These were planted 1 year ago this month, and are about to embark on their first summer in sunny Tampa, FL. I gave them their first taste of fert in early March however I'm not certain when additional fert should be applied. Any feedback would really help as this is my first time growing from seed.

Canaries and other Phoenix tend to have a deep-diving tap root which gives them their drought tolerance.

I'd leave them in containers for now, but watch the drainage holes for emerging roots which signals time to re-pot to a deeper container, not necessarily wider container.

Use a palm-specific fert according to its instructions for qty of fert per volume of container and temperature.

I've got 4 $11 Canaries from Wal-Mart that are probably 2 - 3 years old still in 2 gal containers. I'm not real talented at seeds. :)

But, I've also got some Ph. dactylifera "Medjool" grocery store date seeds soaking in K. nitrate solution to go into pots this weekend. The dates were delicious. :)

I also have 4 Ph. sylvestris seedlings in 1-gal pots with roots emerging, so they get up-potted this weekend, too.

Hi unautre,
Where did you find the medjool dates? As you may have seen in an earlier post, I had no problem finding dates at Publix for a cheap price and was happy about that... until I discovered that they were not Medjools but Deglet Noors. I would love to find some real Medjools. (see link to my prior post, below)

-Carol

Here is a link that might be useful: Prior Post about my

When I was visiting a friend San Diego, we talked about date palms. When he went shopping, he came back with a packet of Medjool dates.

This is a fascinating site, lots of info:

http://www.dateland.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=Dates

You can buy medjools from them on-line.

They told me their dates will germinate into date palms, but don't expect dates outside of ideal conditions they they have in the western deserts.

As they explain on their site, they propagate new plants from pups/offshoots, to insure that the new plant for their farm is the same as the parent to get reliable reproduction of the same dates. The seeds aren't used because they can't be sure there was no hybridization.

Thanks for the advice unature!

I do plan on keeping these guys in pots for some time as they will be too large as adults for the size lot/house that I currently reside. What size pot do you think I should move them to when the time comes?

Also, how often should I be giving them fert? I am using a Palm specific granular product.

the fert should come with dosage instruction, per size of clear trunk in the ground, per volume of container.

frequency depends on temps, as hotter means more frequent

tampapalm,

I think you will find that Phoenix palms (all species) are some of the easiest palms to grow in pots. They do get large though. It is typical of agressively-growing Phoenix palm roots to 'push' the palm up out of the pot. That will be a sign it's time to repot! More fert will make them grow even faster. You might give Phoenix reclinata a try in pots as it will not grow 'quite' as fast and large as a CIPD. Watch out for the spiny needles on the petioles near the trunks though. They can really hurt!

Since you brought up trying another type of palm, 3 weeks ago I started 10 Bismarck's. After soaking them for 2 weeks I planted them in the same size pots that my Canary's are currently in. The Bismarck's were my wife's choice (not that I'm not excited) so the next seeds to be planted will be my choice. Foxtails are on my mind, but about 2 months ago, squirrels ate 10 of those seeds the day after they were planted. Maybe I'll try some Areca's:)

Yesterday while watering I noticed some roots coming out of the bottom of the pots you see in the pics on my original post. I was under the assumption that these pots would be sufficient for some time, was I wrong? How would it affect the palm if these roots are broken upon repotting?

Just ease/jiggle the dirt/rootball slowly out of the current containers to avoid or minimize breaking the roots. Slight damage shouldn't be a problem.

Be careful not to introduce air pockets into the root ball when re-potting.

As you've learned, many Phoenix have roots that go deep a lot faster than they go wide.

LoveTheYard,

Medjool and Deglet Noor are selections, propagated vegetatively.. They're not subspecies or anything like that. You are not likely to get better results from seeds of one or the other.

Great, my wife is going to kill me! She already thinks the pots I have now are a eye sore, anything bigger and I might be single again. HeHe This is going to take some convincing:)

unature,

I am going to re-pot this weekend and was looking for your thoughts on soil mixture. What would you suggest?

Anyone?

FWIW:

1. no palm has/produces a true taproot.

2. no edible date will come true from seed. All the commercial growers propagate their stocks by removing and transplanting the suckers produced from younger trees.

1 year and four months later.....various yard pics.

Here is a link that might be useful: Yard Pics Summer 07

Looking Good

Added some captions for those that didn't know what they were looking at.

Can I put cutting from growth from base of canary date palm in water or In dirt directly? If water how long? And any thing in water?

Here is a link that might be useful: GardenWeb

You can check out some of our information on our website -- we specialize in specimen palms. Canary Island Date Palms and Dactyliferas as well. We ship nationwide.

Here is a link that might be useful: Big Tree Specialist