Phoenix dactylifera 'Medjool'

[NorCalWill]

I picked up a 5 gallon Phoenix dactylifera 'Medjool' a couple months ago, and finally decided where to plant it.

Now I'm wondering why I only see date palms as single trunked trees.

Why don't people let them develop their mulitiple trunks?

There must be a reason, because I don't think I've ever seen a mature multi-trunked dactylifera, even though they want to sucker.

I'd like to let mine grow naturally and let the trunks develop.

Anyone have a picture of their multi-trunked P. dactylifera they'd like to share for inspiration?

Edited February 19, 2009 by Will

[mlovecan]

I know of a few people that leave their suckers on.

They never really get very big ( maybe a meter or so ).

The reason most people I know choose to cut them off is they are interested in maximizing the fruit production and believe ( I tend to believe this also ) that suckers reduce the yield.

My date palm ( transplanted in 2003 ) produced about 60 kg of dates last year.

It has not suckered yet, but is showing alot of aerial roots ( indication of future suckering ) that are quite ugly and mess up the remains of the leaf bases at the bottom. I imagine if the thing suckered and I allowed it to continue, the damage would be more severe and the tree would be significantly less atractive.

Regards

Maurice

[Kris]

Dear Will

Basically phoenix species of palms are high on maintanence,and has lots of spines every where,so if a date palm is to clump heavyly then imagine how risky it would be to trim it by a layman ? thorns,thorns...

Though iam a die hard fan of the phoenix palms but i keep removing the suckers or clumps every 6 to 8 months.i never dig the pups out but chop off the suckers which are visible on the soil surface !

Love,

Kris

By the way in a another thread you have said you are removing a single trunked Med Fan from your yard,this should not be the case for your new date palm which you intend to plant in days or months to come... I think even Dick in one of the threads has mentioned that he had removed some phoenix as it was difficult to maintain clumping phoenix !

And here is a link to that thread,hope it helps you to make up your mind !

http://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=16626

.

[NorCalWill]

Yes, I am aware of the spikes on Phoenix (very aware of the spikes on Phoenix), but I am willing to put up with them when I see pictures like this...

(found on the web, at http://www.desertjoolfarms.com)

Edited February 19, 2009 by Will

[mlovecan]

Beautiful effect Will.

However, you can see those are only suckers and the central trunk has been stumped.

Suckers don't occur until the palm is 25-30 years old.

Then add another 7-8 years for the suckers to reach that size and you get an idea of how long that project will take.

You may want to consider a mature speciman ( 20 feet or so ) if you really wish to achieve tha effect.

Regards

Maurice

[turfpro01]

Cutting the center trunk out is interesting. Ive been told that they do this in china to sago palms, and have seen a few pics. It does give you a nice multi trunk palnt. Ive thought about doing this with mediterranean palms to avoid the taller center trunk and get about 5 even size trunks. You could just multi plant i guess.

[texaspalms]

Most multi-trunks I've seen did not look as nice as the picture given by Will. They were usually just a mass of spiny leaaves with many dead ones that because of spines could not be removed. A mess

[Jonathan]

You could just multi plant i guess.

I'd agree with this, its the best of both worlds.

I cut some suckers off one of my dates about a month ago and its responded with very rapid growth, after not doing much at all (other than continuously pushing out suckers).

If you multi plant, you can easily control the density of the clump and probably have much faster growth. They're cheap and common, so its no real drama to get a couple of extras.

I've planted out a couple of little guys about 3 feet apart to form a nice pair - I'll post a photo in 10 years - if the bunnies let them live!

Cheers,

Jonathan

[MattyB]

Just found this picture and it reminded me of this thread. This is what county crews have to battle every year along Bancroft Dr. here in Spring Valley. There are many old P. dactyliferas planted here.

[Kris]

Dear Friends

I wish to share with you a beautiful link on date palms sent to me by dear Kev Spence.And its a must see for phoenix palm lovers !!! And by the way thanks very much for that lovely link spencer.

http://www.growingontheedge.net/viewtopic.php?t=3377

Thanks & Love,

Kris

[Kev Spence]

Dear Friends

I wish to share with you a beautiful link on date palms sent to me by dear Kev Spence.And its a must see for phoenix palm lovers !!! And by the way thanks very much for that lovely link spencer.

http://www.growingontheedge.net/viewtopic.php?t=3377

Thanks & Love,

Kris

No problem Kris and Will there are plenty multi trunked specimens in Spain.

or just a single trunk

Check Kris's link for a history lesson on Dactys.

[Kris]

Wow !!!

Thanks & Love,

Kris

By the way those big sized stills...are mind blowingly fentastic !!!

[Brad Mondel]

those are awesome pix!! , i got a pheonix reclinata(invasive in florida) and they get suckers at a real young age,mine has alot of them and yes very spiny but i saw a huge multi-trunk specimen at broadway at the baech and it mesmorized me,im going to acheave that goal hopefully,i want a dacteflera but i cant find one around here ,who wants to give me your pesky sucker? LOL! no really id love them

[sonoranfans]

those are awesome pix!! , i got a pheonix reclinata(invasive in florida) and they get suckers at a real young age,mine has alot of them and yes very spiny but i saw a huge multi-trunk specimen at broadway at the baech and it mesmorized me,im going to acheave that goal hopefully,i want a dacteflera but i cant find one around here ,who wants to give me your pesky sucker? LOL! no really id love them

I also have a multi trunk reclinata hybrid and you can save alot of trouble with the profuse suckering. When new unwanted suckers evolve, cut them off as close to the trunk as possible and paint the cut part of the stem with kerosene/lighter fluid, that stem wont be growing back. This tree was a real PIA as the suckers were so prolific that it took alot of work to keep the base of the tree clean. It seemed like I was cutting 2 dozen suckers off every few months in the warm weather. I took Rod Andersons advice with the kerosene, it works like a charm. Now, I have just 2 new stems in the last 3 months!

As far as dactyliferas in the multi trunk mode, I have read tha they dont produce as high a quality dates with multi trunks. They also grow more slowly than reclinatas, and are more difficult to culture into multitrunks. Looking at the multitrunk ones in the link, I noted that they have relatively scrawny crowns. A healthy mature dactylifera has a massive crown, 20' or more across. It would seem that a multitrunk would have problems with petioles becoming intertwined and they may break off in the wind. I do think the 3 trunk one at the start of the thread lools very nice, but it is not matuire yet, the crowns will grow together or will have to be thinned.

[Kris]

I also have a multi trunk reclinata hybrid and you can save alot of trouble with the profuse suckering. When new unwanted suckers evolve, cut them off as close to the trunk as possible and paint the cut part of the stem with kerosene/lighter fluid, that stem wont be growing back. This tree was a real PIA as the suckers were so prolific that it took alot of work to keep the base of the tree clean. It seemed like I was cutting 2 dozen suckers off every few months in the warm weather. I took Rod Andersons advice with the kerosene, it works like a charm. Now, I have just 2 new stems in the last 3 months!

Dear Tom

Even i have the same problem with our Date palm,i will try this soon and give you feedback as to how its working here.And in one of my threads i had asked this question.I hope to take this information there..

Thanks & Love,

Kris

[sonoranfans]

I also have a multi trunk reclinata hybrid and you can save alot of trouble with the profuse suckering. When new unwanted suckers evolve, cut them off as close to the trunk as possible and paint the cut part of the stem with kerosene/lighter fluid, that stem wont be growing back. This tree was a real PIA as the suckers were so prolific that it took alot of work to keep the base of the tree clean. It seemed like I was cutting 2 dozen suckers off every few months in the warm weather. I took Rod Andersons advice with the kerosene, it works like a charm. Now, I have just 2 new stems in the last 3 months!

Dear Tom

Even i have the same problem with our Date palm,i will try this soon and give you feedback as to how its working here.And in one of my threads i had asked this question.I hope to take this information there..

Thanks & Love,

Kris

Kris,

What I have done is to cut and immediately paint the stem with a brush, somewhat liberally. Im not sure it works if you cut, let it sit for awhile and then paint. The green stem that remains shrivels up and turns brown.

[gsn]

I also have a multi trunk reclinata hybrid and you can save alot of trouble with the profuse suckering. When new unwanted suckers evolve, cut them off as close to the trunk as possible and paint the cut part of the stem with kerosene/lighter fluid, that stem wont be growing back. This tree was a real PIA as the suckers were so prolific that it took alot of work to keep the base of the tree clean. It seemed like I was cutting 2 dozen suckers off every few months in the warm weather. I took Rod Andersons advice with the kerosene, it works like a charm. Now, I have just 2 new stems in the last 3 months!

Dear Tom

Even i have the same problem with our Date palm,i will try this soon and give you feedback as to how its working here.And in one of my threads i had asked this question.I hope to take this information there..

Thanks & Love,

Kris

Kris,

What I have done is to cut and immediately paint the stem with a brush, somewhat liberally. Im not sure it works if you cut, let it sit for awhile and then paint. The green stem that remains shrivels up and turns brown.

Tom,

I have a question about this method of killing suckers. Have you done this kerosene method of killing suckers that develop on the trunk of the main stem?

ie: not suckers that come up near,or at the base of existing trunks, but have their own root system.

It seems alot of the suckers on my reclinata hybrid develop on the actual trunks,rather than at the base of the plant.

I would think that if you did this on trunk suckers ,without their own root system,you would run the risk of killing the main stems?

[sonoranfans]

I also have a multi trunk reclinata hybrid and you can save alot of trouble with the profuse suckering. When new unwanted suckers evolve, cut them off as close to the trunk as possible and paint the cut part of the stem with kerosene/lighter fluid, that stem wont be growing back. This tree was a real PIA as the suckers were so prolific that it took alot of work to keep the base of the tree clean. It seemed like I was cutting 2 dozen suckers off every few months in the warm weather. I took Rod Andersons advice with the kerosene, it works like a charm. Now, I have just 2 new stems in the last 3 months!

Dear Tom

Even i have the same problem with our Date palm,i will try this soon and give you feedback as to how its working here.And in one of my threads i had asked this question.I hope to take this information there..

Thanks & Love,

Kris

Kris,

What I have done is to cut and immediately paint the stem with a brush, somewhat liberally. Im not sure it works if you cut, let it sit for awhile and then paint. The green stem that remains shrivels up and turns brown.

Tom,

I have a question about this method of killing suckers. Have you done this kerosene method of killing suckers that develop on the trunk of the main stem?

ie: not suckers that come up near,or at the base of existing trunks, but have their own root system.

It seems alot of the suckers on my reclinata hybrid develop on the actual trunks,rather than at the base of the plant.

I would think that if you did this on trunk suckers ,without their own root system,you would run the risk of killing the main stems?

yup, I do it for both the ones on the main trunks and the ones that seem to come out of the ground. Rod Anderson suggested it, he has alot of experience growing palms, much greater than I. It sure has reduced the suckering on my 5 trunk reclinata hybrid. Used to be I'd cut the sucker off and it would just regrow rapidly from the same stem. Now, that stem turns brown and dies, and my trimming has been greatly reduced even though the palm is growing faster in the heat than before. What I do still get is a slow growth of new stems, drastically reducing the trimming. I will paint the new ones just after cutting them as well, but the rate of stem production is slow enough that I am not compelled to trim at this time. the prolific nature of unwanted stem growth was so fast, I was considering just removing the palm. Now, it appears that the maintenance nightmare is substantially reduced.

[Kris]

I also have a multi trunk reclinata hybrid and you can save alot of trouble with the profuse suckering. When new unwanted suckers evolve, cut them off as close to the trunk as possible and paint the cut part of the stem with kerosene/lighter fluid, that stem wont be growing back. This tree was a real PIA as the suckers were so prolific that it took alot of work to keep the base of the tree clean. It seemed like I was cutting 2 dozen suckers off every few months in the warm weather. I took Rod Andersons advice with the kerosene, it works like a charm. Now, I have just 2 new stems in the last 3 months!

Dear Tom

Even i have the same problem with our Date palm,i will try this soon and give you feedback as to how its working here.And in one of my threads i had asked this question.I hope to take this information there..

Thanks & Love,

Kris

Kris,

What I have done is to cut and immediately paint the stem with a brush, somewhat liberally. Im not sure it works if you cut, let it sit for awhile and then paint. The green stem that remains shrivels up and turns brown.

Tom,

I have a question about this method of killing suckers. Have you done this kerosene method of killing suckers that develop on the trunk of the main stem?

ie: not suckers that come up near,or at the base of existing trunks, but have their own root system.

It seems alot of the suckers on my reclinata hybrid develop on the actual trunks,rather than at the base of the plant.

I would think that if you did this on trunk suckers ,without their own root system,you would run the risk of killing the main stems?

yup, I do it for both the ones on the main trunks and the ones that seem to come out of the ground. Rod Anderson suggested it, he has alot of experience growing palms, much greater than I. It sure has reduced the suckering on my 5 trunk reclinata hybrid. Used to be I'd cut the sucker off and it would just regrow rapidly from the same stem. Now, that stem turns brown and dies, and my trimming has been greatly reduced even though the palm is growing faster in the heat than before. What I do still get is a slow growth of new stems, drastically reducing the trimming. I will paint the new ones just after cutting them as well, but the rate of stem production is slow enough that I am not compelled to trim at this time. the prolific nature of unwanted stem growth was so fast, I was considering just removing the palm. Now, it appears that the maintenance nightmare is substantially reduced.

Dear Scott thanks for asking that question & Dear Tom thanks for giving an answer for that question.Since even our clumping date palm here has the suckers attached to the main mother palm & the suckers are not from the ground below.So even i thought of asking you,what scott has asked.Now all my doubts are cleared !

And here is the link to our date palm what is in discussion ...

Phoenix Suckers ?

Once again thanks gentlemen.

Love,

Kris

[Brad Mondel]

so who wants to volunteer a pup for a good ole palm enthusiast?

[Kris]

Hai...