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

Palms today are one of the most popular indoor and office plants, and also do not require special skills and efforts when growing. It is not necessary to purchase an exotic date palm in a store; it is quite possible to grow it from a stone at home. Of course, a plant grown at home will not please the fruits, but with proper care, it will become an excellent decoration of the interior.

Preparation for growing date palm from stone

In order to grow a palm from the bone of a purchased date, it is necessary to choose the right planting material and create suitable conditions for the plant. If you follow all the recommendations, then in the growing process there will be no significant difficulties.

Selection of planting material

Fresh seeds, dried dates and candied fruits are suitable for planting. Those that have been heat treated are not suitable for germination. Also in the store you need to choose the freshest fruits.

All flesh must be carefully removed from the bone to avoid rotting processes. After this, you need to leave them lying in a dry place for a day. Before planting, you need to rub the bone with sandpaper - this will speed up the process of germination.

To identify the most viable seeds, they must be immersed in water for several days. Good bones will go down. Soaking water needs to be changed every day. Now it remains to wash the planting material under running water and plant it in the soil.

Soil and capacity

You can prepare the soil for growing a tropical tree with your own hands. To do this, you need to take:

• 1 part cohesive soil;
• 1 part chopped turf;
• 1 part organic fertilizer;
• 1 part of deciduous humus;
• ½ parts of peat;
• ½ parts of sand.

All components must be thoroughly mixed and some charcoal added to them. If you do not want to prepare the soil yourself, you can purchase it in a store. For growing dates, nutritious soil for palm trees is perfect.

For seed germination, you need to pick up a spacious container. All bones sit in a common container. After the shoots hatch and reach 15 cm in height, they can be planted in different pots.

At the same time, a drainage layer will definitely need to be poured onto the bottom. The roots of the palm grow mainly down, so the new pot should be significantly higher than the old. You can also plant bones immediately in different pots. Then the seedlings will not need to be transplanted.

Germination conditions

The seed container must be placed in a warm place, it may be in the shade. But as soon as the first shoots appear, the pot needs to be transferred to the windowsill on the south side. A date is a tropical plant that loves a lot of sunlight and heat.

In addition, care must be taken that the soil in the pot is always moist. It must be regularly sprayed with water using a spray bottle. Do not water the plant from a mug or bottle. Excessive waterlogging of the soil should not be allowed. The container with seeds should be protected from drafts and temperature extremes.

If all these requirements are met, then in 30-90 days the first shoots will appear. Sometimes it can take six months to germinate, so in order to grow a beautiful indoor palm, you need to be patient.

Home Care for a Young Date Palm

After the emergence of seedlings, do not let their development drift. In order for the palm tree to continue to develop, it is necessary to provide it with special conditions.

Watering

In the summer months, you need to water a young palm quite often, not allowing the land to completely dry out. In this case, you need to ensure that the leaves of the plant do not turn yellow. If this happens, the frequency of watering must be reduced.

In winter, you need to water the plant only after the top layer of the earth is completely dry. In this case, you do not need to wait until the entire earthen lump has dried. Water for irrigation must be taken soft and settled.

Top dressing

Fertilizer must be applied every two weeks in late spring and summer. In autumn and winter, top dressing is applied once a month. The most suitable would be highly effective compound fertilizers containing nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in a ratio of 3: 1: 3. Also in spring and summer foliar top dressing with microelements will not be superfluous. Make them necessary once a month.

Light and temperature

For a date palm, bright but indirect sunlight is most suitable. Every 14 days, the pot of wood should be turned the other side to the sun.

In the summer it is better to take out a palm tree in the open air. Summer heat is not afraid of the plant. In winter, the temperature in the room should not fall below 15 degrees, but do not put a tree near the batteries. In the cold season, the palm tree does not need excessively high temperatures.

Transplantation and reproduction

Transplant a young plant every year. The most suitable time of the year for transplantation is late spring. When transplanting, you do not need to destroy the earthball. To transplant the date palm by the method of transshipment, you must:

1. Prepare a more spacious pot.
2. Pour a layer of drainage and some earth.
3. Carefully remove the dates from the pot along with the ground.
4. If the roots have already climbed into the drainage holes, they should be carefully cut.
5. Place the roots of the plant with an earthen lump in a new pot and cover the remaining area with earth.

It will not be possible to propagate a palm tree grown at home, since such a plant does not give dates. They will need to be bought again in the store. You can also purchase a ready-made seedling.

Possible care problems and solutions

If you violate the growing conditions, then the palm can get sick. Also dates can attack various pests. Among them:

1. Mealybugs. They can be determined by the characteristic white coating on the leaves.
2. Spider mite. The affected plant becomes stained, the leaves and stem crack and gradually die. A spider web may appear on the plant.

   

3. Thrips. Leaves affected by these insects are covered with brown-brown spots on the underside. White spots form at the top of the sheet. Leaves gradually turn yellow, dry and fall.
4. Scaffolds. Affected leaves become covered with yellow and brown spots, gradually turn yellow and dry.

   

The pest control process includes three main stages:

1. Mechanical removal. All insects must be removed manually or with a brush from the plant. White plaque that forms when infected with worms must be wiped off with a damp cloth.
2. The use of folk remedies. If the degree of damage is not too high, you can treat the dates with a soap or garlic solution.
3. The use of insecticides.If folk remedies did not help cope with pests, then it is worth resorting to chemical preparations. The most effective are: "Actellik", "Fitoverm", "Intavir", "Fosfamide", "Fufanon".

The plant rarely gets sick with viral, fungal and bacterial diseases. Sometimes a palm can be affected by various rot and spotting. When rot appears, palm leaves become soft, lose color and fall off. The stem also becomes soft, which leads to the inevitable death of the plant.

Often a gray spot is striking the palm. This is a fungal disease that damages the old leaves of a plant. Gray spots appear on the affected leaf plates. After a while, they become covered with black dots - spores.

To cure a tree affected by viruses, bacteria or fungi, it is necessary to carry out treatment with fungicides. Sick parts of the plant must be removed.

In addition, improper care can lead to problems not related to pests or infectious diseases. For example, the tips of palm leaves may begin to dry. This happens if the air in the room is too dry. To fix the problem, you need to regularly spray the palm and wipe the leaves with a damp cloth.

Improper watering can lead to discoloration of the leaves. If the leaves turn yellow, then the plant does not have enough moisture. If the leaf plates turn dark - watering is too plentiful. To get rid of the problem, you need to water the plant correctly and on time.

If the leaves and stems have already begun to rot and a characteristic putrefactive smell has appeared, the plant can no longer be saved. You can only dig up the bush, cut off the dead roots, and sprinkle the remaining living with charcoal. From these roots it will be possible to grow a tree again.

At low temperatures and too acidic soil, the palm may stop growing. It must be remembered that the date grows at a temperature not lower than 18 degrees. In winter, this indicator can be reduced to 15 soil pH should not be higher than 7 units.

Common Growing Questions

Date is a beautiful tropical plant. At home, it can easily be grown from seed. The process of growing palm trees is not complicated, but quite long. It is important to create suitable conditions for the future tree. The date is a fairly hardy plant, however, in order for the palm to have a beautiful appearance, you need to take good care of it.