Does Texas produce edible dates?

[bubba]

Does Texas produce edible dates? I know the dryer the climate the better. I have heard stories about some edible dates in the dryer part of the Keys (39 inches annually). I know the RGV has gradually a dryer climate as you move West and becomes almost desert like. Can anyone confirm or explain if Texas has places that produce edible dates? If edible dates can be produced further East, I am all ears! Thank you!

[Xerarch]

So I was waiting a bit to see if someone else had a better answer than me on the other thread where this question was posed.  But I will gladly share whatever I know.  The driest parts of Texas in the far west aren't really warm enough for excellent date health/production, zone 8b is about as good as you'll find that way, still pretty cold.  I also know that commercial date plantings were trialed in south Texas around Carrizo Springs.  Those efforts were abandoned and I think the actual trees were removed and transported to more favorable climates like the hottest deserts of Arizona and California.  So the short answer is no, there is no date production in Texas as far as commercial operations as far as I know.  But your actual questions seems to address whether they can produce edible dates at all.  My understanding is that the Medjool variety isn't quite so picky and may produce edible fruit in humid environments.  So I think you could get some edible fruit here, but I don't know of anyone that does it, they need to be hand pollinated for proper fruit production etc.  and I don't know if anyone is trying to get good fruit on purpose.

[bubba]

Very interesting! I am not interested in commercial date operations. I am only interested in folks who have a date palm that actually produces or has produced edible dates in any location East of Cali/Az. Thank you for your response!

[Xenon]

How are we defining "edible"? Dates in Texas and the southeast set plenty of viable seed with "edible" mesocarp. Probably better as "fresh dates" (before drying). 

Edited March 23, 2022 by Xenon

[Austinpalm]

15 minutes ago, Xerarch said:

The driest parts of Texas in the far west aren't really warm enough for excellent date health/production, zone 8b is about as good as you'll find that way, still pretty cold.  

A small area around Presidio is listed as 9a on some maps so that might be the best place in the state to try.

[Little Tex]

In Starr county which is 9b/10a There is a few, It is completely different then hidalgo or Cameron, It is quite dry.  Even in Hidalgo there is some, I doubt it in Cameron. 

EDIT: now that I think of it, in Harlingen there was a few fruiting ones at the airport, but That had to be 10 years ago last time I was at the airport there. 

[Xerarch]

So yes, they will hold fruit on them I'm sure almost anywhere in the state where the palm grows well.  I see them with fruit here in Corpus. The question is, are they any good to eat.  I'm not sure what the answer is.

[buffy]

43 minutes ago, Austinpalm said:

A small area around Presidio is listed as 9a on some maps so that might be the best place in the state to try.

I was in Presidio this past week. It's like a sink along the Rio Grande. You gain a thousand feet of elevation all around it. It was 91F the day I was there. As you head further south into Big Bend, there is a group of male P. dactylifera at the Hot Springs. There are stretches of flat land south of Saint Elena Canyon that would probably work for dates. But you're on the freaking moon out there. Water and transportation would be a challenge. Brewster County no longer provides new water taps. Presidio County has farm land running along the Rio Grande, so that might actually have the best potential. All of their W. robustas look unharmed after the winter, so that's a decent indicator. 

[bubba]

I will attempt to clarify my question. It does not apply strictly to Texas. It does not apply to commercial production. As Xenon pointed out, I meant edible dates.

Are there any areas from Texas eastward that can produce edible dates? Perhaps a freak tree in Odessa, Harlingen or some other state.

[Xerarch]

Saw these beauties on a sylvester date today, I would have tried them if I could have reached them. 

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

On 3/23/2022 at 8:47 AM, bubba said:

Does Texas produce edible dates? I know the dryer the climate the better. I have heard stories about some edible dates in the dryer part of the Keys (39 inches annually). I know the RGV has gradually a dryer climate as you move West and becomes almost desert like. Can anyone confirm or explain if Texas has places that produce edible dates? If edible dates can be produced further East, I am all ears! Thank you!

To the best of my knowledge the ideal areas to try to get good edible dates in Texas, would be the areas from Rio Grande City up the river to Laredo, and probably even up to Eagle Pass.  All of this area is solid 9B Climate, with Eagle Pass probably being borderline between 9A and 9B, if I had to guess.  It is desert climate there, so low humidity and low rainfall, and gets QUITE HOT with highs almost daily in the 102F to 112F range in the summer.  East of South Texas, there is too much humidity and too much rainfall to get any edible dates that I know of, though years ago, I did see producing dactyliferas in the Houston area (much higher rainfall than South Texas, and very high humidity).  I actually checked to see if any of the dates on the ground there had seeds in them, but they were all empty.  Don't know why.

John

[Xerarch]

Here are some dactylifera with large clusters of fruit here in Corpus, wish I could reach to see if they taste any good. 
 

[JohnAndSancho]

Everything is edible if you're brave enough. 

[palmnut-fry]

2 hours ago, Xerarch said:

Hey I know that hotel! There was another big royals at my generic big box hotel a few years back. Did they all get wiped out:?

I guess you guys will have to live with Zone 8 until another warm stretch raises you up in the zones....

 

[Xerarch]

23 minutes ago, palmnut-fry said:

 

Yeah there were some big Royals at a hotel near my house and quite a few big ones around town, they all got wiped out, but I know of some large foxtails that survived with substantial protection I’m sure.  Royals are already replanted in many areas, including one in my back yard. 

[Xerarch]

2 hours ago, JohnAndSancho said:

Everything is edible if you're brave enough. 

That’s what I was wondering if they “taste any good” I’ve eaten dates off CIDP before, they are fine, just not very substantial. 

[JohnAndSancho]

5 minutes ago, Xerarch said:

That’s what I was wondering if they “taste any good” I’ve eaten dates off CIDP before, they are fine, just not very substantial. 

The Arby's of the date world. 

[bubba]

We have plenty of dates like those pictured in Texas. I guess my lack of knowledge of date production does not allow me to properly phrase the question that I am attempting to ask. I am attempting to ask where in Texas or other less humid areas or even humid areas that do not have much rainfall (Key West has a venue that produces edible dates in dry years) are there records of edible dates.

This may be similar to areas in South Carolina that have citrus trees, which produce edible citrus. They are highly protected from cold and other measures are taken but at the end of the day they have edible fruit. The quality is not great but they are OK. Does anyone have knowledge of any other state or area in the United States where there are records of date trees actually producing edible dates?

[bubba]

Thank you Xerarch! also great to hear that you are planting Royals again! They grow fast!
 

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

On 10/31/2022 at 4:23 PM, Xerarch said:

Here are some dactylifera with large clusters of fruit here in Corpus, wish I could reach to see if they taste any good. 
 

I would venture to say that even if these are edible, they would not have the high quality of ones produced in drier, less humid climates.  Corpus Christi averages 31.76  inches of rainfall per year, with very high humidity about 70% to 80% or more of the year, and that probably does not bode well for quality edible date production, as dactyliferas are native to VERY DRY areas of North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and the Persian Gulf region, and the only places I have ever heard of them being grown commercially in the U.S. are in  Southeastern California and Southern Arizona.

John

John