Phoenix dactylifera date palm pups

[Reyes Vargas]

Hello I have a Phoenix dactylifera date palm in my backyard which has two off shoots growing from the trunk about 6 inches off the ground.  Do you think that I can remove them and plant them if so how would I go about it?  They don't have any roots since its not in contact with soil.  It's not a special variety that I want to reproduce I just would like some more date trees and not have to wait for the seed grown tree to grow.  I would obviously wait for next spring when it gets hot.  If you guys say that it is possible I will attempt to do it if not I will just let it grow in to sort of a Saguaro palm.  Any advice would help.  Thanks.

[Fusca]

49 minutes ago, Reyes Vargas said:

If you guys say that it is possible I will attempt to do it if not I will just let it grow in to sort of a Saguaro palm.  Any advice would help.  Thanks.

It's definitely possible, but I couldn't tell you how.  Hopefully @jimmyt can chime in - I believe he successfully rooted one this year.  Yours look to be large enough for sure.

[jimmyt]

You can.  I did it to mine up here in Zn 8a/8b in early summer. No roots. Offshoot was off the ground. I have some before and after photos.  I currently have it in a 5 gal. pot.  Definitely wait to do it when the weather is WARM! You can use pots or in ground methods as long as you keep them slightly moist. It will lose a few fronds but the crown remains alive.  I will get a potted up pic when I get home if there is enough light.

 

[Reyes Vargas]

28 minutes ago, jimmyt said:

You can.  I did it to mine up here in Zn 8a/8b in early summer. No roots. Offshoot was off the ground. I have some before and after photos.  I currently have it in a 5 gal. pot.  Definitely wait to do it when the weather is WARM! You can use pots or in ground methods as long as you keep them slightly moist. It will lose a few fronds but the crown remains alive.  I will get a potted up pic when I get home if there is enough light.

 

Hey jimmyt I have some more questions.  How did you get that sucker off the tree? Just by Brute Force? That off shoot is stuck on there.  I tug on it and it doesn't move an inch.  Once I get it off what kind of soil do I use in the pots?  Is there a special blend that you recommend or just plain native soil is fine?  And finally how much and how often do you water it?  Thank you so much for responding.

[jimmyt]

Here is the offshoot now in a 5gal pot.  6 months later.  I used a solid edge Roofing Mutt to cut it off flush smooth from the mother palm.(see pic below)  I used that because I have one and I can put force behind it and also control it.  You could use a fine tooth saw or a machete.  I just don’t recommend “chopping” at it.  Keep the cut edge smooth. Don’t pull it off. Chances are you would break the growth point. Soil is not critical just make sure it drains well and does not set in soggy or wet soil. Water it when it starts to dry out a couple of inches down.  Don’t let it go completely dry.  Have patience!

[awkonradi]

This is a question, not a recommendation.  I am not wise about the following.  If you heaped soil around the bases of the pups in the original post, then would those pups develop roots?  If you did that, then could you wait 1-2 years, and then sever the pups when they already had some roots.

[jimmyt]

@awkonradi

You could mound up soil to the base of the pups and wait, but they should be near the existing soil line to start. Too much soil mounded that high up toward the crown will invite fungal growth and invasion from pests over time.

[jimmyt]

@Reyes Vargas @awkonradi

watch this YouTube video on date palm offshoot separation. That is where I started.  I cannot understand Egyptian but the video needs no voice and has some subtitles.  Also you can just YouTube search “how to remove pups from a date palm”. There are several usable videos.

https://youtu.be/bOvmmqRRNqU

 

[Reyes Vargas]

Thanks will check that out.

[Kris]

Dear Reyes Vargas,Do you know whether the mother palm is a male or female date palm,if its a male then the pups will also be a male palm.So if you want to get date fruits from your plantings you will need a male and female date palm.

Love,

Kris.

[Reyes Vargas]

4 hours ago, Kris said:

Dear Reyes Vargas,Do you know whether the mother palm is a male or female date palm,if its a male then the pups will also be a male palm.So if you want to get date fruits from your plantings you will need a male and female date palm.

Love,

Kris.

It's a male tree.  I don't care about the fruit I'm just growing it for the beauty aspect of the date palms.  Thanks Kris.

[Reyes Vargas]

I don't think a roofing mutt is going to be enough to remove this off shoot.  I might need to use a reciprocating saw with a brand new tree triming blade.  That thing is massive.  In also going to try removing some of my. Cliff date palm off shoots.  Hope it works.

[Fusca]

1 hour ago, Reyes Vargas said:

 In also going to try removing some of my. Cliff date palm off shoots.  Hope it works.

Nice palms!  But since Phoenix rupicola is solitary yours are likely hybrids if they're suckering.  Most Phoenix that are sold are hybrids since they hybridize so easily.

[Merlyn]

1 hour ago, Reyes Vargas said:

I don't think a roofing mutt is going to be enough to remove this off shoot.  I might need to use a reciprocating saw with a brand new tree triming blade.  That thing is massive.

I've had good luck cutting up oak stumps and pruning with the Diablo 3 TPI carbide pruning blades.  I gave up on the regular steel blades because I was cutting a lot in sandy soil.  They'd get dull in just a couple of cuts, while the carbide ones would last all day if I didn't break it.

[Reyes Vargas]

2 hours ago, Fusca said:

Nice palms!  But since Phoenix rupicola is solitary yours are likely hybrids if they're suckering.  Most Phoenix that are sold are hybrids since they hybridize so easily.

I've always thought that Phoenix rupicola was a clumping palm.  You learn something new every day.  So what palm do you think that it could be hybridized with?  Maybe a reclinata or maybe just a regular dactylifera.  The fronds look nothing like the reclinata.  I have included a picture of the seeds if that helps.

[Fusca]

6 hours ago, Reyes Vargas said:

I've always thought that Phoenix rupicola was a clumping palm.  You learn something new every day.  So what palm do you think that it could be hybridized with?  Maybe a reclinata or maybe just a regular dactylifera.  The fronds look nothing like the reclinata.  I have included a picture of the seeds if that helps.

Yes, those seeds don't look like pure rupicola but look more like reclinata.  I'm no expert on IDs but based on the pic you posted in the other thread I agree with Dave that it looks like reclinata or possibly reclinata x rupicola.  There are some reclinata photos in Palmpedia.net that resemble rupicola because they were trimmed to a single trunk.

[Reyes Vargas]

Here is another picture that is little closer.

[ChrisA]

4 hours ago, Reyes Vargas said:

Here is another picture that is little closer.

Wow!   Sweet looking palm. Good luck with the pups, would be a very economical way of getting more palms.

[jimmyt]

20 hours ago, Reyes Vargas said:

I don't think a roofing mutt is going to be enough to remove this off shoot.  I might need to use a reciprocating saw with a brand new tree triming blade.  That thing is massive.  In also going to try removing some of my. Cliff date palm off shoots.  Hope it works.

Use any tool that cuts clean.  Fine-toothed tree saw, etc.  for that large pup I would dig out the ground underneath it, then slice it off.  If you watched the videos of the date palm farmers they went at them with makeshift pickaxes and shovels. I have found the pups to be tough and very resilient.

[Reyes Vargas]

This morning I was looking at the base of the date pup that I'm going to attempt to remove this coming summer at it appears that it does have roots.  It just might have a better chance of surviving the move now.  Let's just hope that I don't completely destroy the roots when I attempt to remove it from the mom.

[jimmyt]

Even my aerial pup had a few roots too.  I would dig down and salvage as many roots as possible.  I would still wait until it is warm season to start.

[Howeadypsis]

Is it possible to air layer palms like you can with other plants?

[mydateplams]