Date Palm From Date Pits

[toxinsmile]

I found this online the other day and I think I am going to give it a try, thought some of you would be interested too!

HOW TO GROW YOUR OWN DATE PALM

First, obtain some fresh palm seeds. Luckily, most supermarkets sell these conveniently packaged inside dates. Eat the dates and you are left with the seeds.

Soak the seeds for 24 to 48 hours. Change the water once or twice and use a sharp knife or tweezers to pick off any bits of fruit flesh.

Put vermiculite into a plastic sandwich box (or plastic bag). Sprinkle on a couple of teaspoons of water. Then pop in the seeds and mix them in.

Seal the box or bag and put it in the warmest part of the house - in my house, that's above the hot water tank. Then just wait...

Check the seeds every few days. Only if the vermiculite is very dry, add a few more drops of water. Wait until the seeds sprout...

Plant the seeds into little pots of compost. Bury them just beneath the surface and water carefully (don't drown them!)

Keep warm and wait. Eventually, a long seed leaf will appear. At this stage you are well on your way to growing a date palm!

[Rich]

I did that a few years ago. The plants are great, but thet have huge roots which soon outgrow an 11 inch pot. They find their way out of the holes in the bottom and grow outside the pot making it go all wonkey.

In the end I planted them in the garden and they died.

[DandyLioness]

Wonkey, or not, I think it may be worth a shot! Thanks toxinsmile! :P

[PRH]

toxinsmile -
Now that sounds kinda cool to me - hey, its gotta be worth a try at least!
Phil :-) ;)

[MrSeedy]

I grew some date palms easily from pits or (pips) stones or whatever, years ago, but they aren't much to look at for several years, and the first leaves just look a bit like a wide crab grass and they aren't the typical feathery fronds they get later on. At several months you may start to get some early "divisions" of the fronds into the normal pinnate growth, but after a year or so they may grow very fast, and I had to get rid of mine after about ten or so years as it outgrew my house.
Anyway, "regular" stores with unpitted dates will not do the "trick" as most dates in regular stores are "pastuerized" , which means the dates are steamed to make them store better , but that kills the pits , which won't sprout on pastuerized dates.
I went to a heath food store , which had unpitted dates , with the package clearly marked "Unpastuerized Dates" on it.

[Rich]

The ones I grew were from a mass produced pre-packed variety that has the plastic fork which gets so sticky. I can also remember before the plastic fork they used to put a stem from the dates to use as a fork.

[MrSeedy]

It's possible Rich that the regular ones that are pastuerized, would work since dates do grow in climates where the soil can get extremely hot on some days, and you'd think that heat would kill seeds that aren't so heat tollerant. I was basing my resonse of the advice I followed to grow them years back, and never have tried just the regular "mass produced" ones. You didn't by chance read the label on the ones you called "mass produced" to see if it said "Patuerized Dates", since here they must be clearly labeled as such under most circumstances. It's possible that the ones most sold in your average supermarket in England are indeed "unpastuerized" dates, but that's not the case here!!

[gonzer]

B) I always had trouble with my dates! ;)

[Larry the Lamb]

I found a date stone the other day in the computer drawer(dont ask) and i simply placed it in the same pot as my Howea palm.
It is said to take many months so i'll just forget about it and see if owt happens!

[Rich]

!. They germinate pretty quickly, something like a week or two as i recall, but memory ain't what it used to be.

2. I soaked half of them and only half grew, the ones I didn't soak.

[SilenceOfTheClams]

B) I always had trouble with my dates! ;)
Ya Know Gonzer..... somehow I find that hard to believe..... unless "trouble with a date results in marriage...." you bad boy you! :P :P :P

[MrSeedy]

Be careful ,what you wish for however, with those date trees, and as someone mentioned from their garden in Florida , those date fronds have some nasty spines on them so they're not the friendliest of palms , should you need to repot or prune them or even brush past them. Ouch! But the Chinese fan palm I had for years was the same way on the occassions, when I had to take hands-on action with it.

[Larry the Lamb]

!. They germinate pretty quickly, something like a week or two as i recall, but memory ain't what it used to be.

2. I soaked half of them and only half grew, the ones I didn't soak.
Maybe weeks used to be longer in the old days...... ;)