Oil palm ∗ The big guide from A to Z

Characteristics

• Scientific name: Elaeis guineensis
• Family: Palm family (Arecaceae)
• Origin: West Africa
• Growth type: palm
• Growth form: single stem
• Growth height: 20 m to 30 m
• flowers: spikes
• Fruits: drupes
• leaves: pinnate
• Roots: ground and aerial roots
• Hardiness: sensitive to frost
• Use: crop, palm oil production, house palm

growth

The oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) is one of the economically most important palm species for palm oil production. Originally native to the rainforests of West Africa, the palm oil plant is now cultivated on huge plantations in Southeast Asia and South America. The following overview summarizes key growth data worth knowing:

• growth habit: single-stemmed palm tree with a dense crown of feather fronds, large flower spikes and high-yielding infructescence.
• growth height: 20m to 30m.
• tribe: 25cm to 75cm diameter.
• special feature: From the age of 15, the leaf stumps are shed and the trunk develops into a typical, rough-structured palm tree.
• growth rate: 20 cm to 60 cm height increase annually.
• root: meter-deep taproots, strongly branched lateral roots down to a depth of 60 cm, aerial roots up to a stem height of 100 cm.
• Interesting properties for hobby gardeners: decorative, needs warmth, durable, easy to care for.

blossoms

Elaeis guineensis thrives as a monoecious unisex palm. Flowers of both sexes are found on an oil palm as inflorescences worth seeing with these characteristics:

• inflorescence: 5-10 cm thick inflorescence axis, branched with up to 200 spikes and 150,000 to 200,000 flowers.
• single ear: 700 to 2,000 flowers.
• pollination: weevil, primarily species of the genus Elaidobius.

Female and male inflorescences are for the untrained Eye easy to distinguish by their location: a female inflorescence is located in the axil of a thorny bract. A male inflorescence sits in a leaf axil without thorns.

fruit

Within 5.5 to 9 months after pollination, huge infructescences with these characteristics ripen on an oil palm:

• infructescence: branched cluster of fruits with 800 to 4,000 individual orange-red fruits.
• Oil Palm Fruit: 3-6 cm long, 2-4 cm wide, 20 g in weight.
• pulp: fibrous, yellowish-reddish, oil content from 45% to 50%.
• fruit consistency: hard when unripe, later soft.
• core: Stone bowl with 1 to 2 seeds.
• seed: 48% to 52% oil content.

A mature oil palm produces an average of 18 stalks per year as a raw material for palm oil production. This results in a high yield of 4 to 6 tons of palm oil per hectare and year.

leaves

North of the Alps, the leaves are the most beautiful decoration of an oil palm. Far away from the rain forests, the palm oil plant blossoms and bears fruit at best under the tropical growth conditions of botanical gardens. These attributes characterize an oil palm leaf:

• leaf shape: stalked, pinnate, regularly divided.
• sheet size: up to 7 m long (cultivated as a container plant up to 2 m long).
• leaf color: evergreen, dark green
• special feature: Petiole with fibrous spines on the margin.

Under ideal conditions, up to 35 new feather fronds sprout per year. Individual leaves remain in the vegetative cone of the palm tree for 2 to 3 years before they wither, dry up and break off. Only the leaf stumps remain on the trunk.

use

Palm oil is heat resistant, has a long shelf life, is odorless and cheap. Due to these properties, palm oil is the ideal raw material for cosmetic products, the food industry and biofuel. For this reason, palm oil is the world's most cultivated vegetable oil, ahead of soybean oil. The following table provides an insight into the worldwide use of palm oil and palm kernel oil:

The production of palm oil is viewed critically. In order to make room for ever larger oil palm plantations, rainforests are being destroyed with fatal consequences for nature, the environment and biodiversity. Of concern is the use of toxic herbicides on palm oil plantations, leading to severe poisoning among workers and smallholders every year. In the meantime, palm oil is contained in every second product, which rules out an alternative phasing out of palm oil production. Switching to other oil crops, for example for the production of coconut oil, would increase land use many times over. So is palm oil better than its reputation? The following video addresses this question:

Is palm oil wrongly demonized? - Dirk Steffens is looking for an answer

plant oil palm

A ready-to-plant oil palm is rarely available for purchase. The purchase of seeds in specialist shops for exotic seeds is more promising. The handpicked seeds are sold individually for a price starting at 4.95 euros. Read here how and where you can successfully plant your personal palm oil plant:

sowing

A warm water bath awakens germination in the oil palm seed. Warm, humid conditions simulate a tropical rain forest climate so that the valuable seedling roots and grows quickly. This is how it succeeds sowing:

1. Soak seeds in lukewarm water for 48 hours.
2. Fill the deep breeding pot with a mix of seed soil and coconut fibers in equal parts with a little sand.
3. Put the soaked seeds in the substrate.
4. Water the substrate with room-warm, soft water.
5. Place the pot in a heated indoor greenhouse in a semi-shady to shady location.
6. Germination temperature: 25° to 30° Celsius.
7. Keep constantly slightly moist, air daily.
8. Caution: drying out once can destroy the seed.

Within about four weeks, the radicle and unpinnate cotyledon break through the seed coat. A radicle is up to 20 cm long and forms a ring of wafer-thin adventitious roots at the base. Once the first primary root develops, the radicle dies. The seedling stage lasts two to three months and ends with the growth of the sixth true leaf.

plant oil palm

At the end of the seedling stage, a young oil palm tree is ready to be planted in a container. High-quality is suitable as a substrate palm soil without peat, enriched with coconut soil as a peat substitute and lava granules. How to properly plant an oil palm:

1. Create a 10 cm high drainage made of potsherds in the palm pot.
2. Fill in the substrate halfway up the pot.
3. Make a hollow in the substrate the diameter of the root ball.
4. Repot young palms, place in the hollow, fill up the remaining substrate except for a pouring rim.
5. Press on palm soil and pour thoroughly.

Extra tip: By filling the saucer with expanded clay balls, excess irrigation water can accumulate and evaporate without the risk of waterlogging for an extra percentage of humidity.

Location

These are the ideal growing conditions for an oil palm as a container plant:

• Half-shady to shady location.
• All year round at normal room temperature.
• Minimum temperature: 18° Celsius.
• High humidity of 60% to 80%.

Suitable locations are all humid rooms, such as greenhouses, bathrooms or indoor swimming pools. In combination with an air humidifier, the oil palm feels at home in a temperate conservatory or on a heated, glazed terrace.

digression

Palm oil in tank destroys rainforests

Cultivate oil palm

In the right location, an oil palm is easy to care for. Regular water and nutrient supply is important. The occasional cut care ensures a well-groomed appearance. The best care tips in a nutshell:

Pour

• Keep the substrate continuously slightly moist without waterlogging.
• Stale tap water at room temperature or collected water as irrigation water rainwater use.
• Extra tip: spray palm fronds once a week.

Fertilize

• Oil palm from March to October fertilize.
• A liquid once a month palm fertilizer put in the water.

To cut

• Oil palm like a classic indoor palm to cut.
• Cut off completely dried palm fronds.
• When cutting, leave a leaf stump on the trunk.
• Suitable tools: bypass scissors or Japanese saw, freshly sharpened and disinfected.

hibernate

• Do not fertilize palm oil plants from November to February.
• Water more sparingly, spray regularly.
• Protect from cold drafts through tilted windows.

repot

• Repot oil palm every one to two years.
• The best time is in spring.
• Repot the palm tree, shake off the old substrate, cut off dead roots.
• Correct pot size: two fingers fit between the root ball and the edge of the pot.

Popular Varieties

The pure olive tree species Elaeis guineensis is divided into these varieties according to the color of the fruit:

• Elaeis rubro-nigrescens: deep orange oil palm fruit, orange pulp, reddish palm oil.
• Elaeis rutilo-nigrescens: pale orange skin, colored black in the upper half.
• Elaeis virescens: reddish-orange fruits with a green tip.
• Elaeis albescens: Rarity with ivory drupes tipped with black or green.

FAQ

How is palm oil made?

Palm oil is obtained from the pulp of the stone fruit of an oil palm. The palm fruits perish quickly and are processed shortly after harvest. The fruit heads are sterilized with steam, pressed and the seeds removed. Due to the high carotene content, raw palm oil is still orange-brown to reddish in color. After refining, palm oil is light, clear in color and has a lingering scent violet and has a sweet taste.

What is palm kernel oil?

Palm kernel oil is made from the seeds of the oil palm fruit. During production, the seeds are dried, ground and pressed. Palm kernel oil is mainly used for the production of surfactants. These washing-active substances are contained in all commercial detergents and cleaning agents in a proportion of up to 30 percent. Along with coconut oil, palm kernel oil is one of the lauric oils that are of great importance in olechemistry.

Is an oil palm fruit edible?

The fruit of an oil palm is edible and very similar to an olive. A hard stone core is surrounded by fleshy, creamy pulp that is interspersed with fibers. Oil palm fruits are characterized by a high oil content and a sweet taste. Because the stone fruits spoil quickly, they are processed into palm oil and palm kernel oil immediately after harvesting.

What are the optimal growing conditions for an oil palm?

As a tropical plant, the oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) depends on a humid and warm rainforest climate. Important criteria for high-yield cultivation are average temperatures of 28° Celsius and nutrient-rich, moist and deep soil without waterlogging. The most common maintenance tasks in oil palm plantations are regular fertilizing and weeding. At least once a year, the plantation workers cut off dead, unproductive palm fronds.