The Date palm tree is a beautiful and historically important tree. It is a large and gorgeous palm tree with greenish pinnate leaves. It is the second most well-known palm tree after the Coconut palm tree. The date palm produces sugary sweet tasty dates.
Dates have been a staple in the Middle East for thousand of years. Today they are important part of the daily diet in many countries of the Middle east. The date palm is a fertility and holy symbol in the Middle East.
There are hundreds of varieties are grown today in the world, every country has its own favorites. Dates are used to make snacks, bread, date paste, date syrup and animal feed.
The date palm is dioecious, only female palms produce dates (if pollinated). It is not possible to tell the sex of a plant for several years. Growers cultivate mostly female plants. There is usually one male for 30-40 females. Female plants start fruiting at 3-5 years, but they start to give a full crop at about 8 years old.
Female plants need copious amounts of water to develop fruits.
The Medjool Phoenix Dactylifera is propagated by seeds or by offsets to ensure sex and quality of fruits.
This tree is also commonly used as a landscape plants in tropical and subtropical regions. It will make a nice addition to any garden or yard. This plant is fairly cold tolerant, however the dates will develop only in hot dry climates.
