Pros and Cons Medjool Date Palm versus Sylvester Date Palm

[ngservet]

Hi Guys,

Can someone provide me the pros and cons of of the Medjool Date Palm versus the Sylvester Date Palm? I have read many conflicting arguments and I hope I can find some honest feedback here. I understand they are both susceptible to disease such as Lethal Bronzing so I will already throw that out there.

Thanks,

Nick

Edited January 15, 2021 by ngservet

[PalmatierMeg]

Medjool date palms - Phoenix dactylifera - prefer dry, arid heat. They are mostly grown in desert or near desert conditions. A Medjool grown in the humid, wet SE US won't be happy and will suffer the problems abetted by the humid climate: fungal diseases. They will also produce inferior fruit so if you are looking to grow your own eating dates you will be disappointed. I also don't know how cold hardy they are during cold, wet SE winters. Dry cold is much more forgiving. While true date palms exist in FL, they are not common and make inferior landscape plants.

Phoenix sylvestris was the only date palm I would consider adding to our yard, aside from the roebelinii triple my husband bought years ago. I think it is the most elegant and beautiful of the date palms because of its thin trunk and silvery green fronds. It better copes with the SE climate and almost always looks good if cared for. They are starting to be used in my area as landscape and avenue palms. That said, it is as vicious as the other species so I admire them from afar.

What I'm not sure about is whether any date species can survive the cold, wet winters where you live.

[climate change virginia]

you live in a warm 8b I think if I were you I would go with a p. sylvestis as long as you protect it when it gets cold.

[ngservet]

@climate change virginiaI read the Sylvester Date Palm is hardy down to 15F and then some sources suggest 22F. Not sure what to believe but nevertheless I have seen plenty in the area that pulled through our freak winter event in January 2018 just fine. I would plan on injecting the trees also just for extra safety against Lethal Bronzing and any other types of disease since they are expensive trees. Where I am located its on the ocean so our winter lows are usually running 5-7F degrees warmer than the official reports at Charleston International Airport which is 35 mi roughly to the NW and inland.  We also benefit from having a saltwater tidal marsh on the backside of the property along with a live oak canopy. Neighbors Canary Island and Sylvester Date palms are doing just fine but I like the look of the medjools a little better. I read they are cold hardier but that's relative to a dry climate. Either way I might be zone pushing but the truth is we are very likely 9a. We have winters like last year were it never dropped below 32 and then 2018 winters were we have 6 consecutive nights below freezing and a low of 16F.

[ahosey01]

IMO if you're not harvesting dates or sap, then they're basically the same palm with different tolerance for weather:

P. dactylifera (Medjool date palm) prefers scorching, melt-your-face, 0% humidity, no-cloud summer sunshine.  Its cold hardiness is almost entirely dependent upon soil and air moisture.  Some specimens in places like El Paso have survived brief dips into single digits where the climate is dry - but I've heard from east-coasters that they start to die off in the low 20s if the soil is wet and the air is humid.  Either way, they can start to look like **** and succumb to diseases in wet climates that they have no issues with in dry climates.

P. sylvestris (Sylvester date palm) on the other hand, is basically all of the above for wet climates.

That said, I'm sure that plenty on here would disagree with my characterization that they're the "same palm."  I don't mean this literally.  There are certainly notable differences between the two, but not as substantial as - say - P. dactylifera v. P. canariensis or P. sylvestris v. P.  reclinata.  And certainly most would agree that P. theophrasti and P. atlantica are closer to P. dactylifera than P. sylvestris is.  I am being partially hyperbolic in calling them the "same palm."  The point is, though, they're similar in appearance and application - common in agriculture (dactylifera for dates and sylvestris for sap), popular in commercial plantings, generally tough as nails and also a nightmare to prune.

At the end of this monologue, I recommend the following advice:

• If you want a Phoenix "date palm" species in a dry climate, plant P. dactylifera.
• If you want a Phoenix "date palm" species in a wet climate, plant P. sylvestris.
• If you're a true PTer, plant both.

[ngservet]

@ahosey01 If I understand correctly the Sylvester Date Palm is just as cold hardy as the Medjool Date Palm but better suited for the humid southeast? I would also plan to eject these palms with palm jet for continued growth and good health.

[ahosey01]

49 minutes ago, ngservet said:

@ahosey01 If I understand correctly the Sylvester Date Palm is just as cold hardy as the Medjool Date Palm but better suited for the humid southeast? I would also plan to eject these palms with palm jet for continued growth and good health.

P. sylvestris is more cold hardy than P. dactylifera in wet climates.

P. dactylifera is more cold hardy than P. sylvestris in dry climates.

[Meangreen94z]

Large Phoenix Sylvestris are all over here in Austin, Texas which sees 15*F every 5-7 years. When it’s that cold, it’s a wet icy cold here. So comparable to what you would see. 

[ngservet]

@Meangreen94z Do you ever see Medjols out there in Austin?

[climate change virginia]

I wish there was a hybrid that would be amazing

[DAVEinMB]

@climate change virginia

Consensus on here is this is a sylvestris x dactylifera (or dactylifera x sylvestris). Absolutely gorgeous palm and tough, been in the ground 10+ years and has never been protected.

Edited January 16, 2021 by DAVEinMB

[JLM]

21 minutes ago, climate change virginia said:

I wish there was a hybrid that would be amazing

Plenty of them.

 

[climate change virginia]

1 minute ago, DAVEinMB said:

@climate change virginia

Consensus on here is this is a sylvestris x dactylifera.  Absolutely gorgeous palm and tough, been in the ground 10+ years and has never been protected.

Thats HUGE what is the lowest its seen?

[climate change virginia]

2 minutes ago, JLM said:

Plenty of them.

 

ima check out that thread thaks 

[DAVEinMB]

Just now, climate change virginia said:

Thats HUGE what is the lowest its seen?

It's weathered some serious ice events with prolonged temps below freezing as well

[climate change virginia]

Just now, DAVEinMB said:

It's weathered some serious ice events with prolonged temps below freezing as well

wow those temps would kill most phoenix sp. the dacty hardiness and the sylvestris wet tolerance seems to be making a hybrid vigor