- Characteristics of the date palm
- Use of the date palm in the home
- The right care
- Date palms are not poisonous
The date palm is one of the most important commercial trees worldwide. In our latitudes, palm trees with their pinnate leaves are mainly cultivated as houseplants. Worth knowing about the date palm - a profile.
The date palm is native to Africa and the Canary Islands
Characteristics of the date palm
- Botanical name: Phoenix dactylifera
- Family: Arecaceae
- Genus: Date Palms
- Occurrence: Phoenix - Canary Islands, Africa
- Appearance: Feather palm with tufted leaves
- Height: up to five meters in cultivation
- Leaves: green pinnate leaves, up to 60 cm in cultivation
- Flower: yellow-white
- Flowering period: February to June
- Fruits: golden yellow, small in cultivation and not edible
- Use: useful tree in nature. Ornamental plant in the house
- Hardiness: limited to -6 degrees
- Toxicity: non-toxic plant
Use of the date palm in the home
In our latitudes, the date palm is primarily used as an ornamental plant for the home and garden. While date palms can grow up to 25 meters high in nature, they only reach heights of around five meters when cultivated indoors.
Fruits only develop to a limited extent on the cultivated specimens. In contrast to the fruits of the real date palm, they are not edible in nature.
The right care
Date palms prefer a warm, sunny location. In summer, the temperatures are welcome to be 25 degrees and more. In winter, the date palm should be kept cooler. During the winter, the ideal temperature is 15 degrees.
Date palms need a lot of water, but do not tolerate waterlogging. Casting is only done when the top layer of the substrate is completely dry. Is fertilized every 14 days with a commercial liquid fertilizer.
Every four to five years you have to repot a date palm in the spring.
Date palms are not poisonous
Date palms do not contain any toxins and can therefore also be grown in households with children and animals. However, the trunks and the tips of the leaves are quite pointed and sharp, so that you can injure yourself if you handle them improperly. Therefore, place date palms in a safe location.
tips
In the Arab and African region, the date palm plays an important role in food. In nature, it produces many fruits that are not only eaten by humans, but also fed to animals. The trunk and leaves are used for building houses and everyday objects.