I wouldnt expect that kind of growth either! It looks like it is already starting to get a little trunk going, but at that growth rate I would say 2-5 years before you start seeing a true trunk (the top of your leaves would probably reach 14 feet or more by then!)
Thanks for sharing your pics, quite a nice palm! Also your low temps are pretty good (more like a zone 8b) so it should have much of a probelm in many of your winters (with protection, I can see why it made it through so beautifully)

Good luck!!

That will be a monster in 15-20 years! You must take good care of it!

At this rate, it will be a monster in 5-7 years. In 20 years a record for AL.

It must like what ever you are doing and the soil and weather must be well most of the year. That must be a good location. I'd palnt another - do the need cross pollenation?

Imagine getting dates.

Hey Joey, I'm not very far from you, I'm in Escambia County. Did you cover your palms this past week? I have a Canary Island palm that I plan on planting come spring and your pics give me some good hope. I'm also curious about your soil, if it's like mine it's very silty.

WOW! That is some amazing growth. What a great looking Medjool! That thing is going to be a monster in not too many years if it keeps up like that.

FYI, A word about getting edible dates in the gulf coast/ southeast. While you will probably get edible dates if you have male and female trees, you probably will not want to eat them. They will be rather insipid or possibly just downright bitter. Dates need extreme HOT and DRY weather to produce the quality dates you are used to eating. Humidity and wet will affect taste, and can also lead to lots of problems for the fruit such as mold. When I say heat, I mean MAJOR HEAT, such as that of a desert, where most dates you eat are grown. MANY days at or above 100F. Also, most of the dates you eat are usually grown from cuttings from prized stock, and not from seeds. However, even if you do have a pure prized Medjool date palm grown from prized stock, unless you are growing them in a desert, with fairly strict climate conditions (wet season/ dry season, and LOTS of very high heat and lower humidity in dry season) you will probably not want to eat the dates even that prized stock produces. Now if you are just looking for a beautiful tree, well they do well in many places, including the very humid southeastern U.S.

I cant wait to see how your tree grows! Should be a beauty regardless of how the dates taste! Good luck!

Did that thing eat your daughter and drink up your pool?
I hope it's not close to your house!

alabamatreehugger: We tied them up and wrapped them. Our sand here is almost solid clay.

novaplantguy: I'm not growing them for dates, although that would be nice. Medjools are simply some of the most beautiful palms to me.

The most beautiful, and my favorite, are Cuban Royal Palms. I have had one of those in the ground here since Feb 2008. It's already taller than me!

how do u protect your cuban?

Anyone know of a way to tell these younger date palms apart? My CIDP looks very similar to the one in that pic, so it's possible mine could be P.dactylifera too, or maybe sylvestris. The lady that sold it to me didn't seem very knowledgeable about them and all of the young ones look the same to me.

{{gwi:1115214}}

bamatreehugger, that looks like a CDIP to me. The reason I say that is the color is a brighter green, and the leaves are a bit longer are more 'gracefully arcing' that those of the Medjool. That looks EXACTLY like the potted CDIP I had about 10 years ago. Sadly, It got so big in its pot, that I neglected to haul it inside (its fronts would have taken up a huge mount of space anyway) and the pot froze solid, killing it outright. =o( I wish I had kept it or donated it, but the cold hit when I was not in town and there was nothing I could do. I can only imagine how HUGE it would have been by now.

Thanks Nova. Mine is definitely ready to come out of that 7 gallon pot. The nursery was in the process of planting these into the field, but I managed to get this one before they planted it. I think I gave about $20 for it which was a good deal to me.

Great pic and wonderful growth. Date palms do well anywhere they get enough water, hot summer temps and they can take a bit of cold as this proves. this is clearly a seedling, so not a true Medjool but a seedling from a Medjool. 50% chance it will be female and be able to have fruit, %50 chance of male with pollen flowers. If female, the main problem with the fruit is that the humidity will cause it to sour and rot long before it can ripen. You will probably want to cut the fruit branches out each year before they become a sticky mess.
Again, good job, great growth, beautiful palm
Arthur the date palm guy.

I have what I think is a date palm with rotting fruit. I live in Hoover Alabama. The tree is about 8 or 9 years old. Does anyone think I can harvest the fruit in the future? I hated this tree when my husband planted it, but I am becoming attached to it. I know it needs help, any suggestions?

Just went out today and snapped this pic of the same tree, 11 years later (Aug 2020)...

I just started some date palms in little buckets!

Went searching through and found this. I am so impressed. I love date palms they are beautiful and the entire lifecycle especially the amazing fruit they create just fascinates me. So I am going to start my own and include it in my plans..

They're in pots i'm guessing i'll have to put them in the ground pretty early. I live in Alabama, I have a piece of land that is empty I inhereted and to turn it into a fruit garden is the goal that will provide a substantial amount of fruit rather than going to the grocery to get it. I am Starting with planting my date palms. Also starting peaches and apples.

Hopefully they survive, it can get as cold as you recorded here and very rarely but possibly lower. But its just an experiment after all. I was actually looking for techniques that exist where I could attempt to possibly make the palm grow so that it doesn't actually trunk up much and could be harvested by an average or tall person with the need for only a stool or nothing at all.

Thanks for coming back after so many years and posting the image! VERY cool!!