Growing a date palm from a stone at home and care, prevention of diseases

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

Biological description and varieties of date palms

Most often, the plants are a tree or a squat bush. The leaves are pinnate and dark green in color. They differ in length, which increases as the palm grows. They have large and sharp spines at the end. As a rule, a tree has one trunk, but there are representatives with several trunks. When a palm tree grows large enough, flowers appear. They are small and yellow in color. Some gardeners may not be able to see what the palm tree looks like during flowering.

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

1. Canary date. At the base of the tree is a feathery trunk. The leaves are tough and straight. The edges are so sharp that you can hurt yourself. The maximum height is 2 m.
2. Date of Robelena. The crown of an adult plant is dense, which looks very beautiful. Transfers shade and reaches human height.
3. Finger dates. The shape and appearance of the palm 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 grows, its trunk becomes bare. Everyone knows the fruits of the finger date. They are delicious, sweet, and highly nutritious.

Is it possible to sprout from a seed

Growing palms are expensive, so gardeners try to grow them on their own. To do this, it is enough to buy dates from the market and place the seeds in the ground. Moreover, these are the same sweet dates.

Seed preparation and germination

The seeds are taken from dates bought in the market. Fresh, dried and even sugar-coated fruits are useful. The fruits do not have to undergo heat treatment beforehand.

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. Scalding with boiling water will speed up the germination of the date. To guarantee a sprout, you need to soak several seeds at once.

Landing 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 rapid germination of seeds, the upper skin is damaged.

Required soil composition for planting

The soil can be bought at a specialized kiosk. As a rule, these are ready-made earthen mixtures, which are designed for growing palm trees. If there is a possibility and desire, the substrate is prepared independently. This will require compost, turf soil, humus and sand. All components must be in different parts.

You can also plant seeds in soil, which includes peat, rotted foliage and clay. The bone is inserted vertically. The upper part of the seed should be deepened into the ground by no more than 1 cm. This will allow you to follow how the palm tree emerges and slowly turns into an adult plant.

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Volume and optimal size of the pot

A properly selected palm container contributes to the normal and comfortable development of the root system. The plant pot 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 must be placed in a bright place.

Caring for a palm tree at home

The plant is characterized by slow growth and development. Caring for a palm tree is very simple. 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, you can take it outside and leave it there until the onset of cold weather. But it does not tolerate hot weather, so it is better to shade it 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. It is recommended to protect the palm from drafts. The tree has a sensitive root system, so the pots are not placed on cold windowsills and stone floors.

Watering and irrigation

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

This speeds up the ripening of the fruit, increasing the yield. Irrigation should be done during the growing season.

Top dressing and fertilization

How many times is a palm tree fed? At the time of growth, from spring to autumn, fertilizer is injected every 2 weeks. In winter, at rest, you can do just 1 procedure per month.The date reacts positively to organic fertilization. They are bought or prepared on their own.

Transfer

Each new palm pot should be 4cm larger in diameter. During transplanting, you must not break off the top of the tree, as it may die. The palm tree does not tolerate "resettlement" to a new container. If the date is not more than 5 years old, the transplant is carried out annually, more mature plants every 3 years. The bottom of the container is filled with a drainage layer. And sprinkle it on top with earth, removing the old one. A transplant is carried out if the roots become cramped in the pot. Roots that are too large and long are visible through the drainage holes.

When and how it blooms

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

Will home-grown palms 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 produce a harvest, both female and male flowers are needed. It is impossible to understand by the bone what a tree will be. As a result of planting, all palms 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 promote active fruiting of a palm tree - cold. After a dormant period, the chances of flowering and thus fruiting increase. If dates are planted in regions with cold winters, a person is rarely lucky enough to see a tree with fruits.

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Reproduction methods

At home, only one breeding method is possible. It is about planting seeds in the ground. These are the same bones that remain after eating the fruit.

Signs of micronutrient deficiencies

An insufficient amount of nitrogen has a detrimental effect on the palm tree. The leaves turn light and growth stops. Potassium deficiency is indicated by brown spots. The plant may also need magnesium. A deficiency is manifested by the appearance of a yellow edging on the leaves. Over time, they begin to curl on the branches and die.

Planting the date palm in high acid soil can lead to iron and manganese deficiencies.

In turn, a young plant encounters mezzanine chlorosis. If no action is taken on the part of the person, the tissue dies off at the spot.To solve such problems, first of all, you should 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 face a number of problems. The young tree stops growing, the leaves dry out, change color, and over time the palm dies.

Seedlings do not grow

In order for the height of the shrub to increase, attention must be paid to the temperature regime. Different seasons have their own indicator. If the temperature is too low in spring or summer, the roots will stop growing and, as a result, the aboveground part will also. Why is this happening? Because the root system is dormant at low temperatures. It stops absorbing nutrients.

Palm tree dries

The appearance of dry ends may 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

A change from a bright green color to yellow indicates a violation of the water balance. Indoor plant lovers often face a similar problem when they forget to water the plant. The earth ball often dries out, large cracks appear.

Another equally important problem is excessive waterlogging of the land in which the palm tree grows. The tree loves moisture, but you need to know when to stop in this matter. Watering too often will cause 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 the palm, examine the roots.The rotten ones are removed, leaving only the living ones. Transplanting and careful maintenance will give a result, and after a while the person will be happy with the new tree.

Date palm pests and diseases

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 sap 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 parasitizing insects or developing diseases, it is urgent to save the tree. It needs to be treated with special preparations. Before treating a plant, you need to find out the cause of the bad 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.