures for palm trees, which are sold in flower shops.

Date palm from the stone at home

Dates are most often propagated by seeds. For cultivation, it is best to use seeds from fresh fruits, since germination decreases over time, and sprouts may appear a year after planting.

Before planting, date seeds are kept in warm water (30-35 degrees) for 2-3 days. Seeds can be planted in a peat-sand substrate or in a substrate consisting of layers: the lower one is drainage, the middle one is sod land, the upper one is sand with finely chopped moss.

The prepared substrate is moistened with water, seeds are planted and covered with moss or sand. Shoots can be expected for 20-25 days. Successful germination requires timely watering and maintaining a temperature of 20 to 25 degrees. Ascended palms are transplanted into soil consisting of light sod land, sand and humus, taken in a ratio of 2:1:1.

Carry out abundant watering of transplanted plants and place them in a well-lit place, shading from direct sun.

Possible difficulties

• Leaves falling down - a signal for the need for watering.
• Dry leaves or tips indicates insufficient humidity in the room.
• Leaves wither and darken under the influence of low temperatures and drafts.
• Growth arrest may be due to lack needed by the plant trace elements.

Sakura is most often associated with Japan and its culture. Picnics in the shade flowering trees have long been an integral attribute of the meeting of spring in the Land of the Rising Sun. The financial and academic year here begins on April 1, when magnificent cherry blossoms bloom. Therefore, many significant moments in the life of the Japanese pass under the sign of their flowering. But sakura also grows well in cooler regions - certain types can be successfully grown even in Siberia.

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It is pleasant and prestigious to have a date palm at home, because an exotic houseplant will perfectly decorate any interior. There is no difference in what kind of species you have, knowing how to care for a date palm will be useful to all owners of these houseplants.

Even young bushes that do not yet have beautiful trunks are already proudly called a palm tree, therefore good care will surely make any nondescript sprout a real pride of the house, if it is correct and constant.

Date palm at home

AT wild environment date palm grows in India and Africa, scientists know 17 of its species. Among the hot sand, the tree lives for about 150 years and during this time many new plants appear around it, grown from its seeds and roots. Is it possible that a desert palm tree can also grow in our apartments without specific care?

• Robelena (Phoenix Roebelenii) with a very beautiful dense crown no higher than 1.5-2 meters.
• Canarian (Phoenix Canariensis) - height up to 2 meters, feathery trunks, hard straight and narrow leaves.
• Fingered (Phoenix Dactylifera) - the most common form, not very beautiful, but relatively fast growing. The disadvantage of this plant is that its trunk will gradually become bare over time.

Growing a date at home requires a lot of desire and time, but it can be a great hobby for long years. Many are trying to grow date palms from, this is an excellent way out for everyone who is not able to purchase an adult seedling, which is relatively expensive.

How to care for a date palm

The date tree will not please with beauty for the first five years, its decorative value will appear only after 5-7 years. Do not expect that, having grown a date from a seed, it will be possible to have an excellent decor for your home in a couple of years.

In order for your house to be decorated with an adult indoor date palm, caring for it throughout the years has several important points:

• It must be constantly turned towards the sun in order to Sun rays got to all the leaves. Without light, the leaves stretch, develop unevenly and become brittle.
• The plant is very afraid of drafts. Ventilating housing in the autumn-winter period, you need to protect it from cold air currents.
• When watering, do not allow stagnant water at the roots, therefore good drainage- required condition. For irrigation, use settled, soft water without chlorine at a temperature of about 20 ° C.

• The leaves need to be sprayed daily, as the tree needs moist air. Once a week, the plant will even need a real shower, but during the procedure, an earthen lump in a pot must be carefully covered with a film.
• The leaves should also be regularly wiped with damp sponges so that they are not attacked by pests and just so that the palm tree has a well-groomed appearance.
• In no case is it permissible to cut or break off the top of a palm tree. Pruning the top of the stem is fraught with the death of the plant.
• Apply mineral and organic fertilizers twice a month during the warm period and once a month during the winter. Complex preparations for palm trees or for decorative and deciduous houseplants are suitable. They are applied only in wet soil, in a diluted form.

Date palm - transplant, transshipment

The plant often begins to hurt after transplantation. It is very difficult to tolerate it if everything is done in the traditional way. How to transplant a date palm, should it be done at all?

A young date palm (up to 4-5 years old) is transplanted annually, and an adult plant - after 2-3 years. This is done in the spring. Every six months, it is recommended to remove the top soil layer and fill the vacant place with new soil.

A transplant is required only when the roots no longer fit in the pot and they are clearly visible through the drainage holes, so each transplant (more precisely, transshipment) is done into a pot 3-4 cm larger in diameter. To do this, the bush is carefully rolled over into a new container, and the voids are filled with soil.

Specialists in the care of date palms at home have noticed: the larger the pot becomes, the more intense the plant begins to grow. But you can't take too much large capacities, as in them the growth of a tree can stop.

For transplantation, store-bought soil mixtures “For palm trees” are taken, or the soil is prepared independently based on:

• 2 parts of light clay-turf;
• 2 parts of humus-leaf;
• 1 part peat;
• 1 part of rotted manure;
• 1 part sand;
• some charcoal.

The soil should be loose, soft, permeable to air and moisture. At the bottom of the pot, be sure to place a good layer of drainage so that it prevents water stagnation as much as possible. The pot should be chosen not wide, but high, so that long roots fit well.

Diseases of date palms

It would seem that the indoor date palm receives care, but it appearance not at a high level - it dries, the leaves turn yellow, darken, curl. What could be the problem?

Consider what are the diseases of the date palm due to illiterate care:

• If the leaves become completely dark, almost brown, the trunk is soft, a putrid smell is felt, then this indicates waterlogged soil. After the appearance of such signs, watering stops, you need to wait for the soil to dry.
• It is necessary to examine the state of the root system, for this the plant is removed from the container in which it grows. If all the roots are soft, watery, dark, then they have already died and it is impossible to save such a palm tree. If there are living roots, then they must be carefully protected from the dead by cutting and sprinkling crushed charcoal on the cut points.
• If only their tips turn brown on the leaves, then this happens as a result of a lack of watering, dry air or winter drafts, and sudden changes in temperature. brown leaves below are not terrible - these are age-related changes. The darkened leaves have died off, so they should be cut off. sharp knife, you can't restore them.

• If the date palm turns yellow, it means that it is watered either with hard water, or it receives less moisture and nutrients. From insufficient watering leaves fall down, and this defect cannot be corrected. You can lift them by tying them to a support.

• A pale appearance indicates too much light or a red spider mite infestation. To protect the tree from bright sunlight, you need to lightly shade the plant.

• If the date palm dries, the leaves fall off, darken, curl, brown plaques appear on their surface - the plant dies from pests.

Pest control - scale insects, mealybugs or spider mites is standard for all indoor plants. It is necessary to wash the leaves with a solution of laundry soap, sprinkle with garlic extract. If a severe lesion is observed, a solution of Aktellik (broad-spectrum insecticide) is applied - 1-2 ml per liter of water.

Today you learned what a date palm can be like at home, how to care for it, how to transplant it correctly, and what diseases can harm your pet. Don't stop there, let your first growing experience exotic plants will help you create a real greenhouse. Winter Garden at home is a dream that many fail to realize, but you can definitely do it! Good luck!

Or Phoenix, or Date (lat. Phoenix)- a genus of plants of the Palm family, which includes about 20 species growing in Africa and Eurasia. This plant has been known to mankind for more than two millennia, the first mention of it dates back to the sixth century BC - even then the date palm was grown in Mesopotamia, on the territory of modern Iraq. The date palm belongs to the feathery species of palms, like howea or coconut, and in nature sometimes reaches a height of thirty meters. The fruits of the date palm are a widely known and beloved delicacy by many, for which the plant is grown on an industrial scale. In addition, date palm sap is used to produce sugar. However, the indoor date palm has long become popular, and interest in it has especially increased since it became known that it is quite possible to grow it from a date seed. But before you grow a date palm at home, you should study the conditions for its growth in nature.

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Planting and caring for a date palm (in brief)

• Bloom: decorative leafy plant.
• Lighting: bright sunlight.
• Temperature: common for residential premises, but in winter cooler conditions are needed - within 12-18 ˚C.
• Watering: regular, moderate.
• Air humidity: in the hot season, it is recommended to spray the leaves with water and wipe them with a damp sponge, and take a shower once a week. In winter, the plant should be kept as far away from heating devices as possible.
• Top dressing: in spring and summer, fertilizers are applied every week for palm trees or for decorative leafy plants; in winter, one top dressing per month is enough.
• rest period: at home it is not expressed, but it is advisable to give the plant a rest for 1-1.5 months in winter.
• Transfer: up to five years, the plant is transplanted annually, then as needed and as rarely as possible.
• Reproduction: bones (seeds).
• Pests: spider mites, scale insects, mealybugs.
• Diseases: pink rot, leaf spot, root rot.

Read more about growing date palms below.

Home date palm - growing conditions

In nature, the date palm plant is a tree or squat shrub with feathery leaves - the main decorative dignity plants. A date palm at home can only grow up to two meters, and even in this case, a date palm houseplant requires considerable space, so an adult plant is placed in rooms where there is almost no furniture. But if a date palm is grown from a seed, at home you can always find a place for a small pot, because such a tree will grow for a very long time, and there, you see, living conditions will change for the better, and there will be enough space in the apartment for a date palm. Finally, adult large plant can be placed in the office. The date palm blooms with panicles of yellow flowers. But do not expect to eat dates from your palm tree: the tree begins to bloom, and, consequently, bear fruit only when it reaches a height of fifteen meters, which is impossible at home.

Date palm from the stone

How to grow a date palm from seed

Before planting a date palm, you need to prepare for planting yourself date pits, which for reliability it is better to plant several at once, and prepare the soil for planting. Bones are suitable from fresh, candied or dried dates - the main thing is that the fruits are not exposed to heat treatment. In order for the bones to sprout faster, it is better to break their shell slightly by rubbing sandpaper, and in order to get the soil necessary for seed germination, you need to mix raw sawdust, sand and peat in equal parts. The bones are placed vertically in the ground and sprinkled on top with a layer of the same substrate 1 cm thick, then the pot or container is placed in a warm place where the temperature is above 20 ºC, and even better - 25-30 ºC, and contain, observing that the soil all the time was warm, damp, but not wet. To do this, it is best to keep it near heat sources by laying sphagnum moss on the surface of the substrate. Do not wait quick results: a seed can sit in the ground and swell before it sprouts, and three months, and six months.

When the sprouts hatch, transfer the container to bright light, protecting the seedlings from direct rays, regularly moisten the soil and spray the seedlings with warm water, and when they grow to 10-15 cm, plant the seedlings in personal pots with a diameter of 15 cm into the soil, consisting of four parts of humus, one part peat land with the addition of two parts of sand, turf and leaf ground. Throw a couple of handfuls of charcoal into the mixture as well and mix everything thoroughly before planting. Don't forget to put a layer of drainage material on the bottom of the pot.

The date palm grown from the stone at home can only give leaves in the third or even in the fifth year of life. The growing point of the date palm is at the top of the trunk, so you can’t cut it off or try to form a tree crown in any way. Make sure that the new leaf arrow is turned from light to shadow, and rotate the pot from time to time so that the crown of the tree forms evenly.

Date palm care at home

How to care for a date palm

Caring for a homemade date palm is very simple. Keep it in a bright, sunny place in a well-ventilated area. The temperature in summer can be any, but in winter time should be no higher than 18 ºC and no lower than 12 ºC.

In hot weather, date palm leaves can dry out from the ends, so it is advisable to spray them several times a day or wipe them with a damp sponge, and organize a shower for the plant once a week, covering the top layer of soil from moisture.

In the spring and summer, feed your palm weekly with organic and mineral fertilizers, in the fall, fertilize twice as rarely - once every two weeks, in winter, if necessary, it is enough to apply complex fertilizers once a month.

Watering the date palm

Growing a date palm involves regular, balanced watering of the plant with settled soft water. What does balanced watering mean? This means that you need to moisten the soil so that the plant has enough water, but no more. So that excess moisture does not stagnate in the roots of the plant, do not forget to put a thick layer of drainage into the pot when transplanting.

date palm transplant

Young plants under the age of five are transplanted annually, older ones only if necessary, because the date palm does not like to be disturbed. When transplanting, you need to act as carefully as possible so as not to damage the date palm root, so it is best to use the method of transferring the plant from an old pot to a new one. The pot for the date palm should be deep, because its roots are long, and each subsequent flowerpot should be 3-4 cm larger in diameter than the previous one. Before transplanting a date palm, do not forget about the drainage layer. If the old palm pot is still fit, but you are worried that the soil has already lost the qualities necessary for the plant, carefully remove the top layer of the old substrate and replace it with fresh. This must be done every six months.

Reproduction of the date palm

The date palm at home reproduces only by seeds - in other words, by seeds.

Pests and diseases of the date palm

insect pests

Most often, if the conditions of detention are violated, the date palm suffers from spider mites, mealybugs and shields. The best way pest control - correct care errors. It is best to remove insects and traces of their vital activity that destroy the plant mechanically, wiping the leaves of the date palm with a soap and vodka solution (15 g liquid soap, any dishwashing detergent or a teaspoon of grated solid soap dissolved in warm water, diluted in a liter warm water and add two tablespoons of vodka to the solution). If the number did not pass, after a week the processing of the leaves must be repeated, just do not forget to protect the soil in the pot from getting soap into it. With a strong pest infestation, you will have to resort to treating date palm leaves with insecticides, and the best of them is actellik.

Of the diseases of the date palm, spotting is known that disfigures the leaf plate, and pink rot, which affects not only the leaves, but sometimes the stem, and causes them to rot. Fortunately, only weak and diseased plants are susceptible to infection with these diseases, so the key to the health of the date palm is that you follow the rules for caring for it. If trouble happened and the plant got sick, double-treat the palm tree with a fungicide containing mancozeb and methyl thiophanate, observing a weekly interval between sessions.

The date palm dries

Sometimes the date palm leaves dry from the tips, and this is a clear indication that the room where the plant is located has too low air humidity at a normal rate of 50%. This is not so much, and there are more than enough ways to increase the humidity of the air to the desired value, so do not be lazy to spray and wash the leaves, otherwise the palm tree will lose its decorative effect, and it will be a great pity for wasted time and effort. Remember that the date palm dries up only with a negligent owner.

The date palm turns yellow

If you didn’t change your attitude to caring for the palm in time and didn’t solve the issue of supplying the plant with moisture at all levels, the next signal about a violation of the water balance after dry tips is the yellowing leaves of the date palm. This means that you not only spray the leaves of the plant irregularly, but also forget to water it, allowing the earthen clod in the pot to dry out. If you do not have enough time to take care of the plant, think maybe it would be better to give the date palm to someone who will find time to take care of it?

Date palm leaves darken

When the soil in a date palm pot is chronically waterlogged, the leaves of the plant gradually darken from green to brown, the trunk becomes soft, and the plant smells of rot. As soon as you notice this, stop watering the palm tree, take it out of the pot and inspect the roots: if they have become dark, soft and watery, the plant has already died, but if there are still living ones among the rotten roots, then it makes sense to cut off the dead roots, sprinkling the slices with crushed charcoal, and transplant the date palm into fresh soil.