Cultivation techniques and characteristics of Canary date palm

The date palm is a world-famous high-end landscape tree with a tall, spectacular, graceful shape and emerald green and shiny leaves. It is native to the Canary Islands on the west coast of Africa. The date palm, also known as the date palm or the Persian date, is a large evergreen tree of the palm family that has sprouted and grown into a 120 cm tall seedling and is produced in the Near East and North Africa. It is a monoecious plant with pinnate compound leaves clustered at the end of the stem. The berries are oblong and shaped like dates. They can be eaten fresh or made into candied fruit. The juice extracted from the stem can be used to make sugar or brew wine.

Canary Date

Canary date palm is an internationally famous landscape tree, growing on the Canary Island on the west coast of Africa. It was introduced to Taiwan in 1909 and to mainland China in the 1980s. It can be cultivated in the open field in tropical and subtropical regions of China, but needs to be slightly covered in the Yangtze River Basin in winter, and needs to be kept warm indoors in the Huanghuai region. Its single trunk is sturdy, upright and majestic, with a beautiful and stretched tree shape, full of tropical style, and is widely used in park landscaping and roadside greening.

Middle Eastern Dates

It is a palm plant that is resistant to high temperatures, flooding, drought, salinity, frost (can withstand severe cold of -10℃, except for the extremely cold winters in the Northeast and Northwest), likes sunlight, and can be grown in tropical to subtropical climates. The requirements for cultivation soil are not strict, but fertile, well-drained organic loam is the best. Silver date palm grows quickly and can be introduced in various places. It is also an excellent indoor plant.

It can be planted alone as a landscape tree, or in rows as a street tree, or in groups of three or five for landscape, which is quite spectacular and is a palm plant full of aristocracy. It is used in residential areas, road greening, courtyards, parks and other landscaping with excellent results, and is a beautiful tropical landscape tree. At present, several real estate projects have planted Middle Eastern date palms, which are very distinctive and have improved the landscape level of the entire real estate. Fujian Huibaichuan Horticulture has planted Middle Eastern date palms of various specifications, which have performed well and are very popular among the people. As a greening seedling production, the Middle Eastern date palm has great market potential. It is one of the fastest-valued tree species among greening seedlings.

Cultivation technology of Canary date palm

1. Botanical characteristics:

The Canary date palm has a single upright trunk, which can reach a natural height of 18m and a trunk diameter of 50-90cm. When young, it is covered with dead leaves, while the base of the petiole remains in old trees. It has wavy leaf scars, pinnate compound leaves, which grow in clusters at the top and open in all directions, forming a large round crown, which can reach 5-6m long and are slightly curved and arc-shaped; the number of pinnae can reach 400, which are green; the leaflets are narrow and strip-shaped, about 100cm long and 2-3cm wide, and the leaflets near the base are tough and become needle-like. The petiole is short, and the base is thickened to become a network of yellow-brown leaf sheaths that wrap the trunk. It is dioecious, and the spadix inflorescence emerges from between the leaves, which can be up to 2m long and has many branches. The berry is ovoid-spherical to oblong, with a slightly protruding tip, and the fruit is 2.5 cm long. When ripe, it is orange-yellow and shiny. The seeds are oval, with a deep groove in the center, gray-brown in color, with a diameter (vertical × horizontal) of 0.9-1.5cm × 0.8-1.0cm, and a thousand-grain weight of about 1000g.

2. Adaptability:

1. Climate and environment: Canary date palms are native to the Canary Islands on the west coast of Africa. They can be cultivated in the open field in tropical and subtropical regions of my country. They need to be slightly covered in the Yangtze River Basin in winter, and they need to be kept warm indoors in the Huanghuai region. The plants are highly heat-resistant and cold-resistant, and mature trees can withstand temperatures as low as -10°C.

2. Ecological adaptability: Canary date palm is an evergreen tree that likes warm and humid environment, light-loving and shade-tolerant. One-year-old seedlings are adapted to a relatively shaded environment, generally 50% shade is best. Mature trees are adapted to an environment with plenty of sunlight.

3. Soil adaptability: Canary date palm is not very demanding on soil quality, and is salt-tolerant and barren-tolerant. It can be planted in coastal areas, coasts, sandy soil, slightly acidic soil and calcareous soil, but loam with good soil permeability and moisture is preferred. Too high groundwater level can easily cause root rot.

3. Seed germination characteristics and seedling raising technology:

1. Seed germination characteristics: The germination type of Canary date palm seeds belongs to the long-distance sheathless type. When the seeds germinate, the cotyledon petiole protrudes from the seed coat and extends downward by about 8 to 13 cm, like an anchor, forming a tubular sheath or tongue-shaped sheath at the cotyledon limb stem, from which leaves grow upward and primary roots grow downward. When the average daily temperature is above 25°C, it takes about 20 to 35 days for the seeds to germinate. However, due to the different maturity of the seeds, the germination time is also different. Some seeds can only germinate in the spring of the following year (April to May).

2. Seed processing and sowing:

① Seed treatment: After harvesting mature seeds, they should be treated in time to remove the peel and pulp. Pour the seeds into a container filled with 1:500 thiophanate-methyl or carbendazim solution and soak for 30 minutes, take them out and soak them in clean water for 24 hours, then sow them and germinate them.

② Seeding and germination: Use river sand, coconut bran and a small amount of loess in a certain proportion to make a moisturizing and transparent sowing matrix, sow the seeds in a clay pot, seedling screen or ground bed, cover with a thin layer of river sand, and shade to moisturize and germinate. When the seeds turn white, put them in a nutrient bag with good permeability (the specification of the nutrient bag is 18cm×9cm) for cultivation. The nutrient soil is 4 parts of sandy loam, 1 part of mushroom soil, and 1 part of rice ash. A layer of film is laid under the nutrient bag. Sow one seed in each bag with the hilum facing down, and then cover with sand with a thickness of 1.5cm.

3. Seedling management:

① Shade and moisturize: After the white seeds are placed in the nutrient bag, a 50% shade shed should be built to minimize sun exposure, cool down and moisturize. In winter, wind shelter and heat preservation should be adopted.

② Fertilizer and water management: When the seedlings grow to 1-2 leaves, the nutrients stored in the seeds are basically exhausted. At this time, spray with 0.5% urea solution or compound fertilizer solution every 15 days. You can also combine spraying with 0.1%-0.2% potassium dihydrogen phosphate or urea solution for foliar topdressing to promote growth. Keep the nutrient soil permeable and not waterlogged to avoid root rot and seedling death.

③ Disease control: Common diseases of Canary date palm seedlings include leaf spot, anthracnose, blight, etc. The main control measures are: First, prevention is the main method. Before the disease occurs, spray with 1:1:100 Bordeaux liquid; second, if the disease has occurred, spray with 500-700 times dilution of thiophanate-methyl (or ridomycin, mancozeb) in turn, and cut off the infected diseased leaves in time and burn them in a centralized manner; second, strengthen fertilizer and water management, increase the application of phosphorus and potassium fertilizers, make the plants grow strong, and improve the disease resistance of the plants.

4. Cultivation and management:

1. Soil selection: The growth of Canary date palm is not very demanding on the soil, but for garden nursery production, fields with convenient transportation, deep soil, rich in organic matter, and convenient drainage and irrigation should be selected.

2. Land preparation and ridge making: After selecting the soil, dig drainage ditches around to prevent soil waterlogging. Land preparation and ridge making, ridge width 130cm, ditch width 20cm. Plant in a "品" shape, dig holes with a row spacing of 100cm×150cm (or 100cm×100cm), 30cm deep and 30cm in diameter, add 0.5-1kg of decomposed farmyard manure or 0.5kg of organic fertilizer to the bottom of the hole, mix well, and then return the soil appropriately.

3. Timely transplanting: When the seedlings grow to 3-5 leaves, they can be transplanted into the field. The best time for transplanting is from April to August. When transplanting, be careful to remove the nutrient bag and do not let the nutrient soil loose, otherwise the survival rate of transplanting will be reduced. The spacing between rows and plants for transplanting is 100cm×150cm (or 100cm×100cm).

4. Field management: Keep the soil moist. During the growing season, apply compound fertilizer once a month. It can be applied dry (ditched shallowly) or in water.