How to grow a date tree from a stone at home?

Date fruits are very aromatic and tasty. Today they are sold in many retail outlets. Despite this, some people prefer to plant a date tree at home in order not to buy, but to get the fruits on their own. In today's article, we will learn how to properly grow a date tree from a stone at home.

Before you start planting a date tree yourself at home, it is important to understand which varieties are best for this. It should be borne in mind that there are varieties that produce fruits that are not edible. Breeders were able to breed a lot of date tree species, but only a few of them can be grown at home.

• The Canarian type of date tree can be grown as a spectacular indoor palm. Its size can reach a small mark of 15 cm. The fruits of the tree in question develop small, having an orange color.

• Another species that can be grown at home is called palmate. The fruits of this tree can often be found on store shelves. The finger-like trunk is bare at the bottom. The tree itself can grow up to indicators of 15-20 cm.

• A variety of date trees called "Robelena" is often grown at home. This palm produces black fruits and is characterized by an impressive height of up to 2 meters.

If a certain variety for home growing from a seed has been chosen, you should proceed with the necessary preparatory procedures. Soil and planting tank operations will be needed first. After that, a person must definitely prepare all the planting material. Let's figure out in what order you need to act.

Before you start growing a date tree at home, it is very important to correctly prepare the soil in which it will grow. The substrate should be ideal for planting a date seed. The optimal mixture will be a mixture of river sand and peat in equal proportions. When using such a substrate and the growth of the first shoots, the latter will definitely require a transplant.

For growing a home palm from a stone, it is allowed to use a ready-made soil mixture. Usually, such formulations are already disinfected and fully prepared for further use. According to the assurances of experienced florists, the best is the mixture, collected from the following components:

• 1 part of clay soil;
• 1 part of sod land;
• 1 part of humus;
• 1 piece of leafy land;
• 0.5 parts of peat;
• 0.5 parts of sand.

Before planting a date tree, it is very important to properly prepare a suitable container. It should be borne in mind that the root of the date tree usually germinates very quickly. The root system of the plant is pivotal. In it, one root is the main one, and all the others are subordinate clauses. For this reason, the optimal pot must have sufficient depth. At the same time, the container should not be too wide. If all these conditions are met, the plant will grow comfortably in a pot.

It is recommended to plant several date seeds at the same time in a prepared tank, since some of them may turn out to be dummies. The latter will not rise, even if you always act correctly. The more seeds are planted, the higher the chance of sprouting.

In order for the germination of a date tree from seeds to bring the desired result, it is imperative to choose and prepare the planting material correctly. As mentioned above, not every bone is suitable for the formation of sprouts. If the dates have previously been heat-treated, then the planting material taken from them will not be suitable for planting.

It is recommended to use those seeds that were collected from dried fruits or fresh specimens. Gardeners who have previously grown a date tree at home recommend choosing larger seeds. Such components can germinate even several years after the fruit is removed from the tree.

There are several different ways to properly prepare the material for future planting. All of them are reduced to minor damage to the walls of the date pits:

• planting material is poured with boiling water;
• sawing off the walls on the bones;
• make a small number of pricks on the bones (for this they usually use a sharp needle);
• you can rub the sides of the bones with a sheet of sandpaper;
• using a sharp blade, it will turn out to make the necessary notches on the walls of the date pits.

After any of the above procedures, the planting material is wrapped in a moistened piece of cloth or in cotton wool. The prepared and wrapped bones are placed in a separate container and left in it for several days. During this time, the seeds will be able to hatch.

If a suitable pot is selected, and the soil mixture with seedlings is prepared, you can proceed to the planting procedure. It should be carried out in accordance with certain rules so that a healthy fruit tree can subsequently germinate.

To grow a date palm from a stone, you need to choose the right place in the house for it. It should be borne in mind that the tree is very fond of light, so it needs to be exhibited exactly in those areas where it will receive a sufficient amount of lighting. The palm should be positioned where there is a constant flow of fresh air. While the seedling is still small, it is advisable to take it out into the fresh air in the summer season.

To grow a date tree from seed, the correct temperature must be maintained. It should be between 10 and 15 degrees Celsius. The pot with the plant should be placed on the windowsill. It should be borne in mind that here the temperature value will be lower than in the room as a whole.

If all the specified conditions for the growth of the culture have been created, you can proceed to planting seeds. Let's consider in detail how to do this.

• It is recommended to plant a date seed in the winter season. This is due to the fact that during its germination a lot of light will not be needed. Sufficient lighting will be required when the first shoots break through.
• The seeds can be safely planted in a common container. It is necessary to deepen the prepared planting material about one and a half lengths of each seed. You can stick the bones vertically directly into the ground, or you can lay them flat.
• Before direct planting, the soil mixture must be slightly moistened. After that, there will be no need to water it. You will need to stretch polyethylene material over the container with seeds, since a humid microclimate, close to a tropical one, will allow the seeds to hatch much faster.
• Every day, for some time, polyethylene must be removed from the surface of the container so that the bones are ventilated. At the same time, it is best to place the container in a warm enough place in the house.

Planting the date tree seed correctly is not enough. The planting material still needs to be properly looked after. Consider what care procedures are required for a date sprout that develops at home.

• Seed pots should be watered based on the drying level of the top soil layer. It is advisable to maintain high humidity values. It is desirable that the air temperature is approximately +30 degrees Celsius.
• The timing of the appearance of the first shoots is different. Typically, the time range is 1 to 3 months.
• When the developed date palm reaches a height of 10 cm, you can start picking it. The procedure should be carried out as carefully and carefully as possible so as not to cause serious harm to the plant. You can use the transshipment technique as it is more gentle.
• The condition and shade of the date palm foliage should always be kept under control. If black spots appear on the leaf blades, then this will indicate incorrect conditions of detention. So, an insufficient amount of moisture or light, as well as sharp temperature jumps, can provoke the occurrence of such problems.
• It should be borne in mind that the date palm, like many other tree crops, develops slowly. Slow growth rates should not be intimidated.
• The date palm will need a fair amount of light to show adequate growth stages and produce good fruit in the future. Despite the relative unpretentiousness, it is better not to expose the plant to direct sunlight at home. It is advisable to find the lightest room for the palm tree. It is better to place the pot away from the window. In summer, the palm tree can be taken out to the balcony space, not forgetting about the protection from the sun.
• A date palm that has been grown from seed should be watered in moderation. It is necessary to water the plant no earlier than the soil mixture dries out by 3 cm. At the same time, it is very important to drain the accumulated liquid from the pallet in a timely manner so that the root system of the culture does not undergo destructive decay. The state of the soil in the pot must also be closely monitored, since the dried leaf plates of the palm tree cannot recover, they will have to be removed.
• When the hot season is set in the yard, date palm leaves should be sprayed and wiped with a damp cloth as gently as possible.
• Like any other house plant, the date tree will need to be fed in a timely manner and correctly. This should be done using special fertilizers. Most of them can be found in specialized stores. Add dressing by reading the instructions. The latter is always indicated on the package with mixtures.
• Until the date tree is 5 years old, it must be transplanted into a larger pot every year.After that, you can reduce the frequency to 1 time within 2-3 years, but every six months it will be necessary to remove the upper soil layer, and fill in a new one instead.

A home-grown date tree can suffer from a variety of problems. Often, a crop is attacked by dangerous pests that can seriously harm it.

• At the end of the summer season, the tree may be attacked by a spider mite, scale insect, or mealy worm. Even if the culture grows at home, this does not save it from the appearance of the listed pests. You can get rid of their attacks by means of insecticides such as Actellik.
• It is recommended to process a plant affected by parasites outdoors, and not indoors.
• For preventive purposes, it is recommended to resort to a warm shower with washing the leaf blades with a soap-based solution. Such operations should be performed monthly. In this case, the soil layer must be well protected.
• Indoor date trees can suffer from pink rot or mottling. As a rule, these ailments make themselves felt if it is wrong to take care of the culture. To cure a tree, you can use special fungicides, for example, "Mancoceb" or "Ridomil".

Growing a date tree from seed at home can have various problems and shortcomings. If you plan to plant such a culture at home, it is better to familiarize yourself with a list of such problems in advance.

• It so happens that the tips of the date tree begin to dry out. As a rule, this ailment is associated with the highly dried air in which the palm tree grows. In such cases, spraying is required. It should be done often enough.
• The yellowness of the leaf plates of the date tree often appears. Usually, this problem is associated with the fact that the culture receives an insufficient amount of moisture. If a similar problem occurs, more frequent watering should be done.
• The foliage of the plant may begin to darken. Usually, such things happen if the tree, on the contrary, is too waterlogged. In this case, it is advisable to reduce the number of waterings.
• The date palm may stop growing. This usually indicates that the room where she is located is too cold. If the ambient temperature is less than 16 degrees Celsius, then the roots of the culture are unable to exist normally, since they cease to properly assimilate all the necessary nutrients.
• Slow growth can also be caused by too much acidity in the soil. It must be remembered that it is oxidized during irrigation with water of increased hardness. With such problems, the culture will require a mandatory transplant.