How to plant a date to grow a palm tree?

Planting a date with your own hands and watching how a real palm tree grows from a small seed is interesting. An exotic tree will become a real decoration of your home. To implement the plan, you need to know the features of growing date palms. Follow the recommendations - and everything will work out!

Will a seed from an ordinary date germinate?

Many people experimented by eating a date and simply sticking the seed into a pot. But no shoots emerged from it. The thing is that the date tree is not an ordinary plant.

To germinate a date pit, you need to know some subtleties:

• A date seed can sit in the ground for up to 4 months. The speed of its germination largely depends on the quality and variety of the date, as well as on the time of planting.
• The date palm is a slow-growing plant and requires patience to grow it. It may take 3 to 5 years before the first split leaf appears.
• Palm trees grown at home are shorter than “street” ones and rarely grow above 1.5 m. Moreover, they do not bear fruit.
• For germination, it is better to take large-sized fruits that have not been thermally treated, fresh or dried.

It is worth noting that in practice, caramelized dates, fried, chocolate-covered, and others sometimes sprout. Apparently, the dense stone reliably protects the core.

Conditions of detention are of great importance:

• temperature regime;
• humidity;
• substrate quality.

The soil should be warm and moist, but sufficiently ventilated to prevent mold from forming. If germination is organized correctly, the root will appear in the 3-4th week, and the first leaf will appear by the end of the second month.

Dates differ from dates. Palm trees - and the fruits - look completely different depending on the variety. Canarian, palmate and Robelena dates are considered decorative. The latter is cultivated as a houseplant; dried fruits are not made from it.

From left to right: sugar date, rock date, Canarian date, Robelena date, palmate date.

2 ways to plant a seed

It is best to plant dates in early spring - in March or early April. Whatever planting method you choose, you need to think about the soil, pot size and greenhouse.

• Substrate.

Loose and light alkaline soil is suitable for date palms. You can purchase a ready-made earth mixture at a specialized store or make it yourself. To do this, mix turf and leaf soil, humus and sand in equal quantities. Or take 4 parts of garden soil, 2 parts of sand and 1 part of peat.

• Pot.

For a palm tree, it is important to choose the right size pot. To begin with, you should use small containers - up to 0.2 liters in volume. It is better if the pot is deep, because the roots of the date grow downwards. There must be holes and drainage made of expanded clay, polystyrene foam or walnut shells at the bottom.

• Greenhouse.

A greenhouse is needed to retain heat in the soil at first, until the seed sprouts. It can be a regular bag, film, or glass. But it’s better to immediately make a good greenhouse with ventilation: cut off half of a plastic bottle and make holes on the sides with a heated knitting needle.It is better if the holes are located on two opposite sides, but at different levels (higher on one side, lower on the other).

Planting after pre-soaking

The advantage of this method is that you can see with your own eyes the process of root germination.

So what you need to do:

1. Clean the pit from the pulp.
2. Wrap it in 3-4 layers of gauze.
3. Place in a shallow pot.
4. Pour in standing water so that it barely covers the bone.
5. Cover the pot with a greenhouse and place it in the warmest place in the house.
6. Check the pit daily and add water to the initial level as the moisture evaporates.
7. Plant the seed in the ground when the root has grown 1.5–2 cm.

The date pit sprouts on the opposite side of the seam, approximately in the center. In this place you can see a small convex dot. The root will emerge from it.

Planting the seed directly into the ground

Many people consider pre-soaking unnecessary. In addition, the root often grows into the gauze and breaks off when trying to untangle it.

How to plant a date in the ground?

1. Clean the pit from the pulp.
2. Moisten the soil.
3. Place the seed vertically in the ground to a depth of 1.5–2 cm.
4. Sprinkle with soil and water with settled water.
5. Place a greenhouse on top.
6. Place the pot in a well-lit, warm place.
7. Water the seed daily.

Dates are planted immediately in separate containers. Otherwise, their roots intertwine with each other and break off when trying to plant the seedlings in different pots.

Seedling care

All the rules for caring for a date palm boil down to one thing: “Keep the roots in water and the crown warm.”

• Watering.

Dates are moisture-loving. It is necessary to ensure that the soil is constantly moistened, but not wet, so that the roots do not rot.In summer, the plant is watered every day, and the green mass is also sprayed. In winter, watering is reduced to 2-3 times a week.

• Temperature regime.

Palm trees need stable heat. For good growth they need a temperature of 25–27 degrees.

• Lighting.

The plant loves sunlight. In summer, many people take the pot out onto the balcony, but exposure to direct sunlight can lead to burns on the leaves. The palm tree should be shaded a little.

• Feeding.

Decorative dates are fed 4 times a year: in October, March, May, July. He loves complex nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium fertilizers and special fertilizers for palm trees: “Green Paradise”, Pokon, Bona Forte, Palm Focus. You can also make a nutritious mixture at home from dried banana skins (grind) and ash (dilute 1 tablespoon in a liter of water).

During the winter months, the date palm does not grow.

Transfer

Dates have a fragile root system. During transplantation, it often suffers, and then the seedling dies. Therefore, it is important to wait until the plant gets stronger and the pot becomes really small for it. The palm tree is replanted no earlier than a year later, when it produces 2–3 leaves.

How to do it right?

1. Lightly moisten the soil.
2. Remove the plant from the old pot along with a lump of soil.
3. Fill a new pot (0.5–0.7 L) about 2/3 full with palm potting soil.
4. Place a lump of earth with a seedling on the bottom, and, holding it with your hand, sprinkle with the rest of the substrate.
5. Water the date palm and continue to care according to the recommendations given above.

The date palm does not like “moving”, so it can be difficult to survive the transplant.

Do not cut off the bone under any circumstances. It supplies nutrients to the sprout for some time.

After transplantation, reduce watering for 2-3 weeks and after the specified time, feed the plant.

Growing a date from a seed is not as difficult as it seems at first glance. You need to follow the recommendations and be patient. In the first year or two, the plant will look like tough grass, and only after about 5 years will it transform into a real indoor palm tree.