Date palm: growing from seed at home and care with video

Lovers of indoor plants during cultivation at least once are interested in the date palm. An adult tree fascinates with beauty and unusualness. Not every person can grow a date palm. To do this, you need to know all the rules and, of course, stick to them.

Biological description and varieties of date palms

Most often, plants are a tree or a squat bush. Pinnately divided leaves have a rich dark green color. They differ in length, which increases as the palm grows. At the end they have large and sharp spines.As a rule, the tree has one trunk, but there are representatives with several trunks. When a palm tree gets big enough, it will start to bloom. They are small and yellow. Some gardeners may not see what a palm tree looks like when it is in bloom.

Mankind knows only 17 types of date palms that grow in hot countries. The most common are only 3:

Canarian date. At the base of the tree is a feathery trunk. The leaves are hard to the touch and straight. The edges are so sharp that you can get hurt on them. Maximum height - 2 m.
Robelin date. The crown of an adult plant is dense, which looks very beautiful. Tolerates shadow and reaches human height.
Date palmate. The shape and appearance of the palm tree is not as exotic as other representatives. But they have one feature - relatively fast growth.

In the latter case, the tree also has disadvantages. As the palm tree grows, its trunk becomes bare. Everyone knows the fruits of the date finger. They are tasty, sweet and very nutritious.

Is it possible to sprout from the seed

Growing palm trees are expensive, so gardeners are trying to grow them themselves. To do this, it is enough to buy dates on the market, and place the seeds in the ground. And these are the same sweet dates.

Preparing and germinating the seed

The stones are taken from dates bought at the market. Fresh, dried and even sugar-coated fruits will come in handy. Fruits should not be pre-cooked.

The bone is placed in a glass of water and left for several days.

In this case, you need to periodically drain the water and fill it with fresh water. Scalding with boiling water will speed up the germination of dates. To guarantee a sprout, you need to soak several seeds at once.

Boarding rules

When planting a date seed in the ground, all the nuances play an important role. These are soil, container sizes and much more. If you neglect the landing rules, a positive result may not work. For quick germination, the seeds damage the upper skin.

Required soil composition for planting

Soil can be bought at a specialized kiosk. As a rule, these are ready-made earth mixtures that are designed for growing palm trees. If there is an opportunity and desire, the substrate is prepared independently. To do this, you need compost, sod land, humus and sand. All components must be in different parts.

You can also plant seeds in the ground, which includes peat, rotted leaves and clay. The bone is stuck vertically. The upper part of the grain should be deepened into the ground by no more than 1 cm.This will allow you to watch how the palm tree sprouts and slowly grows into an adult plant.

Volume and optimal pot sizes

Properly selected capacity for palm trees contributes to the normal and comfortable development of the root system. The pot for the plant should not be wide. It is better to give preference to high capacity.

The sprout appears above the surface within 3 months. But it may take six months before shoots appear.

In this case, you need to be patient. As soon as the palm tree sprouts, it needs to be put in a bright place.

Palm care at home

The plant is characterized by slow growth and development. Palm trees are very easy to care for. A person is required to follow standard rules so that a young tree will please the eye and decorate the room.

Light and temperature conditions

Indoor date palm needs bright lighting. In summer, it can be taken out into the street and left there until the onset of cold weather. But she does not tolerate hot weather, so it is better to shade her during peak hours. The temperature regime gradually decreases until winter. In summer it is 20-25 °C, in spring and autumn - 15-20 °C, and in winter it is only 9-11 °C. The palm is recommended to be protected from drafts. The tree has a sensitive root system, so the pots are not placed on cold window sills and stone floors.

Irrigation and irrigation

How often should the soil be moistened? In summer, make sure that the soil does not dry out and is not covered with a rough crust. Waterlogging is also unacceptable. Watering is a procedure that depends entirely on the air temperature. The date palm is a tree with heat-tolerant and drought-resistant features. But even it needs irrigation.

It speeds up fruit ripening, increasing yields. Irrigation should be carried out during the growing season.

Feeding and fertilizer

How many times is a palm tree fed? At the time of growth, from spring to autumn, fertilizer is administered once every 2 weeks. In winter, at rest, you can get by with just 1 procedure per month. Date reacts positively to organic fertilizer. Buy them or cook them yourself.

Transfer

Each new palm pot should be 4 cm larger in diameter. During transplantation, you can not break off the top of the tree, as it may die. The palm tree does not tolerate “relocation” to a new container. If the date is not more than 5 years old, transplantation is carried out annually, older plants every 3 years. The bottom of the container is filled with a drainage layer. And sprinkled with earth on top, removing the outdated one. A transplant is carried out if the roots become crowded in a pot. Too large and long roots can be seen through the drainage holes.

When and how it blooms

The appearance of flowers falls in the spring, when the winter frosts pass. Yellow flowers are collected in twigs, resembling a panicle shape. Unfortunately, flowering begins after the palm tree has turned into an adult tree. This will take many years.

Will home-grown palm trees bear fruit

Under natural conditions, trees begin to bear fruit at the age of 15 years. The fruiting period lasts for 150-200 years. For a tree to bear fruit, both female and male flowers are needed. It is impossible to understand by the bone what the tree will be like. As a result of planting, all palm trees can have only female flowers. This leads to certain difficulties and makes it impossible to obtain fragrant dates at home.

How to stimulate fruiting

There is only one way to contribute to the active fruiting of the palm tree - the cold. After a dormant period, the chances of flowering and, accordingly, fruiting increase. If date planting is carried out in regions with cold winters, a person will rarely be lucky enough to see a tree with fruits.

Methods of reproduction

At home, only one way of reproduction is possible. It's about planting seeds in the ground. These are the very bones that remain after eating the fruit.

Signs of a micronutrient deficiency

Insufficient amount of nitrogen has a detrimental effect on the palm tree. The leaves become light, and growth stops. Brown spots indicate a lack of potassium. The plant may also need magnesium. Deficiency is manifested by the appearance of a yellow edging on the leaves. Over time, they begin to twist on the branches and die.

Planting a date palm in highly acidic soil can lead to iron and manganese deficiencies.

In turn, the young plant is faced with interveinal chlorosis. If no measures are taken on the part of the person, the tissue dies in place of the stains.To solve such problems, first of all, it is necessary to maintain the level of soil acidity within 7. Fertilization plays an important role. In this case, you will have to wait a long time to see the result of your efforts.

Possible growing problems

The date palm is not a very whimsical plant. Despite the simple rules of care, a person may encounter a number of problems. A young tree stops growing, the leaves dry out, change color, and eventually the palm tree dies.

Seedlings do not grow

In order for the height of the shrub to increase, it is necessary to pay attention to the temperature regime. Different times of the year have their own indicator. If the temperature is too low in spring or summer, the roots will stop growing and, as a result, the aerial part will also stop growing. Why is this happening? Because the root system at low temperatures is at rest.It stops absorbing nutrients.

Palm dries

The appearance of dry ends can be indicated by a low level of humidity in the room. The leaves dry out and do not recover if the plant is in direct sunlight. To increase the humidity of the air, you need to irrigate and periodically wash the leaves.

Leaves turn yellow or darken

Change of bright green color to yellow indicates a violation of the water balance. Houseplant lovers often face a similar problem when they forget to water the plant. The earth lump often dries up, large cracks appear.

Another no less important problem is excessive waterlogging of the land in which the palm tree grows. The tree loves moisture, but you need to know the measure in this matter. Too frequent watering leads to brown spots on the leaves.

The damaged area becomes too soft. Over time, you can smell a putrid smell. Suppuration occurs not only on the leaves, but also in the root system. To save a palm tree, inspect the roots. The rotten ones are removed, leaving only the living ones. Transplantation and careful care will give a result, and after a while a person will enjoy a new tree.

Pests and diseases of the date palm

As a result of improper care or its complete absence, the tree is attacked by insects and various diseases. The most common pests are spider mites, mealy worms and scale insects. They drink the juice of the plant and it dies. Among the diseases, pink rot is distinguished. It affects all parts of the tree, covering it with ugly spots. The leaf plate loses its former beauty, and the tree may dry out.

If it was not possible to avoid the parasitism of insects or the development of diseases, it is urgent to save the tree. It needs special treatment. Before treating a plant, you need to find out the cause of the poor condition.

Diseases and pests affect only those plants that are deprived of proper care. Therefore, the solution to the problem is obvious. It depends only on the person what the date palm will be.