Date palm ∗ The 10 best planting and care tips

the essentials in brief

• Date palms (Phoenix) are single to multi-stemmed, conditionally hardy palm plants with impressive feather fronds and a growth height of 1 to 8 meters as a container plant.
• Female phoenix palms bear yellowish-white panicle flowers in spring and edible dates in fall if there is a male date palm is near.
• One can phoenix palm grow from dates and plant in a large, deep bucket in permeable soil.
• Care tips: pour plenty of water in summer, hibernate in a cool and light place, do not cut, all three Repot years, spray feather fronds regularly to prevent brown tips and pest infestation.
• Beautiful types and varieties as a container plant: real date palm (Phoenix dactylifera), Canary Island date palm (Phoenix canariensis), dwarf date palm (Phoenix roebelenii), Cretan date palm (Phoenix theophrasti), Senegalese date palm (Phoenix reclinata) and Mexican fan palm (Washingtonia robusta).

Characteristics

• Scientific name: phoenix
• Family: Palm family (Arecaceae)
• Synonym: phoenix palms
• Occurrence: Europe, Africa, Asia
• Growth type: evergreen feather palm
• Hardiness: conditionally hardy
• Fruit: berry
• Flower: panicle
• Growth: single stem, sprawling
• Leaf: stalked, imparipinnate
• Toxicity: non-toxic
• Use: container plant

hardiness

Date palms are native to the subtropical and tropical regions. Two species have settled in the Mediterranean. In their ranges, phoenix palms have not learned to survive long periods of freezing cold. When the temperatures drop to freezing point, shivering feather palms are counted. At least a short-term temperature minimum of - 5° to - 8° Celsius is the exotic Palm plants attested, which of course leaves little room for permanent hibernation open sky. An exception applies to the dwarf date palm (Phoenix roebelenii), which cannot withstand temperatures below 10° Celsius.

blossom

The date palm is one of the sexed seed plants. Female and male flowers unfurl on separate phoenix palms. The flowers look very similar. A yellowish-white flower is composed of three fused sepals and three petals. In the calyx of a male flower there are six stamens with short, erect stamens. In contrast, female flowers have a globular calyx with three carpels that are not fused together. The scar has no stylus and sits directly on a carpel.

The flowers gather impressively in hanging panicles, which on some Phoenix species are two meters or longer. The flowering period extends from February to May, accompanied by an alluring scent.

fruit

At the age of five to six years, a phoenix palm bears its first dates. The hard-seeded, golden-brown berry fruits develop from pollinated carpels of female flowers. The tasty dates hang in dense clusters on the feather palm. The fruits of a date palm are characterized by the following properties:

• size: 1.5 cm to 8 cm long
• Weight: 5g to 25g
• sugar content: 60% to 70%
• nutritional value: 237 kcal/100 g

Dates are very nutritious, very healthy and are called the "bread of the desert". The video below explains how health and well-being can benefit from eating three dates a day for a week.

There is a lot of goodness in dates

toxicity

A date palm is non-toxic and the ideal container plant for the family household. The parts of the plant do not contain any toxins that could be dangerous to children or pets. Only rarely does a feather palm develop its own fruits in room culture. A bitter-tart taste makes the ornamental dates inedible for humans. Furthermore, there is no need to worry if a dog, cat or budgie nibbles on a phoenix palm. The only concern are the sharp thorns that sit on the petioles of the pinnate leaves.

growth

The date palm is characterized by growth with a fibrous trunk that carries a spreading crown of numerous feather fronds. The leaf stalks are usually covered with sharp thorns. A feather palm diligently produces up to 25 new fronds a year. These fall off after three to seven years and leave a distinctively scarred bark on the trunk. Of the 14 phoenix palms known to date, the following species have established themselves as container plants in our regions:

In the competition for the most beautiful date palm for living rooms, conservatories and the summer balcony The Canary date palm and the easy-care dwarf date palm come together Head to head race. The legendary real date palm is quite large as a symbol of the desert oases for cultivation in tubs and remains significantly slimmer than its conspecifics.

Grow date palms yourself and plant them properly

You can easily grow a date palm yourself from fresh or dried dates. First, enjoy the sugar-sweet pulp that encases the hard core. A pre-treatment of the seeds increases the germination mood. The following instructions explain step by step how to grow a palm tree from dates and plant it in a bucket:

sowing

You will need the following materials: Date kernels, 1 pair of tweezers, 1 bowl, coconut soil or seed substrate, seed pot with transparent lid, ball shower, whatever you have collected rainwater or stagnant tap water.

1. Pull the membrane off the seeds with tweezers
2. Soak date kernels in water for 48 hours
3. Fill the seed pot with coconut soil
4. Plant dark-germinating seeds 1 cm deep in the substrate
5. Pour with fine shower
6. Put the lid on or put the plastic bag over it
7. Place in a bright, warm location

Germination begins within six to eight weeks. Keep the soil constantly slightly moist and air the hood daily to prevent Mold forms.

Planting date palms in tubs - tips

The following tips give a compact overview of what you should pay particular attention to when planting a date palm you have grown yourself or bought ready-made as a container plant:

• bucket: deep palm pot with space for the taproots and an opening in the bottom for water drainage
• Earth: permeable substrate as a mix of peat-free palm soil, compost soil, sand and expanded clay
• drainage: 5 to 10 cm high soil layer lava granules,(€14.00 at Amazon*)expanded clay(€19.00 at Amazon*) or potsherds
• location in summer: Sunny, warm and sheltered, preferably on a balcony or patio

The dwarf date palm makes up for its pronounced sensitivity to frost by docilely accepting a partially shaded location.

digression

Planting out allowed in mild winter regions

Date palm - the best care tips

If a date palm is given the right care, the desert beauty can grow very old far from its homeland. The following care tips explain how to do it right:

Water and fertilize

A date palm does not forgive either drought or waterlogging. Because as a container plant it is denied access to groundwater, regular watering plays a key role in the care program. The water and nutrient supply is adjusted to the season.

During the main growing season, water thoroughly as soon as the soil feels dry to the touch. Let the low-lime water run out of the spout onto the root disc until the trivet fills up. After 10 minutes, pour away any accumulated water to prevent waterlogging. Every two weeks give a liquid, low-salt palm fertilizer into the water. Water from the end of September/beginning of October and fertilize you less often. The reduced care prepares your date palm for the upcoming hibernation.

hibernate

In order to survive a Central European winter alive and well, date palms cannot rely on a home advantage. Balcony and terrace palms must move in good time. Indoor palms can remain in their usual location, but benefit from a special winter quarters. How to overwinter a date palm correctly:

• Grant: at temperatures below 5° Celsius (dwarf date palm at 15° Celsius)
• winter quarters: light and cool at 10° to 12° Celsius (dwarf date palm at 18° to 20° Celsius)
• Pour: water sparingly, occasionally spray with lime-free water
• Fertilize: Fertilize liquid at half concentration every 6 weeks
• clear out: Late March/early April from nighttime temperatures above freezing

Clearing out in stages effectively prevents sunburn on the feather fronds. Place the container plant in a semi-shady location for two weeks before the palm takes up its summertime place in the sun.

To cut

A shape and maintenance cut is not necessary for date palms. Palm trees aren't real trees, they just have a growing point at the top and don't have any sleeping eyes, from which the plant could sprout again. To cut Do not remove a dried frond until it has completely died. Please leave a piece of the same size from each petiole for an even trunk.

repot

You should repot your date palm every three to four years. At this point, the palm tree has completely rooted its bucket and the substrate is exhausted. The diameter of the new palm pot is so large that there is space between two and three fingers between the root ball and the edge of the pot. The focus is on the sensitive, fleshy roots, which must not be affected when repotting. How to properly repot a phoenix palm tree:

• The best time is in spring
• A 10 cm high drainage in the new palm pot lava granules or create potsherds
• Remove substrate stuck to the edge of the bucket with a long knife
• Pull the date palm out of the pot without much effort
• Shake off or spray off used soil
• Cut off rotten, dead roots with a disinfected knife
• Fill the bucket halfway with fresh soil
• Plant date palms (retain previous planting depth)

Press the fresh substrate firmly so that no cavities form in the root area. Please think of a pouring rim so that nothing spills over when watering frequently. Water the repotted feather palm thoroughly. Fertilize for the first time after six weeks.

Brown tips - what to do?

Brown tips are the result of drought stress in the soil and indoor air. The date palm cannot regenerate from the damage. With a precise cut you restore the representative appearance of the fronds. How to do it:

• Cut back brown tips to 1 mm before the green leaf tissue
• Recommended cutting tool: scissors with 2 straight, sharp blades
• Spray pinnate leaves regularly with lime-free water

You should put up with a wafer-thin strip of brown fabric. If you cut off the brown tips down to the green leaf area, the affected feathers will continue to dry out and the repair cut will become a "bottomless pit".

White dots - what to do?

If the fronds of a date palm are covered with white dots, there are pests behind them. Mostly it is about spider mites, scale or mealybugs. You can effectively fight the rabble with simple home remedies. Wipe the white dots with a damp cloth. Spray the palm fronds with a soft soap and alcohol solution (1 l soft water, 20 ml soft soap,(€12.00 at Amazon*) 20 ml alcohol). Treat the tops and bottoms of the pinnate leaves to catch any pests.

Popular Varieties

The well-known species of real date palm, Canary date palm and dwarf date palm are not the only phoenix palms for creative living space greening, as the following selection of varieties shows:

• Cretan Date Palm (Phoenix theophrasti): Rarity from Crete, grows up to 5 m in pots, 1.5 to 2 cm small, floury-sweet dates.
• Senegalese Date Palm (Phoenix reclinata): multi-stemmed growth, extra long thorns, 3 m high as a container plant.
• Mexican fan palm (Washingtonia robusta): similar to a Canary date palm, growth height 10 m, no edible fruits

FAQ

When are date palms allowed outside?

Abrupt temperature fluctuations should be avoided when hibernating date palms. After a month-long stay in frost-free or heated winter quarters, you should ideally wait until mid-April before starting the acclimatization phase. First place the potted plants in a partially shaded, wind-protected location for 14 days. Use a minimum-maximum thermometer to check beforehand whether the nights remain frost-free. For the non-hardy dwarf date palm, the outdoor season only begins at 15° Celsius.

How to save a dried up date palm?

As an immediate measure, we recommend an immersion bath. Fill a bucket with room temperature, soft water. Carefully pot out the dried out root ball. Now place the dried date palm in the water. The root disk should be just below the water surface. Soak the dried root ball until no more air bubbles rise. Before potting the date palm, please drain the water well.

Are dates poisonous to cats?

Dates are not toxic to cats. If a fruit is on the menu from time to time, veterinarians have no objections. In view of the high sugar content, the sweet should not be served every day. Furthermore, it is harmless for your cat if a date palm bears fruit as a container plant. Your curious darling won't nibble on a non-toxic ornamental date for long anyway, because the fruits have a repulsively bitter taste.

Is the date palm poisonous to a budgie?

No, the date palm is not poisonous to budgies. Neither the pinnate leaves, nor the trunk or the fruits contain toxic ingredients. For this reason, the most beautiful species and varieties of the exotic palm genus are popular pot plants for family households with animals.

Where do dates grow?

From the genus of date palms (Phoenix), it is primarily the true date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) that bears edible fruit. The oriental cultivated plant is a widespread desert plant. For high-yield growth, date palms depend on a lot of sun, plenty of water through access of the roots to the groundwater and temperatures of 30° to 35° Celsius for months. The most important growing countries have these basic conditions to offer. These include Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Algeria. The dates from our supermarket or health food store mostly come from Tunisia.

What is the importance of the date palm in the Sahara?

For more than 4000 years, the date palm has served as a livelihood for the inhabitants of the Sahara. Date palms have settled in almost every desert oasis because they find ideal conditions here. Plenty of sun, scorching heat and permeable soil with access to groundwater promote the growth of nutritious dates. For this reason, the fruits are also called "bread of the desert". Dates have been of economic importance since the inhabitants of the Sahara have been cultivating date palms in palm gardens and exporting them all over the world.

Which winter quarters are suitable for the Canary Date Palm?

The right combination of temperature and light is decisive for the suitable winter quarters of a Phoenix canariensis. The following variants are available for successful winter storage: cold house at 5° to 12° Celsius and 1000 lux. Lukewarm quarters (stairwell, bedroom) at 12° to 18° Celsius and 2000 lux. Warm house (heated conservatory, living room) at 18° to 24° Celsius and 3000 lux daily for at least 8 to 12 hours.