Fruiting Date Palms in Hawaii?

[ahosey01]

Just curious for the Hawaiians on here... Phoenix dactylifera need very high daytime temperatures to fruit.  They don’t fruit in south Texas or Florida, though, because the rain rots the fruit before it ripens.  How about in areas of Hawaii that get sub-10 inches of rainfall?  Does anyone know of fruiting date palms that ripen without rotting?

Edited July 26, 2020 by ahosey01

[Xenon]

  On 7/26/2020 at 10:56 PM, ahosey01 said:

 They don’t fruit in south Texas or Florida, though, because the rain rots the fruit before it ripens. 

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The fruit ripens just fine and the seed is perfectly viable in Texas and Florida. However you are right if you mean the more humid climate leads to lower overall fruit quality and probably lower sugar content as well. 

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

I've seen a lot of fruiting/edible dates in Houston and edible fruit all over florida. It's probably not perfect quality like Yuma dates but you can eat them no problem. 

[CodyORB]

I believe humidity also plays a factor in the date quality. There are arid parts of Hawaii that still face a lot of moisture coming off the ocean. Kailua-Kona for example receives about 18 inches of rain a year, yet has the daytime humidity found in South Florida with 60+ inches.

It's very drastic in portions of South America like Lima which are extremely dry (less than 1 inch a year!) yet have extremely foggy and overcast marine climates.

Edited July 27, 2020 by CodyORB

[WaianaeCrider]

I don't know of any on Oahu.  Maybe in our desert Botanical Garden but I haven't been there in like 10 years or more.  There is some kind that fruits on the north and east shores but they are not the eating kind.

[Jim in Los Altos]

Not much heat here in South SF Bay Area but I’ve seen tons of ripe dates falling from these palms in Saratoga from time to time. 

[ahosey01]

  On 7/27/2020 at 7:21 AM, Jim in Los Altos said:

Not much heat here in South SF Bay Area but I’ve seen tons of ripe dates falling from these palms in Saratoga from time to time. 

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The trick is if you eat them, what is the flavor and texture like?

To get dates like you get in the store, they gotta be grown basically on the surface of the sun with a ton of irrigation and as close to no overhead rain as possible.

Edited July 27, 2020 by ahosey01

[Silas_Sancona]

  On 7/27/2020 at 2:57 PM, ahosey01 said:

The trick is if you eat them, what is the flavor and texture like?

To get dates like you get in the store, they gotta be grown basically on the surface of the sun with a ton of irrigation and as close to no overhead rain as possible.

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If you're judging the flavor of Dates by the ones you can buy at any grocery store.. you might hit up a specialty store like the one in Scottsdale that sells our prized Black Sphinx. Reminds me, need to get some this year..

[ahosey01]

  On 7/27/2020 at 3:22 PM, Silas_Sancona said:

If you're judging the flavor of Dates by the ones you can buy at any grocery store.. you might hit up a specialty store like the one in Scottsdale that sells our prized Black Sphinx. Reminds me, need to get some this year..

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Their rare date varieties are good but I didn’t feel like their medjools were worth the money.

Have you ever read the stories of all the black Sphinx cultivars growing around Arcadia and how they all got there?

[Silas_Sancona]

  On 7/27/2020 at 3:27 PM, ahosey01 said:

Their rare date varieties are good but I didn’t feel like their medjools were worth the money.

Have you ever read the stories of all the black Sphinx cultivars growing around Arcadia and how they all got there?

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Yep.. Have spoken w/ those involved in saving/ propagating them at rare fruit sale events also. Black Sphinx is the only variety planted there.

[Jim in Los Altos]

  On 7/27/2020 at 2:57 PM, ahosey01 said:

The trick is if you eat them, what is the flavor and texture like?

To get dates like you get in the store, they gotta be grown basically on the surface of the sun with a ton of irrigation and as close to no overhead rain as possible.

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Well I didn’t pick any off the ground by they were pretty squishy when stepped on. They are well irrigated. We get no rain here between mid-April and late October. The photo is from wintertime. 

[derek lee]

To ahosey01,

Back in the 80s the USDA advertised for sale its experimental productive date palm orchard in Kawaihae, Big Island.  I think I still have the printed announcement filed away somewhere.