Palm date. Care and Growth

The name "date palm" is romantically associated with the legendary phoenix - a bird with a female head that burned itself, anticipating death, but then reborn from the ashes more youthful and beautiful. So the palm tree - growing on dead glowing sand 150-200 years in the desert, withers. But new shoots are formed from the perishing trunk and seed.

The palm is known as an edible plant. And in the food are seeds, fruits, young leaves and even the core of the trunk. Historically, the palm tree has been known for a long time. Even the ancient Greeks proclaimed a palm branch in the hands of the messengers about their victory. Ancient Egyptians used the ability of the leaves of a palm to die every month, giving a new leaf, like a calendar. The sacred books of India were scratched with an iron needle on palm leaves. In India, the date palm was the emblem of an ancient country, where its image was minted on coins. From the Latin language the name of a palm tree is translated as fingers. And fingers of a palm tree are its dates.

In many countries, a date palm tree is cultivated and grown at home. Care for her is not complicated. The plant needs a bright light, even direct sunlight is allowed . A place for palm trees is best left near the window facing south-east or south. The palm tree is a sun-loving plant, with lack of light, the leaves of the date palm become fragile and can be stretched. Therefore, it is important that the light is evenly applied to the plant, for which the palm must periodically turn. In the summer of the date palm, 18-20 ° C is a moderate temperature regime. In the winter, the date palm, the care of the varieties of which is different, is contained at a temperature of 8 - 20 ° C, depending on the species. The plant needs abundant watering, but, without allowing stagnation in the pot of water. In summer, you can leave some liquid in the pan. In the winter, watering can be reduced, but at the same time, make sure that the earth mat does not dry up. Leaves in this case fall off and are not restored, so you will have to resort to tying yourself to a trunk or a support, and spots may also appear. Palma date, care of which involves the use of only soft water, with hard water prone to chlorosis - on the leaves are formed brown spots, growth slows down. The spotted leaves are observed when the plants are over-watered during the winter season.

In February or March, you can try growing a date palm from the bone. To do this, you need a bone of a raw date that has just been eaten. For a day it is necessary to allow the bone to dry out, so that there is no decay from the remains of the fetus. Then the hard bone dates should be soaked for several days in warm water, changing the water daily. During this time, the bone will swell and the sprout will be easier to break through into the light. You can resort to one of the following methods: scald hot water, scratch the bone before soaking, to speed up the process of penetration of water into the cells or to make a shallow incision in the bone itself, so that it quickly split. Then the stone is vertically planted in the ground. The temperature for germination should be observed within 25-30 ° C. The soil should be moistened daily. To grow bones it is necessary 1,5-3 months after planting in a pot. When the sprout reaches 10 cm, it can be transplanted into a pot, where the date palm tree will grow further. Care for her is the same as for the other plants belonging to this group.

Another type of palm trees grown at home is a hovei palm, derived from the island where it grows. This beautiful and hardy plant, unpretentious in care, can tolerate dry air and shade of the room quite well. The indoor palm hoveju can be grown near the north-western and north-eastern windows of the room.