The date palm is a great opportunity to decorate any room, be it an ordinary apartment or office. This idea can be realized in several ways. The easiest way is to get a plant that is the right size and appearance. However, growing a date palm on your own will bring much more joy to a person. Naturally, for this, you first have to get acquainted with the agricultural technology of work in our climate, which is an order of magnitude different from the tropics.
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Selection of seeds and their preparation for planting
Regardless of the tree that you are going to grow at home, the first step is to prepare the planting material and provide it with favorable conditions for development. If you want to get a beautiful date palm from the seed, you should decide on a variety that can grow indoors. To do this, you do not have to seek the help of specialists, since any dates that have not undergone heat treatment are suitable for this.
The most suitable planting material is fresh dates... You don't need a photo for this, because if you don't have them, you can replace them with dry fruits, which can be found in any market.
When choosing dried dates for growing an ornamental palm, it doesn't hurt to ask the seller first if they were cooked in sugar syrup. It is not worth buying fruits that have undergone a similar heat treatment, since the seeds taken from them will not germinate.
Preparation of planting material
When you have bones, you can start preparing them for planting:
- the first thing to do is separate the bone from the pulp, rinse it under warm water and let it dry slightly. It is recommended to use at least 6-10 seeds for cultivation. It is worth recalling that not all of them will germinate, some may die while still young seedlings;
then clean bones are necessary hold for several days in warm water, a container with which is exposed to the sun. It is advisable to carry out such an operation in winter, since at this time the plant needs a small amount of light. Be sure to take care that the date pits do not start to rot or catch an infection while soaking. To do this, add fresh water once or twice a day;- when the necessary time has passed for the seeds to settle, their pierce or begin to rub with sandpaper... Since the outer shell of the seeds is very hard, soaking is not always enough for them to open. Therefore, in some cases, it may be necessary to make an effort to break their integrity. But do not try to completely destroy the entire layer. You can limit yourself to one small area. Subsequently, the bones must again be placed in a jar of water and left for another 2-4 days to ripen.
You can offer another way by which you can speed up the ripening process.To do this, the prepared bones are placed in hot water heated to a temperature of 80 degrees, and kept in it for one or two minutes. A sign of seed readiness for planting will be their swelling.
Conditions for growing date palm
The photo of the tree should make it clear that it is not so easy to grow a beautiful date tree, since you need to be careful at every stage.
Even before you plant the seeds in the soil, you need to decide important questions:
- find a suitable room where the date palm will grow best;
- find a container of suitable sizes;
- prepare the soil.
Considering that the tropics are the natural habitat of palms, they can grow well with sufficient light and humidity. But this should not be taken as a recommendation that in the tub, you need to create conditions that resemble a swamp... For the normal development of date seedlings, it is necessary not only to carry out frequent watering, but also to provide direct sunlight for at least three to four hours a day. The most favorable conditions for the cultivation of the date palm can be created on the south side.
However, keep in mind that the date palm is a fairly tall tree that can grow up to 30 meters. But it is unlikely that it will grow as tall in indoor conditions, usually its height is limited to 2-3 meters. Moreover, it will take at least 5 years to reach such a mark. To avoid developmental delays palm tree it is necessary to provide the optimal amount of lighting throughout life... In the early years, it is allowed to grow young shoots in a pot on a windowsill. However, when the seedling matures, you will have to find a suitable place for it, well lit by the sun.
Date palms can be grown in any suitable sized pots. But you need to remember that in the first years of life, they form a root, after which they form leaves. Growing a palm tree begins with planting seeds in a common garden bed, from which the seedlings are already planted in separate tubs.
The soil
To plant the seeds, you need soil of a suitable composition. The easiest way to buy it is at a flower shop. However, it must be a special soil where there is an indication "for palm trees". If you want to be sure of the quality of the planting soil, it is recommended to prepare it yourself.
A good basis for the soil will be raw sawdust, peat and sand, taken in equal amounts... Other types of soil cultivators, such as perlite, are also suitable for this. Before filling the pot with the soil mixture, drainage is placed on the bottom. Subsequently, when the palm tree continues to mature, it must be replanted, each time preparing a new soil.
Stages of transplanting date palm from stone at home: from stone to palm
Proper seed preparation before planting is definitely an important exercise. However, this does not yet guarantee that strong beautiful plants will grow from them. If you do not follow the rules for care at one of the subsequent stages, then at any time the tree can wither and die. This can be avoided if the following activities are carried out throughout the life of the plant:
When the bones have passed all the necessary preparatory procedures, they planted vertically in a common spacious tubpre-filled with a special soil mixture. They should not be too deeply buried and tamped. You can restrict yourself to sprinkling a small layer of earth on top.- For seeds you can lay sphagnum moss or for them, you can arrange a greenhouse environment by placing a plastic or glass jar on top. Thanks to it, you can easily maintain a favorable temperature in the tub, and also prevent pests from reaching the bones.
- Until the bones of the date grow up, for them it is necessary to maintain a temperature regime of about 30 degrees and necessarily high humidity.
- Usually, the seeds begin to germinate after one and a half to two months. But it so happens that after three months, seedlings do not appear. In this case, you need excavate the ground and find out what state it is in... It is possible that by this time the bone had time to sour or you used an unviable planting material.
- When young date palm seedlings begin to grow and reach a height of more than 10 cm, they can be transplanted into separate containers. For these purposes it is recommended use pots with a diameter of 9-12 cm... Moreover, in this case, the soil of a different composition is used. It is prepared from 4 parts of humus, 2 parts of sand, 1 part of peat and 2 parts of turf and leafy soil. As in the previous case, you need to take care of the availability of drainage and creating a normal watering regime.
Instances aged 5 years must be replanted every year. Subsequently, the transplant is carried out taking into account the size of the plants. This can be determined by protruding roots from the ground.
When the time comes for transplanting, it is imperative to shorten the felt layer formed by the roots. This will prepare the young palm tree for artificial growing conditions, thereby increasing its survival rate.
Date tree care rules
If you want to enjoy the appearance of the date palm, then you will need to provide appropriate care. Considering that she is used to growing in the tropics, it will be useful for her:
- sunlight;
- moderate humidity;
- soft loose soil;
- periodic shower, which can be replaced by wiping the leaves with a damp cloth;
- high temperature conditions;
- spaciousness. A date palm can only be grown if there is a sufficiently large free area so that light comes to it from all directions.
Other factors that are not included in this list are harmful to the palm tree. You can determine the deterioration of the tree by changing the leaves. They usually turn black. The most likely reason for this is a lack of sunlight or poor watering. It should also be noted that the plant can infect a disease if there is a draft in the room from the window. For this reason, care must be taken to avoid sudden temperature fluctuations in the room.
Realizing that the plant began to feel worse, you need to immediately take urgent measures to correct the situation. Often it can be helped by increasing the humidity of the air, which can be done by spraying from a sprayer with plain water.
Conclusion
The date palm is interesting not only because it is a representative of the tropical climate, but also because of its original appearance. Even at a height of 2-3 meters, it can make the interior of any room attractive... Growing dates at home is not so difficult if you start paying attention to the plant already from the seed sowing stage. It is important to remember that the date palm will only grow well if it is provided with sufficient space. Therefore, at the moment when she becomes high enough, it is necessary to find her an optimal place where she will not feel constrained.
