Date palm - evergreen decorative tropical plant, the top of which is decorated with beautiful spreading leaves. Buying an adult exotic plant to decorate the interior of the house is not necessary. Knowing how to grow a date palm and how to care for it, such a tree can be obtained from the seed.
Preparing planting material
People learned to grow tasty sweet dates and enjoy eating 5,000 years ago. At home in North Africa and Arabia, these fruits are one of the main and wholesome foods, due to the presence of many vitamins and minerals. In nature, date palms grow of enormous height (from 12 to 35 m), but in the Russian climate they have a more modest size.
In nature, there are 17 species of this plant, however, only 3 varieties are adapted for cultivation at home:
- Canary - has a feathery "shaggy" trunk and narrow hard leaves, the height of the tree is up to 2 m.
- Robelena is a decorative species with a height of 1.5-2 m, decorated with a dense deciduous crown.
- The palmate date is the most unpretentious species, it grows quickly, but its appearance is more modest.
As a planting material, it is not necessary to purchase seeds in a store. You can buy dried fruits, sold in many stores, and then from the date you can grow a date palm. Most likely, it will be a date palmate, the fruits of which have a sweet honey taste.
When buying dates in the store, you should pay attention to the date of packaging. Seed germination is lost very quickly - almost 10% per month, so you need to take the freshest, which then immediately put on sowing.
Preparing seeds for planting
The most suitable time for germinating dates is the end of February and the beginning of March. Starting to solve the question of how to grow a date palm from a seed, you should start preparing the fruits. For germination, you should choose several ripe fruits in the store that have not been heat-treated. Dates brought from a trip to African countries are even better.
These fruits have a hard skin and therefore germinate very slowly (almost 3 months). To grow a date palm from seeds, increasing their germination capacity, it is recommended to perform the following actions:
- remove seeds from the fruit, peel the pulp and rinse in warm water - this will help reduce the risk of decay of dates in the soil (you can soak it in warm water for several days, changing the water daily and removing the remaining pulp);
- dry the bones during the day;
- slightly scratch the hard skin with a sewing needle, and then rub it with sandpaper (with fine grain) - this will facilitate the penetration of moisture inside;
- using a blade or a sharp knife, make small cuts on the surface of the shell and pour over it with boiling water;
- to speed up awakening, seeds can be immersed for 2-3 hours in hot water (about +70 ° C);
- soak the seeds in gauze or cotton wool, placing them in a shallow container (plate, etc.), also cover with moist gauze on top - this is necessary to maintain constant humidity of the fruit and germination from the inside of the sprout (you can also use hydrogel or moist wood chips).
Sprouting dates
To answer the question of whether it is possible to grow a date palm in the house from seeds, you should try to do it yourself, following the recommendations of experienced gardeners.
After soaking, prepared containers with stones must be placed in a very warm place - on top of the central heating battery or on a window illuminated by the sun. The optimum temperature for fast germination is + 30 ... + 35 ° C.
Plates are recommended to be folded into a container. To maintain high humidity, a small amount of water must be added to the mini-incubator every day. In almost 10-12 days, the swelling of the seeds will become noticeable - this means that it is time to proceed directly to the sowing of seeds in the ground.
How to grow a date palm from the bones of a house: preparing soil and pots
As containers for planting, it is recommended to use individual low (8 cm) small diameter pots or a plastic container. For planting, you can buy ready-made soil for palm trees or prepare it from several components: turf land (1 part), humus (1 part), river sand (2 parts) and peat (1 part). It is also recommended to add some wood ash. At the bottom, you need to put drainage to ventilate the roots, then fill the soil mixture.
Bones are planted in moist soil in an upright position, covering 1 cm thick with a layer of soil. Sphagnum moss should be placed on top of the soil to maintain moisture or cover the pots with a transparent plastic film.
Then the container with the planted dates is put in a warm place where the temperature is maintained at least +25 ° C, not forgetting to periodically water and do ventilation twice a day, removing the film (this will help to avoid rot).
It will take a long time to wait for the appearance of green leaves to grow a date palm from a seed - the process can take from 2 months to six months. After biting the sprouts, the film must be removed and open to air.
Sprout care
The next stage is the regular watering and care of young sprouts of dates. The plant needs regular watering, drying out the soil should not be allowed.
After the appearance of two leaves, it is recommended to pick and plant in a larger container with the same soil, especially if the seeds were sitting several in a pot. During this period, young plants are actively growing roots, so the addition of leaves slows down at first.
In the first year of palm life in the hot summer months, direct sunlight should be avoided on young seedlings. Transplanting into larger pots is best done when the plants reach 10-15 cm in height.
How to grow a date palm: conditions and rules
For the further growth of the date palm in the home, she should create suitable conditions:
- air temperature - within + 22 ... + 26 ° (not lower than +16 ° ), humidity - about 50%;
- the place should be well lit, but not in the bright sun, otherwise the palm will grow crooked; in an apartment, a pot with a tree is better to put near the west or east window;
- palm seedlings can not be placed near heating appliances due to possible drying out and death;
- there should not be drafts in the room, especially cold;
- every two weeks the pot should be rotated 180 ° to evenly illuminate the leaves - due to a lack of light, they become brittle and stop growing;
- in the hot months, you need to spray the plants, and also wipe the leaves with a damp sponge;
- the soil in the pot should always be slightly moist; watering in the summer is carried out 3-4 times a week as the land dries up, in winter - 1-2 p. in 7-10 days;
- it is possible to water only with standing warm water;
- Once a week, it is recommended that the tree arrange showering procedures, covering the soil with polyethylene, which will also help protect the plant from pests;
- when the heat comes in the spring, it is better to take the plant out to fresh air, gradually increasing the time of the "walk";
- in the summer it can be outdoors all the time, but only in the shade of trees or buildings in the yard.
Top dressing
To grow a date palm tree at home strong and healthy, during the warm season (March - October) it is recommended to feed the palm every two weeks with complex fertilizers. It is better to buy ready-made special top dressings intended for decorative and deciduous crops or for palm trees.
A beneficial effect on the date palm is the introduction of a solution of potassium nitrate in a ratio of 10 g per bucket of water.
In the winter months, it is recommended to keep the date palm at a lower temperature (+ 12 ... + 14 ° C), observing moderation in watering. At this time, plant growth slows down, so feeding is not required.
In nature, beautiful cirrus leaves on a palm tree appear, as a rule, only in the 3rd year, and in apartment conditions - not earlier than five years later.
Transfer
Each healthy plant needs more and more space as the roots and leaves grow. Therefore, the list of recommendations on how to grow a date palm in the house includes obligatory regular plant transplants. Each grown palm should be transplanted every year into a larger container (increase the diameter of the pot by 3-4 cm). After reaching 5 years of age, the plants already carry out the procedure less often - every 2-3 years.
The need for transplantation becomes noticeable when the roots begin to peek out from the drainage hole. A date palm transplant is always painful, so it must be done with caution.
Transplant Rules:
- 1 day before the start, moisten the soil well with warm water;
- put drainage in a new pot, add a little earth;
- transfer the plant from the old pot to the new one, trying not to damage the earthen lump and roots;
- compact and water the soil.
Leaf pruning
Subject to all the recommendations on how to grow a date palm at home, and with the normal development of the plant, the number of leaves on it will increase. But some of them may deteriorate or dry out.
It is recommended to trim in such cases:
- remove dead or broken leaves;
- long leaves leaning below the horizontal.
Absolutely forbidden:
- break off the top, which is the only point of palm growth;
- damage the trunk when trimming.
The total number of leaves removed per year should be less than the number of new ones. If, by chance, an earthen lump crumbles during a transplant and some of the roots are exposed, it is recommended to remove half of the leaves - this will help reduce the amount of water evaporated by the plant.
Possible palm growth problems and their solution
You can grow a date palm from a stone, observing the recommendations and rules for planting and care. But even when creating ideal conditions, some problems may appear, the solutions to which are indicated in the table below.
Problem name | Her reason | Repair methods |
Yellowing leaves | Lack of watering | In the summer months, do not allow the soil to dry out. |
The tips of the leaves turned brown | Dry or cold air, lack of moisture when watering | Regularly spray the leaves and observe the temperature regime |
The appearance of brown spots on the leaves | Waterlogging the soil by irrigation with hard water | Reduce the frequency of watering. Use only soft, standing warm water (even in winter) |
Leaves turn yellow | Lack of nutrition | Perform regular feeding |
The lower leaves of the palm tree dry | Occurs due to dying off with age | Trimming with a sharp knife |
All leaves turn brown | Waterlogging of the soil and, as a result, root decay | Remove the tree from the pot, inspect the roots: if they have darkened or become watery, then the plant will not be able to save. In the presence of live roots, damaged ones should be cut off, sprinkled with activated carbon sections. Then transplant the palm into a new pot with fresh soil. |
Conclusion
The tips and recommendations on how to grow a date palm from the usual fruits bought in the store will help you do everything right and get a young plant. However, you will have to be patient - only after a few years it will become like palm trees that grow and bear fruit in Africa, and then it will be a wonderful decoration of the interior of the house.