When looking for a representative component for indoor greenery, indoor gardeners will find what they are looking for in the date palm. The feather palm impressively decorates living rooms and balconies with long fronds. Savvy hunters appreciate that the queen of palms can be grown from dates. A profile with planting and care instructions provides detailed information. Find out everything you need to know about the date palm as an impressive potted plant with tips on sowing, planting and care.
How do I care for a date palm in a pot?
Date palms are feathery palms that can be cultivated as potted plants indoors or on balconies. Care includes regular watering, fertilizing, and overwintering in cool temperatures. Popular species include the Canary Island date palm (Phoenix canariensis), real date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) and dwarf date palm (Phoenix roebelenii).
Profile
- Scientific name: Phoenix
- Family: Palm family (Arecaceae)
- Synonym: Phoenix palms
- Occurrence: Europe, Africa, Asia
- Growth type: evergreen feather palm
- Winter hardiness: conditionally hardy
- Fruit: Berry
- Flower: panicle
- Growth: single-stemmed, spreading
- Leaf: petiolate, imparipinnate
- Toxicity: not poisonous
- Use: potted plant
Winter hardiness
Date palms are native to subtropical and tropical regions. Two species have settled in the Mediterranean. In their distribution areas, phoenix palms have not learned to survive in bitter cold for long periods of time. When temperatures drop to freezing point, shivering feather palms are common. At least a short-term temperature minimum of -5° to -8° Celsius is attested to the exotic palm trees, which of course leaves little scope for long-term overwintering in the open air. An exception applies to the dwarf date palm (Phoenix roebelenii), which has no resistance to temperatures below 10° Celsius.
Bloom
The date palm is one of the segregated seed plants. Female and male flowers unfold on separate phoenix palms. The flowers look very similar. A yellowish-white flower is composed of three fused sepals and three petals. In the calyx of a male flower there are six stamens with short, erect filaments. In contrast, female flowers have a spherical calyx with three carpels that are not fused together. The stigma has no style and sits directly on a carpel.
The flowers impressively gather to form hanging panicles, which on some Phoenix species are two meters or longer. The flowering period extends from February to May, accompanied by a seductive scent.
Fruit
A phoenix palm bears its first dates when it is five to six years old. The golden brown berries with hard seeds develop from pollinated carpels of female flowers. The tasty dates hang in dense bunches on the feather palm. The following properties characterize the fruits of a date palm:
- Size: 1.5cm to 8cm long
- Weight: 5g to 25g
- Sugar content: 60% to 70%
- Nutritional value: 237 kcal/100 g
Dates are very nutritious, extremely he althy and are called the “bread of the desert”. The following video explains how he alth and well-being benefit if you eat three dates a day for a week.
Video: There are a lot of good things in dates
Toxicity
A date palm is not poisonous and is the ideal potted plant for the family household. The plant parts do not contain any toxins that could be dangerous to children or pets. Only rarely does a feather palm develop its own fruits when grown indoors. A bitter, tart taste makes the ornamental dates inedible for humans. Furthermore, there is no cause for concern if a dog, cat or budgie nibbles on a phoenix palm. The only thing of concern are the sharp thorns that sit on the petioles of the pinnate leaves.
Growth
Characteristic of the date palm is its growth with a fibrous trunk that supports a sprawling crown made up of numerous pinnate fronds. The leaf stalks are usually covered with sharp thorns. A feather palm diligently produces up to 25 new fronds annually. These fall off after three to seven years and leave distinctively grained bark on the trunk. Of the 14 phoenix palms known to date, the following species have become established as potted plants in our regions:
| Date palm species | Real date palm | Canary date palm | Dwarf Date Palm |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scientific name | Phoenix dactylifera | Phoenix canariensis | Phoenix roebelenii |
| Growth height in cultivation | 3 to 8 m | 2 to 5 m | 1 to 1, 50 m |
| Fruits | edible | inedible | inedible |
| Frond | 3 to 5 m long | 2 to 5 m long | 1 to 2 m long |
| Silhouette | narrow | expansive | petite |
In the competition for the most beautiful date palm for living rooms, winter gardens and summer balconies, the Canary Islands date palm and the easy-care dwarf date palm are neck and neck. As a symbol of the desert oases, the legendary real date palm is quite large for cultivation in a container and remains significantly slimmer than its counterparts.
Grow your own date palm and plant it properly
You can easily grow a date palm yourself from fresh or dried dates. First, enjoy the sugary-sweet pulp that envelops the hard core. Pre-treating the seeds improves the mood for germination. The following instructions explain step by step how to grow a palm tree from dates and plant it in a pot:
Sowing
The materials you need are: date seeds, 1 pair of tweezers, 1 bowl, coconut soil or sowing substrate, growing pot with a transparent lid (€15.00 on Amazon), ball spray, collected rainwater or stale tap water.
- Remove the membrane from the seeds with tweezers
- Soak date seeds in water for 48 hours
- Fill the cultivation pot with coconut soil
- Plant dark germinating seeds 1 cm deep in the substrate
- Pour with a fine spray
- Put on the lid or put the plastic bag over it
- Set up in a bright, warm location
Germination begins within six to eight weeks. Keep the soil constantly slightly moist and ventilate the hood daily to prevent mold from forming.
Planting a date palm in a pot – tips
The following tips provide a compact overview of what you should pay particular attention to when planting a home-grown or ready-made date palm as a container plant:
- Bucket: deep palm pot with space for the taproots and a bottom opening for water drainage
- Soil: permeable substrate as a mix of peat-free palm soil, compost soil, sand and expanded clay
- Drainage: 5 to 10 cm high soil layer made of lava granules, expanded clay or pottery shards
- Location in summer: Sunny, warm and sheltered, preferably on a balcony or terrace
The dwarf date palm makes up for its pronounced sensitivity to frost by good-naturedly accepting a partially shaded location.
Excursus
Planting permitted in regions with mild winters
Planting date palms in beds is reserved for hobby gardeners in mild wine-growing regions. Important criteria guarantee a magnificent feather palm. In a full sun location with permeable soil, the roots should have access to groundwater. Extensive winter protection is mandatory, as has proven to be excellent for the olive tree.
Date palm – the best care tips
If a date palm is given the right care, the desert beauty can live very long away from its homeland. The following care tips explain how to do it right:
Watering and fertilizing
A date palm does not tolerate drought or waterlogging. Because as a container plant it is denied access to groundwater, regular watering plays a key role in the care program. The water and nutrient supply is tailored to the season.
During the main growing season, water thoroughly as soon as the soil feels dry. Let low-lime water run from the can spout onto the root disk until the pot saucer fills up. After 10 minutes, pour away any accumulated water to prevent waterlogging. Add a liquid, low-s alt palm fertilizer to the irrigation water every two weeks. From the end of September/beginning of October, water and fertilize less frequently. The reduced care prepares your date palm for the upcoming overwintering.
Wintering
In order to survive a Central European winter he althy and happy, date palms cannot rely on a home advantage. Balcony and terrace palms must be moved in good time. Indoor palms can remain in their usual location, but benefit from a special winter quarters. How to properly overwinter a date palm:
- Putting away: at temperatures below 5° Celsius (dwarf date palm at 15° Celsius)
- Winter quarters: bright and cool at 10° to 12° Celsius (dwarf date palm at 18° to 20° Celsius)
- Watering: water sparingly, occasionally spraying with lime-free water
- Fertilizing: liquid fertilize every 6 weeks at half concentration
- Clearing out: End of March/beginning of April from nighttime temperatures above freezing
Clearing out in stages effectively prevents sunburn on the feather fronds. Place the potted plant in a partially shaded location for two weeks before the palm tree takes its usual summer spot in the sun.
Cutting
Shaping and maintenance pruning is not necessary for date palms. Palm trees are not real trees, they only have a growing point at the top and have no sleeping eyes from which the plant could sprout again. Do not cut off a dried frond until it is completely dead. Please leave an equal piece of each leaf stem for an even trunk.
Repotting
You should repot your date palm every three to four years. At this point the palm tree has completely rooted its pot and the substrate has been exhausted. The diameter of the new palm pot is so large that there is two to three finger widths of space between the root ball and the edge of the pot. The focus is on the sensitive, fleshy roots, which must not be affected during repotting work. This is how you properly repot a phoenix palm:
- Best time is in spring
- In the new palm pot, create a 10 cm high drainage made of lava granules or clay shards
- Remove any substrate stuck to the edge of the bucket with a long knife
- Pull the date palm out of the pot without much effort
- Shake off or rinse off used soil
- Cut off rotten, dead roots with a disinfected knife
- Fill the pot with fresh soil up to half the height
- Plant date palm (maintain previous planting depth)
Press the fresh substrate firmly so that no cavities form in the root area. Please remember to have a watering rim so that nothing spills over when watering frequently. Water the repotted feather palm thoroughly. Fertilization is carried out for the first time after six weeks.
Brown tips – what to do?
Brown tips are the result of drought stress in the soil and indoor air. The date palm cannot regenerate from the damage. With a precise cut you can restore the representative appearance of the fronds. This is how it works:
- Cut back brown tips to 1 mm in front of the green leaf tissue
- Recommended cutting tool: scissors with 2 straight, sharp blades
- As a preventative measure, spray pinnate leaves regularly with lime-free water
You should accept a wafer-thin strip of brown fabric. If you cut off the brown tips down to the green leaf area, the affected feathers will continue to dry back and the repair cut will become a “bottomless pit”.
White dots – what to do?
If the fronds of a date palm are covered in white dots, there are pests behind them. Mostly these are spider mites, scale insects or mealybugs. You can effectively fight the rabble with simple home remedies. Wipe off the white dots with a damp rag. Spray the palm fronds with a soft soap and spirit solution (1 l soft water, 20 ml soft soap, 20 ml spirit). Treat the tops and bottoms of the leaflets to catch any pests.
Popular varieties
The well-known species real date palm, Canary Island date palm and dwarf date palm are not the only phoenix palms for creative living space greening, as the following selection of varieties shows:
- Cretan date palm (Phoenix theophrasti): Rarity from Crete, growth height in the pot up to 5 m, 1.5 to 2 cm small, mealy-sweet dates.
- Senegalese date palm (Phoenix reclinata): multi-stemmed growth, extra long thorns, 3 m high as a container plant.
- Mexican fan palm (Washingtonia robusta): similar to a Canary Island date palm, height 10 m, no edible fruits
FAQ
When are date palms allowed outdoors?
When overwintering date palms, abrupt temperature fluctuations should be avoided. After spending months in frost-free or heated winter quarters, you should ideally wait until mid-April before you initiate the acclimatization phase. First place the potted plants in a partially shaded, wind-protected location for 14 days. Beforehand, use a minimum-maximum thermometer to check whether the nights remain frost-free. For the non-hardy dwarf date palm, the outdoor season only begins at 15° Celsius.
How to save a dry date palm?
As an immediate measure, we recommend an immersion bath. Fill a bucket with room temperature, soft water. Carefully pot up the dried root ball. Now place the dried date palm in the water. The root disc should be just below the water surface. Soak the dried root ball until no more air bubbles appear. Before you pot the date palm, please allow the water to drain well.
Are dates poisonous to cats?
Dates are not poisonous to cats. If a fruit is on the menu from time to time, veterinarians have no objection to it. Given the high sugar content, the treat should not be served every day. Furthermore, it is harmless for your cat if a date palm bears fruit as a potted plant. Your curious darling won't nibble on a non-poisonous ornamental date for long anyway, because the fruits have a repulsive, bitter taste.
Is the date palm poisonous to a budgie?
No, the date palm is not poisonous to budgies. Neither the pinnate leaves, the trunk nor the fruits contain toxic ingredients. For this reason, the most beautiful species and varieties of the exotic palm genus are popular potted plants for families with animals.
Where do dates grow?
From the genus of date palms (Phoenix), it is primarily the real date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) that bears edible fruits. The oriental cultivated plant is a widespread desert plant. For productive growth, date palms depend on lots of sun, plenty of water through root access to groundwater and temperatures of 30° to 35° Celsius for months. The most important growing countries have these basic conditions to offer. These include Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Algeria. The dates from our supermarket or he alth food store mostly come from Tunisia.
What is the significance of the date palm in the Sahara?
The date palm has served as a source of livelihood for the inhabitants of the Sahara for more than 4,000 years. Date palms have settled in almost every desert oasis because they find ideal conditions here. Plenty of sun, scorching heat and permeable soil with access to groundwater promote the growth of nutritious dates. For this reason the fruits are also called “bread of the desert”. Dates have been of economic importance since the inhabitants of the Sahara began growing date palms in palm gardens and exporting them all over the world.
Which winter quarters are suitable for the Canary Island date palm?
The decisive factor for the suitable winter quarters for a Phoenix canariensis is the right combination of temperature and light. The following variants are available for successful wintering: Cold house at 5° to 12° Celsius and 1000 lux. Lukewarm quarters (staircase, bedroom) at 12° to 18° Celsius and 2000 lux. Warm house (heated winter garden, living room) at 18 ° to 24° Celsius and 3000 lux daily for at least 8 to 12 hours.
