How To Grow A Date Tree

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A date palm might not be most gardeners' showtime selection when it comes to growing fruit. Traditional orchard trees like olives or stone fruits get all the attention. But for people in the correct climate, growing dates is a bright choice.

The trees are long-lived, produce a heavy crop, and have relatively few pests and diseases that bother them.

Let'southward non forget those scrumptious dates. They're sweet, store well, and can be used in both savory dishes and desserts. If y'all're considering growing date palms, you've come to the right identify.

What are Date Palms?

Engagement palms (Phoenix dactylifera) are thought to be ane of the earliest cultivated plants in human history, and they've been a part of man lives for centuries. Houses inhabited over six,000 years ago in the Heart E were built with date palm wood, and fronds were used to comprehend the roof.

Although there are many trees that grow date-similar fruits, but P. dactylifera grows fruit that has plenty mankind to eat and is palatable. You tin can always abound one of the other date palm species merely consider them to be strictly ornamental.

To grow appointment palms, you lot need a warm surround: sorry, Alaskans and North Dakotans. You can observe dates growing in places like southern California, Arizona, and southern Nevada. More recently, gardeners are growing date palms in Louisiana and Texas.

Best Varieties of Appointment Palms for the Home Garden

With over 3,000 varieties worldwide, it pays to see what's available in your expanse and what grows well. Some are more common cold tolerant than others, while some need specific soil. Others need humidity, and some tin can't stand it. Bank check with your local plant nursery to see what does best in your particular climate.

Zahdi

This is one of the oldest varieties and is very popular. The dates are chewy and store for a proficient long time. This is a large tree with a solid trunk that grows fast. Information technology doesn't thrive in loftier humidity, so a dry out climate is best.

Halawi

'Halawi' bears medium-sized fruits that have a honey-similar gustatory modality to them. It will tolerate areas of high humidity.

Medjool

Many dwelling house gardeners similar this one because it's reliable and produces fruit much earlier than many other varieties. Inside 5 years, you should encounter around 22 pounds of fruit, building upwards to 175 pounds per yr.

Khastawi

If y'all live in a desert-type environment, this is the variety for you. 'Khastawi' is resistant to humidity, and although the fruits are quite pocket-sized, they are dense, sweet, and syrupy.

Barhee

This is a prolific producer of fruit and tin yield up to xx bunches of fruit per year. It'south a medium-sized tree and is known for its amber-colored dates.

How to Establish Date Palm

Arid or semi-arid areas are best. Zones 10 and 11 are perfect for date palms, merely some may grow in zone 9. Temperatures must never go below 20ºF. Pollination requires 95ºF during the solar day and long, warm nights.

Constitute in total sun with protection from the wind for the first year or so. Date palm trees accept shallow roots and can blow over in windy environments.

Soil pH needs to be between 8 and 11. Well draining, sandy soil is best. Information technology needs to be aerated and able to hold wet only drain water away.

Some date palms take both male person and female person flowers and will self pollinate. Others need both a male and female specimen, so ever check when you get the tree.

Planting Saplings

Dig a deep hole twice the size of the root ball of the tree yous are planting. Refill the hole with soil, so the hole is half total with loose soil. Place the tree in the hole so that it is sitting level with the surrounding earth. Fill in the hole with the residuum of the soil and tamp downward gently—water well.

Planting a Palm Offset

The problem with planting from seed is you don't know what you lot're going to get. Information technology may be male, or it may be female. You are better off planting a sapling like above or from an offset, also known as a pup.

This is where a palm produces growth off the trunk. Cutting this off advisedly and brand sure to get both some leaves and roots. Paint some copper fungicide on the tree where y'all cut the offset off to prevent disease.

Apply root hormone to the offset and constitute it into some seed-raising mix. Keep this moist and transplant once roots and more than top growth develop.

Plant a Date Palm From Seed

Although planting past seed is not very reliable, it tin can be a fun experiment and is swell for kids.

Purchase some Medjool dates at the store or a nursery and remove the seeds. Wash them off with tepid h2o and ensure all the remnants of the fruit'south flesh come off.

Soak the seeds in water for 48 hours, replacing the water after 24 hours. This is an important step because you want the seed soft for germination.

Fold the seeds into a damp paper towel, making sure they don't touch each other. Seal this in a plastic handbag and store this away for eight weeks. The temperature needs to be at least 70ºF to 75ºF.

Check the seed and towel every two weeks to ensure they aren't forming mold but are however moist. Replace the paper towel with a new one each time you bank check information technology or if you run across whatever mold forming.

Inside eight weeks, you volition hopefully see the germinated seed with a fresh new sprout. Simply plant in a pot filled with cactus soil mix. Plant ane/2 an inch deep, water well, and see if you grow a tree.

Caring for Date Palms

Appointment palms need adept amounts of fertilizer. Brand sure when you first plant your tree, you dig in well-rotted manure.

As the tree matures, fertilize with manure or a commercial fertilizer targeted at fruit trees.

Although date palms tin withstand h2o scarcity when they're mature, they need plenty when they're immature. Deeply water regularly a couple of times a calendar month. Endeavour not to permit the soil dry out, especially when the dates are developing.

Dry soil will affect the number and quality of the dates produced.

As the fronds brainstorm to die off, prune close to the trunk. Practise this at least twice a year. Remove dead and dying leafage, but don't remove besides many healthy fronds considering that will affect the quality of the dates.

Companion Planting for Dates

If you desire to institute food around your palm copse, try:

Tamarillo copse
Arugula
Bong peppers
Chilis
Taro
Cassava
Eggplants

Common Problems and Solutions for Growing Dates

Dates don't suffer from as many pests and diseases as some other fruits, but they aren't completely immune. Keep an center out for the following and be ready to take action. It's much easier to get rid of a problem if yous address information technology early on on.

White Scale

These are tiny sap suckers who volition feed on foliage equally well as fruit. Although not terminal to the tree, they practise affect the overall wellness and quality of the fruit.

Coat whatsoever calibration you detect in horticultural oil. This smothers them by clogging their breathing pores.

You know if you have white scale because the leaves will be covered in a mucilaginous substance and little bumps appear on the fronds and stems.

Date Palm Spider Mites

These spider mites feed on the dates and wreck the quality of your yield. These mites are so common that if you lot have fruit dropping off prematurely, it'due south likely that appointment mites are to blame.

Each year at the start of spring, dust the tree with a product containing sulfur. Obviously, when the tree gets beyond your reach, you might need to apply an extender or ladder to get the job done.

When mites are present, spray all branches with a strong boom of water to knock the mites off the tree. You tin besides spray trees with neem oil or insecticidal lather to control them. Alternate treatments so the mites don't develop a resistance to ane or the other.

Black Scorch Disease

As this proper noun suggests, if it has this disease, your palm will expect like it'south been set on fire and is all blackened from the flames. The body and buds may rot, and the buds will fall off before setting properly.

Proper sanitation is the best fashion to forestall this disease. Wash your tools between uses and be careful not to cut or damage the tree when working around it. When you prune, utilise copper-based fungicides to the pruning wounds.

Bayoud Disease

This is a fungal disease that spreads fast once it establishes itself. The leaf on the tree will lighten or turn white. Any exposed roots turn red. This affects both the quality and the number of fruits you'll get.

If your tree gets bayoud affliction, it is all-time to remove information technology and burn it to stop the disease from spreading. There is no cure.

Harvesting Dates

Appointment palms start fruiting between v and six years for nigh varieties. This may seem like a long time to wait, but you volition be providing dates for your family unit for 70 years, if not more than.

Harvesting depends on the variety you plant on when you see dates forming. Immature dates are green and smooth. As they mature, they plow dark and start to wrinkle. Birds may start to snack on the fruits, so encompass them with mesh or remove them and let them mature off the tree.

To harvest, you'll remove batches of the fruits by cutting them away. You may need to utilise a ladder for the higher fruits. Wrap mesh netting effectually a strand of dates that are a dainty, deep majestic color. Cut the strand from the torso and place it on the ground. Repeat until all the ripe dates are harvested.

Store on a tray lined with baking paper. The dates will shop similar this for a couple of weeks. Keep them in a cool dark place and bask your harvest.

To dry the dates, put them in a food dehydrator for 24 hours at 150°F. Plough them every few hours.

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