Like all date palms, their smallest representative, the dwarf date palm, also produces fruit. However, the palm tree, which is not particularly easy to care for, needs ideal conditions that cannot be created indoors. The fruits of the dwarf date palm would only be ornamental anyway, as they are not edible.
Are the fruits of the dwarf date palm edible?
The fruits of the dwarf date palm are not edible because they have a bitter taste and rarely bear fruit in European regions. To obtain fruits, they require ideal conditions such as plenty of light, warmth and high humidity, as well as manual pollination.
This is what the fruits of the dwarf date palm look like
In its homeland in Southeast Asia, the flowers of the dwarf date palm develop small fruits that are significantly smaller than those of other date palm species.
They are initially green and later turn purple-brown. The fruits are up to 18 millimeters long and up to 7 millimeters thick.
That's why the fruits are not edible
The fruit of the dwarf date palm is not edible. The taste is so bitter that it is not enjoyable.
When kept indoors or in the garden in European regions, the dwarf date palm, which is only partially hardy, almost never bears fruit anyway, simply because the conditions here are not ideal.
If you manage to get a dwarf date palm to bloom, with a bit of luck you will be able to harvest fruit later. They contain seeds that you can use for propagating the dwarf date palm.
How to Get Dwarf Date Palm Fruits
If you want to get a dwarf date palm to bloom and later bear fruit, you need to establish the natural environmental conditions:
- lots of light, preferably sunny
- additional plant lights in winter
- sufficient heat
- high humidity
Dwarf date palms require high temperatures in summer and a lot of brightness in winter. If you have a winter garden that you can heat and equip with plant lights, you may be able to get the palm tree to bloom and thus later bear fruit. In addition, you must significantly increase the humidity by regularly misting the dwarf date palm with water.
However, you have to do the pollination yourself. To do this you will need a brush and, if possible, several flowering dwarf date palms. The flowers are coated several times with the brush.
Tip
The dwarf date palm is best propagated via shoots that sprout directly from the trunk. They are removed with a sharp knife. They are rooted in potting soil that is made up of a mixture of compost and sand.
