Date Palm Root System

[joe_OC]

My quest to learn more about palms brought me to this:

Date Palm Anatomy

 

Palm Root System:

All date palm roots present pneumatics, which are respiratory organs. Roots are found as far as 25 m from the palm and deeper than 6 m, but 85 percent of the roots are distributed in the zone of 2 m deep and 2 m on both lateral sides in a deep loamy soil (Munier, 1973). It is worth mentioning that date roots can withstand wet soil for many months, but if such conditions spread over longer periods, they become harmful to the health of the roots and to fruit production. Figure 1 diagrammatically shows a date palm's construction with its root system.

From Figure 1, it is clear that the date palm root system is divided into four zones (Oihabi, 1991):

- Zone I, called respiratory zone: It is localised at the palm base's surrounding area with no more than 25 cm depth and a lateral distribution of a maximum of 0.5 m away from the stipe. Found in this zone are mainly roots of primary and secondary nature. Most of these roots have a negative geotropism and play a respiratory role.

- Zone II, called nutritional zone: It is a large zone and contains the highest proportion of primary and secondary roots. It could contain 1000 roots per m² and more than 1.60 gm of roots/100 gm soil (Oihabi, 1991). They develop between 0.90 and 1.50 m depth and could laterally be found outside of the projection of the tree's canopy. In the case of Deglet Nour variety, lateral roots were found up to 10.5 m from the trunk (Bliss, 1944). Recently planted offshoots develop their roots at zone II then at zone III. At one year old, they could reach 1 m, while 3 m depth is easily reached at the second year.

- Zone III, called absorbing zone: The importance of this zone is dependent on the type of culture and on the depth of underground water. It is usually found at a depth of 1.5 to 1.8 m. Mostly primary roots with a decreasing density from top to bottom are found here. The density of this zone is lower than in zone II - only about 200 roots are found per m².

- Zone IV: The largest portion of this zone is dependent on underground water. At a shallower depth, it becomes difficult to distinguish between Zone III and Zone IV as both types of roots are found here. When the underground water is deep, roots of this zone could reach a greater depth. They usually are presented as vaissels with a positive geotropism.

In conclusion, the root type and distribution illustrate the role of the date palm. The lack of roots in the top soil allows other cultures such as wheat, lucerne and vegetables to be inter-cropped. While, the high concentration and deep presence of primary roots allows the date palm to benefit from underground moisture and consequently, unlike most fruit palms, resist water stress and drought conditions.

[Dr Sha]

Interesting

[GottmitAlex]

I was unaware date palms have high offshoots.

[joe_OC]

My assumption is that the root systems are going to be similar for all palms.  The depth of the “zone 4” roots are going to be dependent on ground water.  

 

[PalmTreeDude]

  On 11/2/2018 at 12:10 AM, GottmitAlex said:

I was unaware date palms have high offshoots.

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I have seen a date palm with an offshoot that was about a yard up the trunk before, but I have never seen anymore like it, and it was not as high compared to the palm trunk as the diagram shows. 

Edited November 2, 2018 by PalmTreeDude

[kinzyjr]

  On 11/2/2018 at 12:10 AM, GottmitAlex said:

I was unaware date palms have high offshoots.

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  On 11/2/2018 at 12:25 AM, PalmTreeDude said:

I have seen a date palm with an offshoot that was about a yard up the trunk before, but I have never seen anymore like it, and it was not as high compared to the palm trunk as the diagram shows. 

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Sometimes they can sucker so high that they look like branches: http://www.pacsoa.org.au/wiki/Phoenix_dactylifera

 

[GottmitAlex]

  On 11/2/2018 at 3:02 AM, kinzyjr said:

 

Sometimes they can sucker so high that they look like branches: http://www.pacsoa.org.au/wiki/Phoenix_dactylifera

 

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Thank you. Incredible. I'll be looking out for those P. dactylifera. The one in your pic looks a million times better than a CIDP.

I guess the only downside to this, is the suckers are of the same sex/gender as the mother palm. So no fruit. But it's still a gorgeous specimen.

Edited November 2, 2018 by GottmitAlex

[NC_Palms]

Pretty interesting