Is it possible to plant a date bone. Will a date palm grow at home from a seed? Date palm: cultivation and care

Dates are a favorite delicacy, sweet and healthy. Dates are the fruits of the date palm. Eating a fruit or seeing an exotic, spectacular palm tree, many have a question - how to grow date palm from the bone at home? Simple enough to do! Hardiness and resistance to pests - make it easy to grow at home. A slender and beautiful tree will decorate any corner of the house. Want to taste fresh fruits? Then you need to grow two palms of different sexes and wait at least 5-6 years!

Date palm - ancient culture

For 6 millennia, the date palm has been cultivated in northern Africa and Western Asia. She comes from Mesopotamia. Written sources and graphic images on the walls of temples - direct evidence of the ancient veneration of her and its significance. So, the Quran repeatedly speaks of the date as a gift to people! Parts of the plant were actively used in construction works: from the trunks they made dwellings, which were covered with leaves on top. Local residents to this day cannot imagine their diet without dates, which they consider not only nutritious, but also healing, normalizing the work of the digestive and cardiovascular systems.

Preparing for landing

The easiest way, which many people used in childhood, is to plant seeds from newly eaten dates in the ground. Dates are so unpretentious and tenacious that many seeds planted in a "childish" way germinate in 2-3 months.

And yet, for confidence in successful germination, better seeds plant "in science". They take fresh fruits or dried fruits, although their germination capacity is much lower, many of them sprout. Be careful not to plant dates seeds boiled in syrup. Wash and dry the firm middle of the dates. Bones are scratched, cut, rubbed with sandpaper or scalded hot water to break the integrity of the shells and as a result of manipulations, the seeds germinate more quickly.

Swollen bones hatch much faster. Therefore, we keep them in a humid environment (in wet cotton wool, padding polyester, paper, etc.) or in water until they swell. We change the water every 1-2 days to avoid decay. Scarified and swollen seeds germinate much faster and in some cases begin to grow after 2 weeks. But, do not be upset if sprouts appear only after a couple of months, despite all your actions.

Planting bones in the ground

The seeds are placed vertically in the soil, and sprinkled with a layer of 1-1.5 cm. The soil must be kept moist all the time. The landing container is placed in a plastic bag and tightly closed or covered with a film and glass on top of the surface. From time to time, the ground is watered a little.

There are 2 options for planting at home:

• The seeds are placed immediately in a permanent place in order to grow seedlings immediately without an initial transplant. The soil can be bought in a store marked "for Palm" or prepared using the following components and proportions: clay (sod) soil, leaf humus, humus manure, peat, sand.
• The seeds are planted at home before germination in temporary substrates: peat with sand, vermiculite or coconut fiber. Their advantage over land substrates is moisture capacity, oxygen saturation, lack of potential pathogenic microflora... When sprouts appear, the dates are transplanted to a permanent place.

Growing a young and adult date palm: differences

Are there differences in growing plants of different ages? Dates feature - big size and a powerful root system. The first few years of life achieve the growth of roots and crowns by frequent feeding and replanting every year. The leaves are inconspicuous, thin. Basically, the roots develop, and the aerial part grows slowly. And after 5 years, the growth of the date, on the contrary, must be contained. The crown acquires a characteristic luxurious look and quickly gains green mass. An adult palm tree is transplanted at home only by transshipment, so as not to damage the roots, once every 3-4 years, and after 15 years of life - once every 5-6 years. Sometimes, they only shoot upper layer land, replacing with fresh.

Plant care at home

We choose the sunniest place at home - southern, southeastern windows, bright balconies and balconies. It is better to shade from the midday sun, although in their homeland some specimens hardened at home perfectly withstand exposure to direct sun for several hours. A simple rule will help to maintain the symmetry of the crown: rotate the palm tree around its axis 180 degrees in relation to the light source every 2 weeks.

Temperature

During the growing season, the ideal temperature for growing at home is 22-25 ° С. In winter, it should not fall below 15 ° C. Roots at low temperature many do not learn nutrients and starvation of the plant begins with a sufficient content of them in the soil.

Watering

At home, the palm tree is watered abundantly in the warm season, but drying of the top layer of the earth before subsequent watering is mandatory. There should be plenty of water, but stagnation is not allowed. Good drainage, large drain holes at the bottom of the pots, and draining off excess water half an hour after watering solve the problem of excess moisture.

Wash off the dust from the leaves more often by spraying them, replant and feed them on time, ensure the correct temperature and light conditions, and then it will be easy to grow a date palm. Healthy and beautiful will delight you for many years at home.

Fertilizers

It is better to feed a palm tree at home with complex fertilizers (Kemira, Agricola, etc.) with a full content of microelements and with balanced macronutrients.

Pay attention to the instructions: the formula should contain the most nitrogen required to build the crown.

It is important to fertilize the plant as needed, but at least once a month, since home conditions differ significantly from natural conditions.

Types and varieties

The genus Date belongs to the Palm family. There are up to 17 species in the genus. Palm trees often have one trunk, but sometimes there are several, differing in size. Height in nature reaches 15-30 m, at home, growth is limited by the ceiling. The crown consists of pinnate, large, hard, pointed leaves. Small flowers are collected in a panicle inflorescence. Date palms are male and female. Fruits are edible in a small number of species. The species F. palmate is especially popular, and if you plant seeds from purchased fruits at home, then, most likely, this particular species will grow. At home, you can grow F. Canary, which tolerates a reduced winter temperature up to 8 ° C, F. curved, growing in the form of a bush, F. Robelen, the most graceful and rare.

Each region of ancient growth has spontaneously developed its own varieties of dates for many centuries, and they are still leaders in the creation of various varieties. In Egypt, the most popular varieties are considered - Nasrallah, Ahmadinejad, in Iran - Diri, Mazafati, Piyar, in Saudi Arabia - As-Sukkari, Shakra, Barhi, in Algeria - Deglet Nur. In recent years, the large, "royal" variety Majkhol has been highly appreciated.

There are over 1,500 varieties. All of them are very sweet, the shades of taste differ in different varieties, different color- yellow, brown, red, black, smooth or wrinkled surface.

Today, there are two ways to decorate a home or office with a tall spreading date palm. The most simple option it will be easy to buy a plant of the desired size and appearance, but it will be more economical and interesting to grow it yourself. But how can this be done in a climate that is far from tropical?

Any work on growing plants always begins with the selection of seeds and the creation necessary conditions for life. How to grow a date from a stone? You need to choose a variety suitable for home cultivation palm trees. It is very simple to do this - just find any dates that have not been heat treated.

It is best to take fresh dates for this, but dry fruits, which are freely sold in the markets, can also be used.

But before you buy dried dates for seedlings, you should ask the seller if they have undergone additional cooking in sugar syrup. If there was such a heat treatment, then the seeds will no longer germinate.

Preparing seeds for planting:

• After the dates are selected, the seeds must be freed from the pulp, rinsed and slightly dried. How many seeds should I take? At least 6-10 pieces. Many of them will not sprout at all, and some of those sprouts that still please the gardener will die in the first few years.
• Now clean bones must be placed in warm water for a couple of days and kept in the sun. Experienced gardeners it is advised to do this in the winter season, when the plant still does not need as much sunlight as in the later stages of cultivation. And so that all the time while the bones of the date are soaked, there is no rot or infection, the water should be changed 1-2 times a day.
• Once the seeds have settled a little, you can pierce or rub the outer shell with sandpaper. The bones are very hard, and in order for water to penetrate inside, it is better to deliberately violate their integrity. But you do not need to erase the entire layer - one small area is enough. After that, the grains are again sent to a jar of water, where they should ripen for another 2-4 days.

You can hurry up the process of their ripening in another way: for a few minutes, place the bones ready for planting in hot water temperature of about 80 degrees. How do you know the seeds are ready to be planted in the soil? They will swell slightly.

Before planting the prepared date bones, you need to make a few simple preparations:

• Find the best indoor date palm spot
• Choose a suitable pot
• Pick up the soil

All palms are tropical plants. They are used to sunlight and a certain amount of humidity. Of course, this does not mean that you need to breed a swamp in the plant's tub. But frequent watering, like direct sunlight, at least 3-4 hours a day, needs to be ensured. It is best to grow dates on the south side.

And here the main difficulty lies in the fact that the date palm is a tree up to 30 meters high. Of course, under conditions of growth indoors, it will never be higher than 2-3 meters, and even up to this value it will grow for more than 5 years. But so that the development of the tree does not harm, sunlight in the right amount it should receive throughout its life. And if at the very beginning young sprouts can be kept in a pot on the windowsill, then later for a date palm you will have to find your own sunny corner in the house.

As for the pots, there are no special recommendations for their choice. The main thing to consider here is that at the very beginning, the palm tree grows into the root, and only then throws out the leaves. At an early stage, all date bones are planted in one large bed, and only then each will need their own tub.

You can buy soil for planting seeds. It is sold in flower shops and is labeled "for palm trees", but it is better to make it yourself.

To do this, mix raw sawdust, peat and sand in equal proportions 1: 1: 1.

You can also use other types of soil cultivators, such as perlite. There should always be drainage at the bottom of the pots. Further, as the palm grows during transplantation, the composition of the soil will have to be changed several times.

Transplant stages: from seed to palm

Despite the fact that without proper preparation seeds for planting, the date tree will not rise at all, you can ruin it at each of the important stages. Therefore, everything must be done correctly throughout the life of the palm tree:

1. Ripe seeds are planted vertically in one large tub in prepared soil. At the same time, they do not need to be deeply buried and strongly crushed, it is enough only to lightly sprinkle them with earth.
2. From above you need to cover with sphagnum moss, or you can make a mini-greenhouse from plastic or glass jars... However, moss will not only help create a suitable temperature regime, but also protects the bone from pests.
3. At this stage, the bones must be constantly kept warm at a temperature of about 30 degrees and high humidity.
4. The first shoots will appear only after one and a half to two months. However, if there are no results even after three months, the bone should be excavated and checked. It may have soured or turned out to be unviable.
5. Only after the young date palms have grown to a height of more than 10 cm can they be planted. Each tree needs to be transplanted into a pot with a diameter of 9-12 cm, while the composition of the soil for the tree changes. Now it is 4 parts, 2 parts of sand, 1 part of peat and 2 parts of turf and leafy land. Drainage and irrigation requirements are the same.

Until the tree reaches 5 years of age, it will have to be replanted once a year, and later only as it grows, which will be indicated by the roots sticking out of the ground.

When transplanting, the felt layer formed by the roots will always need to be trimmed.

Only in this way will it be possible to obtain the maximum survival rate among young date seed palms.

In order for the palm to be pleasing to the eye all the time, it should be properly looked after. What does a date palm like? Like any tropical tree, it simply adores:

• sunlight
• Moderate humidity
• Soft loose soil
• Occasional showers or wiping the leaves with a damp cloth
• High air temperature
• Space: The plant needs a lot of space, and nothing should block the light.

Anything outside the scope of these recommendations can harm the palm tree. How do you know if a tree feels uncomfortable? Its leaves began to turn black. Most often this happens due to the lack of sunlight or with low watering. But a draft from the window can also bring a plant disease. Therefore, it is impossible to allow a sharp change in temperature in a room with a date tree.

As soon as the first symptoms of an uncomfortable life for a plant appear, mistakes in caring for it should be corrected.

Sometimes for this you only need to increase the humidity in the air by spraying the tree from a sprayer with just water. In some cases, you will need a small top dressing in the soil, it is best to buy it in specialized stores... At proper care the date palm will delight the eye for many years.

More information can be found in the video.

How to grow a date from a stone

Fans of dates, eating amazing fruits, are probably thinking - can a date palm grow from a stone? If so, will it look like a plant that grows in nature?

It is possible to grow a homemade date from a stone, but such a palm tree in an apartment will never bear fruit.
She will fit perfectly into modern interior, will not require increased care and some plants will even begin to bloom, so why not try it?

The desire to have a home greenhouse very often arises after a bright holiday among exotic nature. Realize the idea winter garden in the usual standard apartment in full will never work, but also a few unusual indoor plants can become an excellent decor, decoration of the living room, bedroom or kitchen.

As you can see from the photo, the date palm in the interior requires a lot of space, since the plant has both high and wide branches. To create a real tropics at home, an adult palm should be placed only in those rooms where there is not a lot of furniture.

The date in the interior will not look spectacular if you put it in the corners or too close to the walls. For the interior of rooms in the Mediterranean or nautical style this houseplant is the most ideal option.
A properly selected pot will add style - it can be stylized medieval barrels, and specially aged clay flowerpots.

If your apartment has small rooms, then this is not at all a reason to refuse interesting experiment- to grow a date palm from a stone.

It will grow for a long time, the plant does not belong to those species that grow in a year or two, so in the first years there will be enough space for it on the windowsill.
Then it will be possible to present it to relatives, friends, or take it to work - there is usually always enough space in offices.
Believe me: it is very interesting to watch the gradual transformation of a palm tree every day, how the leaves appear, how they increase, how the seedling completely changes.

See what a date palm will look like at home so you don't have to worry that your pet is growing slowly.

This is how the date palm looks at the age of 2-3 years, it is not very beautiful yet.

These palms are about 5 years old: they already have feathery leaves, but there is not enough height.

Tips on how to grow a date palm from seed

A date from a stone will turn out only if it has not undergone heat treatment. For this, both fresh fruit brought from vacation and dried fruit from the store are suitable.

Many, for the sake of experiment, simply try to stick a bone in flower pot and surprisingly: it usually takes root. In an apartment it can take up to 5-6 months, is it possible to speed up the process?

How to germinate a date bone:

1. The bones must be thoroughly cleaned and washed so that the process of decay does not begin in the soil. In a washed form, they should lie down for a day until the next stage - soaking.
2. The seed of the date is very hard. To speed up the seed germination time, a variety of methods are used:
- its surface is scratched or wiped with sandpaper for faster penetration of water into the interior;
- cuts are made so that the shell breaks more easily;
- for this, you can simply scald the bone with hot water.
3. The most effective soaking is with cotton wool. A piece of cotton wool in a small container (for example, in a plate) is abundantly moistened with water, a bone is placed on it, and covered with another layer of moistened cotton wool on top to prevent rapid evaporation of moisture. Cotton wool can be replaced with gauze, sawdust, hydrogel.
4. Germination requires heat so the cotton container can be placed on top of the battery. Every day you need to look at the moisture content of the cotton wool and add a little water.
5. When the bone swells well, it can be transplanted into the ground.

Soaking saves several months. The best time to start germination is February-March. Even if you want to grow only one date from a stone, you need to take several seeds. Some sprouts will die due to illness or your inept actions during transplantation, so a safety net will not hurt.
How to grow a date palm from a stone further:
1. All bones are immersed in the prepared soil (soil from a forest, peat or a mixture of soil with sawdust) vertically to a depth equal to one and a half the length of the seed.
2. The container with the earth is placed in a warm place. See that the ground is constantly moist.
3. The first shoots can be seen in 1-3 months. When their length reaches 10-15 cm, each sprout will need to be transplanted into a separate pot with a diameter of about 10 cm. The pot should not be too wide, its height is important, since the date will have long roots.
4. There must be good drainage at the bottom of the pot (expanded clay, charcoal, pebbles), since stagnant water is destructive for the plant. A special soil for palm trees is bought or the soil is mixed independently, it is taken:
- clay-sod land - 2 parts;
- humus-leaf land - 2 parts;
- peat - 1 part;
- rotted manure - 1 part;
- sand - 1 part.

The small palm will need to be replanted every year, always increasing the size of the pot slightly. The plant has very delicate roots, so transplanting should be done using the transshipment method to prevent damage to the root system.
Date palm at home - how to care and replant
Having an exotic palm tree at home is pleasant and prestigious, because an adult houseplant is expensive. Growing a date from a stone is an excellent solution for everyone who does not have the opportunity to acquire a grown seedling, but not everyone can cope with it.

Why doesn't every plant look like it does in our photos?

The main reason that the sprout did not become a tall and lush tree is that full information on caring for this exotic plant was not received in time.

The tips are suitable for both adult specimens and seedlings that are only a few years old.

The temperature in the room where the pet will stand should be moderate 16-20 ° C. It is not necessary to put it near heating devices, so as not to provoke the death of the plant. In summer, the best place is outdoors without drafts.
Indoor humidity should be within 50%. Spraying the leaves will increase it; this can be done up to several times a day.
The lighting should be sufficient so that the leaves do not become brittle, elongated. Even direct sunlight is possible. The pot should be unwrapped periodically to form a uniform, beautiful crown.
Watering is plentiful - only in summer, at this time you can leave water even in the sump. In winter, watering is minimal. It is necessary to strictly control so that there is no overdrying of the coma, but also the water does not stagnate due to poor drainage.
Transfer is the only way to transfer. Everyone is looking for information on how to plant a date stone, but then they forget that up to 5 years, the plant needs to be transplanted every year. The large palm tree requires replanting as the roots grow.
Spraying and rubbing the leaves will increase moisture and give the plant a beautiful appearance. Once a week, it is advisable to transfer it to the shower, but it is necessary to carefully protect the earthen lump from excess moisture.
Fertilizers (mineral and organic) are introduced in sufficient quantities during the period of active growth - from March to September weekly, and in winter once a month.

A date palm from a stone can both decorate a house and completely destroy coziness and comfort.

When a plant is sick, it looks very unsightly - the leaves turn yellow, darken, fall off, the trunks become soft, a putrid smell appears. Diseases arise from improper care or from the attack of pests. Help your pet: how to cope with these problems on our website there is detailed information.

Date palm at home

In the wild, the date palm grows in India and Africa, scientists know 17 of its species. The tree lives among the hot sand for about 150 years, and during this time many new plants appear around it, growing from its seeds and roots. Is it possible that a desert palm tree can also grow in our apartments without specific care?

Robelena (Phoenix Roebelenii) with a very beautiful dense crown not higher than 1.5-2 meters.
Canary (Phoenix Canariensis) - height up to 2 meters, feathery trunks, hard straight and narrow leaves.
Finger (Phoenix Dactylifera) - the most common form, not very beautiful, but growing relatively quickly. The disadvantage of this plant is that its trunk will gradually become bare over time.

Growing a date at home takes a lot of desire and time, but it can be a great hobby for years to come. Many people try to grow date palms from seed, this is an excellent solution for anyone who does not have the opportunity to purchase an adult seedling, which is relatively expensive.

How to care for a date palm

The date tree for the first five years will not delight with its beauty, its decorative value will manifest itself only after 5-7 years. Do not expect that by growing a date from a seed, it will be possible in a couple of years to have an excellent decor for your home.
To decorate your home with an adult indoor date palm, caring for it over the years has several important points:
It must be constantly turned over to the sun so that the sun's rays reach all the leaves. Without light, the leaves stretch, develop unevenly and become brittle.
The plant is very afraid of drafts. When airing the house in the autumn-winter period, you need to protect it from cold air currents.
When watering, you should not allow stagnation of water at the roots, so good drainage is a prerequisite. For irrigation, use settled, soft, chlorine-free water with a temperature of approximately 20 ° C.
The leaves need to be sprayed daily, as the tree needs moist air. Once a week, the plant will even need a real shower, but during the procedure, the earthen lump in the pot must be carefully covered with foil.
The leaves should also be regularly wiped with damp sponges so that pests do not attack them and just so that the palm tree has a well-groomed appearance.
In no case should you cut off or break off the top of the palm tree. Trimming the top of the stem is fraught with the death of the plant.
Apply mineral and organic fertilizers twice a month in the warm season and once a month in the winter. Complex preparations for palm trees or for decorative deciduous indoor plants are suitable. They are applied only to wet soil, in a diluted form.

Date palm - transplant, transshipment

The plant often begins to ache after transplanting. It takes it very hard if everything is done in the traditional way.

How to transplant a date palm, should it be done at all?

A young date palm (up to 4-5 years old) is transplanted annually, and adult plant- in 2-3 years.

A transplant is required only when the roots no longer fit in the pot and they are clearly visible through the drainage holes, therefore each transplant (or rather transfer) is made into a pot 3-4 cm larger in diameter.

To do this, the bush is carefully rolled into a new container, and the voids are filled with soil.

Date palm care specialists at home have noticed that the larger the pot becomes, the more intensively the plant begins to grow. But you cannot take too large containers, since the growth of a tree in them may stop.

For transplanting, store soil mixtures "For palms" are taken, or the soil is prepared independently from the calculation:
2 parts of light clay-soddy;
2 parts humus-leaf;
1 part peat;
1 part of rotted manure;
1 part sand;
some charcoal.

The soil should be loose, soft, permeable to air and moisture. Be sure to place a good drainage layer at the bottom of the pot to prevent stagnant water as much as possible. The pot should be chosen not wide, but high so that long roots fit well.

Date palm diseases

It would seem that the indoor date palm receives care, but its appearance is not at a high level - it dries, the leaves turn yellow, darken, curl. What could be the problem?
Consider what diseases of the date palm are due to illiterate care:
If the leaves become completely dark, almost brown, the trunk is soft, a putrid smell is felt, then this indicates waterlogged soil. After the appearance of such signs, watering stops, you need to wait for the soil to dry out.
It is necessary to inspect the state of the root system; for this, the plant is removed from the container in which it grows. If all the roots are soft, watery, dark, then they have already died and it is impossible to save such a palm tree. If there are living roots, then they must be carefully protected from the dead by cutting and sprinkling with crushed coal the cut points.
If only the tips of the leaves turn brown on the leaves, then this happens as a result of a lack of watering, dry air or winter drafts, sudden temperature changes. The brown leaves below are not scary - these are age-related changes. The darkened leaves are dead, so they should be cut off with a sharp knife, they cannot be restored.
If the date palm turns yellow, it means that it is watered with either hard water or does not receive moisture and nutrients. From insufficient watering, the leaves fall down, and this defect cannot be corrected. You can lift them by tying them to a support.
A pale appearance indicates too much light or a red lesion. spider mite... To protect the tree from bright sunlight, you need to slightly shade the plant.
If the date palm dries, the leaves fall off, darken, curl, brown plaques appear on their surface - the plant dies from pests.

Pest Control - Scabbard, mealybug or spider mite is standard for all indoor plants. It is necessary to wash the leaves with a solution of laundry soap, sprinkle with garlic extract.
If severe damage is observed, Actellik solution (broad-spectrum insecticide) is used - 1-2 ml per liter of water.

Do you want to create a uniquely beautiful exposition? Grow a tree plant. For those who have such a desire, a date palm from a stone at home is the best option.

To grow a date palm, you have to be patient. It grows slowly and, unfortunately, will not bear fruit at home. For this, its height must be at least 15 m. But this is not necessary. Even without fruit, an attractive plant with huge fans of leaves will decorate any interior. This will require a lot of space and light.

How to germinate a date bone?

Any plant starts with a seed. The date palm is no exception. There is no need to search specifically for its seeds - you can buy dates at any grocery store. There is no point in planting date palm seeds that are not germinated. Most likely, they simply will not rise or the process will drag on for a very long time.

So, we germinate:

1. choose bones from dates bought in the store;
2. we inspect them for damage, traces of mold or insects, we reject all non-standard ones;
3. soak in clean water for a day to remove the remnants of the pulp, changing it several times, the pulp contains substances that inhibit seed germination;
4. we wash the bones;
5. wake up the seed for 48 hours in a thermos with slightly warmed melt water with the addition of a few grains of humate;
6. put in a container with a damp loose material: vermicult, hydrogel, crushed and sterilized sphagnum moss, placing all this in a plastic bag;
7. to germinate seeds, a temperature of about 35 degrees is needed - a place near a heating radiator is ideal;
8. germination lasts from 2 to 3 months, and all this time it is necessary to monitor the moisture content of the substrate and remove the condensation formed on the film.

As soon as the sharp little sprouts appeared, it was time to move the bones into the ground.

Ground requirement

Most the best soil, both for young palms and for grown plants - a palm substrate.

If it is not possible to purchase it, prepare the soil of the following composition:

• sod land;
• peat;
• sand.

All components are taken in equal parts. You can add a little steamed moss or hardwood sawdust for looseness. At this stage, a pot 10 or 12 cm high is enough for the plant. There should be drainage at the bottom of the pot.

Landing rules

There is no consensus among flower growers here. Most believe that the bone should be stuck vertically so that there is a 1 cm layer of soil above it.But there is an opinion that seeds laid in pots horizontally with a seam down and covered with a layer of soil 2 cm thick will germinate better. hassle is not worth it. Their germination is not very good, so it is easier to plant several seeds in two pots. different ways and see which one is more effective. You will have to be patient while waiting for the shoots. Germination can take up to 5 months. All this time, a plastic bag should be put on the pot, which should be removed for ventilation. The soil is sprayed from a spray bottle to maintain its moisture content. The pots should be kept at temperatures between 20 and 30 degrees. They do not need light at this time.

How to care for a palm tree at home?

To grow a date palm from a stone, it is not enough to plant it, you need to properly care for the newly emerged seedlings and adult plants. This tree is very sensitive to any errors in care, to which it responds with poor health. Young, newly hatched sprouts especially need attention. They grow very quickly, which is not surprising - after all, this is a tree. His strength of growth is much higher than that of herbaceous plants... Only after the opening of the first leaf does the growth rate slow down. The first leaves are completely unlike palm leaves, they are linear with clearly visible longitudinal grooves. Then they will split into segments that make up amazingly beautiful fans.

At the beginning of growth, the palm tree needs a lot of light, so the pots are placed on the lightest window. The air temperature for young plants should not fall below 20 degrees. In winter, you can insulate the window sill from below so that the cold air does not lower the temperature of the soil in the pot.

If several plants have sprouted in the pot, each will need an individual container for growth.

Transplant soil needs the following composition:

• humus - 4 parts;
• peat - 1 part;
• sod and leafy land, sand - 2 parts each.

It is good to add crushed charcoal to the mixture. Transplanting into individual pots with a diameter of about 15 cm is carried out when the first sheet has a length of 15 cm.Drainage should consist of expanded clay with an admixture of charcoal. Its thickness is about 2 cm.

If possible, in the summer the palm tree should spend on fresh air... Such a "summer vacation" will benefit the tree.

The main conditions for keeping a date palm in a room:

• maximum illumination, but with diffused light; this tree in its homeland withstands the scorching rays of the sun without damage to health, in the room they can cause burns on the leaves; even in winter, the daylight hours for a plant should not be less than 12 hours; it is extended by lighting with phytolamps.

For the symmetrical development of the crown, every 14 days the pot with the plant is turned 180 degrees.

• air humidity about 50%;
• air temperature in summer - from 20 to 25 degrees, in winter it is reduced to 16 degrees in order to slow down the metabolism in plant tissues in conditions of lack of lighting;
• planting and transplanting into soil for date palms, which has a neutral or slightly acidic reaction;
• mandatory drainage;
• daily ventilation of the room;
• timely correct feeding and watering.

How to water properly?

The watering schedule and the amount of water directly depend on the season. In the summer they water it so that the earthen lump does not dry out - from 3 to 4 times a week. During the period of forced dormancy from watering to watering, the earthen lump should dry out slightly. It is enough to moisturize the palm 1-2 times a week. Overflow is harmful, therefore, excess water from the sump must be poured out half an hour after the soil has been moistened. Special attention is paid to the quality of irrigation water. Ideally, it should be thawed or clean rain, soft with a minimum amount of salt. The water temperature is about 33 degrees.

The plant responds well to spraying with warm soft water, especially in summer. He will also need sanitary procedures - wiping the leaves with a damp cloth, followed by drying with a dry cloth. Plants can be given a warm shower once a month, but the potted soil should be covered to prevent it from getting wet.

Top dressing and fertilization

In the season of active growth - in spring and summer, the tree is fed with complex fertilizer for palm trees every 14 days. In winter, the intensity of dressing is reduced by 2-3 times.

The palm tree responds very well to foliar dressing. They are made with the same fertilizer, but its concentration in the solution is reduced by 10 times. The frequency of dressings is from 3 to 1 times a month, depending on the strength of the plant's growth.

Plant transplant

The best time to transplant a palm tree is April. Young plants need this operation every year. After 5 years, the transplant is practiced every 2-3 years, and in plants older than 10 years, the top layer of the substrate is simply changed. The palm tree itself will tell you that it needs a new pot - roots will appear in the old one from the drainage hole.

They are thick at the palm, but fragile. She is extremely negative about their damage. For her, a transplant is a lot of stress, you need to do it carefully, preserving the earthen lump as much as possible.

The pot is chosen high, each transplant is increased by 3-4 cm in diameter. Drainage must be placed on the bottom of the pot. The soil is prepared in the same way as for planting young plants.

The date palm is transplanted only by the transshipment method, without exposing the roots.

If this does happen, you will have to cut off some of the leaves in order to maintain a balance between the underground and aboveground parts. Even in not old plants, the top layer of the soil can be replaced - the palm will have more nutrition. This procedure is carried out every six months.

Reproduction

The date palm reproduces by seeds. In some species, shoots may appear. These include the date of Robelen.

If the daughter plant has developed roots, it can be separated.

• With a sharp knife, cut off the baby as close to the trunk as possible without damaging it.
• We transplant the cut into the soil for palm trees, acting in the same way as when transplanting an adult plant.
• At first, you will have to put a plastic bag on a pot with a young palm tree so that it takes root better.

Do not forget to spray the young plant more often.

Date palm pests and diseases

A date palm that spends the summer outdoors may acquire a spider mite, scale insect, or mealybug. But even if the plant is constantly contained in indoor conditions, pests still appear. Insecticides, for example, Actellik, will help to cope with them. It is only advisable to process the plant with it in the open air. As a preventive measure, a monthly warm shower with washing the leaves with soapy water is good. But the soil in the pot must be protected from it.

• The tips of the leaves dry out - the air is too dry, you need to spray the plants more often.
• Leaves turn yellow - lack of moisture, you need to water more often.
• Leaves darken - waterlogging, reduce the amount of watering.
• The date palm stops growing - it's too cold indoors. At temperatures below 16 degrees, the roots function poorly, practically not absorbing nutrients. Another reason may be the high acidity of the soil. It acidifies when watered with hard water. Such a plant will have to be transplanted.

In general, caring for an indoor giant is not so difficult. Palm trees are very responsive to care and will delight the grower good growth and a healthy look.

Needless to say, there are enough plant exotics on the windowsills of modern florists. However, the absence of a real date palm in the flower collection is a serious incentive for a new achievement. To grow tropical beauty at home, you just need a date bone, a great desire and a solid supply of patience.

Of course, a house tree will not bear fruit and will not grow to the height of its wild relatives (35 m), but it will look amazing in the interior. In the content, the home date is unpretentious, but take on a few useful recommendations will be useful.

The choice of planting material

To the great joy of lovers of indoor exotic plants, it will not be difficult to acquire a seed for planting in our time. Of the 17 species of date palm growing in nature, only the following are adapted to domestic cultivation:

• The Canary date is the owner of a feathery trunk and narrow, hard leaves, growing up to 2 m in height.
• Robelena - has a chic dense leafy crown and grows up to 1.5–2 m in height.
• Finger dates - not as chic in appearance as the previous ones, but the most unpretentious and fast-growing species.

In addition to purchased seeds, as planting material a bone from a dried fruit bought at a grocery store is suitable. By the way, a finger date will grow from dried fruit, the berries of which are famous all over the world for their unusual honey-sweet taste.

Presowing seed preparation

In order for the seedlings to turn out to be healthy and of high quality, the bone (or several, if you want to insure yourself) must go through several stages of processing before sowing:

• Cleansing - the bone is removed from the date and thoroughly washed under warm, running water. It is important that even the smallest particles of pulp are not left on the seed coat that can cause rotting processes in the soil after planting. The washed seeds are allowed to mature for a day.
• Awakening - to speed up germination, the seeds are put in a colander and poured over with boiling water or immersed in hot (about + 70 °) water for several hours.
• Soaking - the treated seeds are placed in "cocoons" of cotton wool, abundantly moistened with water, put in a shallow dish and removed to a very warm (about + 30 ... + 35 ° C) place until they swell. To prevent the material from drying out, a little water is poured into the mini-incubator every day.

When the bones swell noticeably, it's time for sowing. The best time for this procedure, the end of February - the beginning of March is considered.

Many experienced florists it is recommended to break the integrity of the seed shell before sowing - rub with sandpaper, cut with a knife, pierce with a needle. However, as practice shows, well-swollen bones germinate successfully without these procedures, and in the absence of experience they are very easy to damage.

Sowing features

A container for sowing date seeds can be a small plastic container or separate pots about 8 cm high. The nutrient substrate is prepared from turf, humus, sand and peat (2: 2: 4: 2) with the addition of a small amount of charcoal. The seeds are planted vertically, covering them with a layer of soil about 1 cm thick. The surface of the substrate is covered with sphagnum moss or the container is covered with a transparent film. While waiting for germination, crops are kept warm (about +25 ° C), maintaining soil moisture. Date bones are hard to germinate, the process can take from 3 to 6 months.

Recipe for the occasion::

With the appearance of the first shoots, the shelter is removed, and when the seedlings grow up to 10-15 cm in height, they are transferred to a permanent place. This does not change the composition of the substrate, but the capacity should be higher - about 10-12 cm. Required condition for the full development of palms - good drainage.

Conditions of detention

A flower grower who wants to grow a real date palm should be patient. Young plants do not look very impressive, and it takes at least 5 years for them to become a luxurious element of the interior. In the meantime, the pet is growing and prettier, it should be provided with proper care:

• The pot with a young palm tree must be systematically (preferably every 10-15 days) rotated around its own axis by 180 ° so that all leaves are equally illuminated. From prolonged stay in the shade, the leaf plates become brittle and elongated, develop unevenly and gradually stop growing. In addition, uneven lighting can make the palm grow lopsided and unstable.
• It is very important to protect the pet from drafts, which are destructive for her.
• The usual room temperature from +22 to +26 ° C is quite comfortable for a palm tree. With sufficient humidity, it easily tolerates heat up to +35 ° C. In winter, if possible, it is recommended to lower the content temperature to +18 ° C.
• The soil under the tree should always be slightly moist, therefore it is very important to correctly organize the irrigation regime. In the summer, the procedure is carried out at least 3-4 times a week, in winter 1-2 times every 7-10 days will be enough. For irrigation, it is recommended to use settled, warm (about +20 ° C), preferably non-chlorinated water.
• The date palm is also sensitive to ambient humidity. Every day, the crown of the tree must be sprayed from a spray bottle and the leaves must be wiped off dust with a damp sponge, and once a week the plant is given a warm shower, during which the soil is covered with polyethylene. Regular water treatments not only provide the pet with a well-groomed appearance, but also serve as an effective measure against attacks by pests.

Note! It is strictly forbidden to cut or break off the top of the palm tree, since it is it that is the only point of growth of the tree.

In the spring, when it gets warmer outside, it is useful to take the home date out into the open air. The "walk" time is increased gradually, but at night the tree can be left in the garden or on the balcony only when the danger of recurrent frosts has finally passed. In the open air, it is recommended to place a young palm in a light shade from buildings or spreading trees so that the delicate leaves do not suffer from the burning rays. Despite the fact that in natural conditions the date spends most of its life under the scorching sun, a house tree may not endure such a test.

Top dressing

In the warm season, dates are fed every 2 weeks with a full complex fertilizer. For this purpose, special food for palm trees or for decorative deciduous crops, which can be purchased at a flower shop, are suitable. The palm tree also gratefully responds to the introduction of potassium nitrate dissolved in irrigation water in a proportion of 10 g / 10 l. In winter, a period of natural dormancy begins for the plant, and its development slows down, the supply of food at this time is completely canceled.

Transfer

Palms under the age of 5 years are transplanted annually, choosing a larger pot (3-4 cm). Mature trees are "relocated" to a new container as the root system grows, but not more often than once every 2 years. You can determine that the plant has become cramped in the old pot by the roots that appear from the drainage hole. If there is no special need for the procedure, then a layer of depleted soil 4–5 cm thick is simply removed from under an adult date and the vacated space is filled with a fertile substrate.

Regardless of age, the date palm tolerates transplantation very painfully, so it should be carried out as carefully as possible:

• The day before the procedure, the soil under the palm tree should be spilled abundantly with warm water to facilitate the removal of the tree from the container.
• A drainage layer is laid in a pre-selected new pot, a little soil is poured, after which the plant is transferred into it, trying not to damage the old earthen lump and root system... Protect the top!
• After transshipment, the voids are filled with fresh soil mixture, slightly compacted and watered.

Transplanting a date is a rather complicated procedure, especially if the tree is mature and heavy. In the case when it is problematic to pull the palm out of the pot without damaging the roots, it is better to donate the container and break it up.

Possible problems

Despite the fact that the date palm is not too capricious, not every grower manages to avoid difficulties in the process of growing it. In order to notice and fix the problem in time, you need to carefully monitor appearance pets:

Only surrounded by care and attention, the date palm grows quickly and after a few years it turns into an exotic beauty that allows you to turn the most ordinary room into a real cozy oasis.

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