Date Palm

Monday, 25 April 2011

While trying to grow the palm seeds i got out west, i read that you can also grow a palm tree from date seeds.

First off, they don't taste as bad as they look, but they are still really bad. Kind of like a giant raisin, but worse. At the center is the date seed.


The date and the seed inside

Like the rest of the seeds i've tried to grow, i soaked them for 1 day then put them in a zip-lock bag with a wet paper towel.

After 1 week, 2 of them sprouted. The rest of the seeds gradually started sprouting 3-6 weeks later. Surprisingly their root comes out of the middle of the seed.

I noticed that they sprouted best when there was just a little water added, when i sort of soaked the paper towel then squeezed all the water out.

Then i planted them in a bowl with potting soil and pearlite.

One main root extends deep down into the soil.


After a month or so the first green leaf appeared. It kind of looks like a blade of grass but it's really tough, almost like wood.

I plan on planting some of the seeds in the garden this year, we'll see how they do.

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Winter Seeds

Tuesday, 5 April 2011

During the same time that i was trying to get the lotus seeds to sprout i also tried growing some other plants. First i ordered a banana tree online for $4. It showed up in the middle of winter and looked pretty hopeless.

But since then it seems to have recovered. It shoots up with 2 new leaves every 2 weeks.

Also i tried planting garlic and an onion. They are both growing great so far in a small pot by the window.
I also brought home palm tree seeds from when i was in Las Vegas and Phoenix. I'm not sure what type of palm it is, but here's what it looked like. You can see the seeds near the bottom and on the ground.

I couldn't get the seeds from the really big California Palm trees, they were too high up and most of them weren't ripe yet.

But i took the smaller palm seeds home with me, then removed the outer "fruit" part.
I soaked the seed for a day in water then put it in a plastic bag with a damp paper towel. Out of probably 15 seeds that i did this with only 4 sprouted. The rest showed no signs of doing anything. But it turned out that they just took longer, around a month and a half they began to sprout.

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