Date palm hardiness and growth rate help

[climate change virginia]

I have been wondering whats the hardiness of date palm seedlings vs seeds I heard they are very resilient as seedlings. Also some people say they grow in zone 7 I am in zone also I would like to know what age they flower/fruit. some pictures of my palms. Thanks.

Edited October 8, 2020 by climate change virginia

[kinzyjr]

11 minutes ago, climate change virginia said:

I have been wondering whats the hardiness of date palm seedlings vs seeds I heard they are very resilient as seedlings. Also some people say they grow in zone 7 I am in zone also I would like to know what age they flower/fruit. some pictures of my palms. Thanks.

Welcome to PalmTalk!

Phoenix dactylifera is good down to the 20F mark, sometimes lower, in the humid climates on the east coast.  There are a few that survive abnormally low temperatures in arid areas like El Paso, TX or Las Cruces, NM.  Mind here in Florida took about 5-6 years in the ground to start producing flowers and dates, but can now actively reproduce.

https://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?/topic/62531-is-this-normal-pics-included/&do=findComment&comment=922533

[ahosey01]

26 minutes ago, kinzyjr said:

Welcome to PalmTalk!

Phoenix dactylifera is good down to the 20F mark, sometimes lower, in the humid climates on the east coast.  There are a few that survive abnormally low temperatures in arid areas like El Paso, TX or Las Cruces, NM.  Mind here in Florida took about 5-6 years in the ground to start producing flowers and dates, but can now actively reproduce.

https://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?/topic/62531-is-this-normal-pics-included/&do=findComment&comment=922533

Yeah I think humidity is the key here.  There are some I’ve seen in arid places that infrequently dip to single digits in the early morning that are doing fine.  The east is a totally different animal.

[climate change virginia]

On 10/8/2020 at 10:32 AM, kinzyjr said:

Welcome to PalmTalk!

Phoenix dactylifera is good down to the 20F mark, sometimes lower, in the humid climates on the east coast.  There are a few that survive abnormally low temperatures in arid areas like El Paso, TX or Las Cruces, NM.  Mind here in Florida took about 5-6 years in the ground to start producing flowers and dates, but can now actively reproduce.

https://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?/topic/62531-is-this-normal-pics-included/&do=findComment&comment=922533

Mine are grown from seed and they are not even a year old. The humidity here in the winters are desert like and we have LOTS of urban heat from DC. Which makes us like a very cold 8a. We havent gone below 10f since the vortex of 2014. 

Edited October 18, 2020 by climate change virginia

[climate change virginia]

when does a date palm get its first feather leaf?

[JLM]

22 minutes ago, climate change virginia said:

when does a date palm get its first feather leaf?

I would assume between 1 and 2 years of age they should begin producing mature fronds. I dont have any experience with these though.

[ahosey01]

On 10/18/2020 at 8:46 AM, climate change virginia said:

Mine are grown from seed and they are not even a year old. The humidity here in the winters are desert like and we have LOTS of urban heat from DC. Which makes us like a very cold 8a. We havent gone below 10f since the vortex of 2014. 

Also FYI here - your humidity may seem desert-like in the winter, but it is not.

This morning my house was 12% humidity and I'm near the river and an actual oasis at the bottom of a valley. All the vegatation down there is wet.  I'd imagine just a little further up the hill from my house, humidity was probably in the single digits, and this is every morning.  Even your driest days are probably 20-30% at least, likely more.  This can definitely make a difference, especially for desert-native species like P. dactilyfera.

The chances of P. dactilyfera surviving any meaningful length of time in your climate are basically 0.  If you wanted even the most remote of remote chances, you'd need P. sylvestris in an impeccably stable and warm microclimate that somehow also received first light at dawn.  There is some thought that J. chilensis could potentially survive your temps but would need desert-level humidity conditions.

[climate change virginia]

42 minutes ago, ahosey01 said:

Also FYI here - your humidity may seem desert-like in the winter, but it is not.

This morning my house was 12% humidity and I'm near the river and an actual oasis at the bottom of a valley. All the vegatation down there is wet.  I'd imagine just a little further up the hill from my house, humidity was probably in the single digits, and this is every morning.  Even your driest days are probably 20-30% at least, likely more.  This can definitely make a difference, especially for desert-native species like P. dactilyfera.

The chances of P. dactilyfera surviving any meaningful length of time in your climate are basically 0.  If you wanted even the most remote of remote chances, you'd need P. sylvestris in an impeccably stable and warm microclimate that somehow also received first light at dawn.  There is some thought that J. chilensis could potentially survive your temps but would need desert-level humidity conditions.

your right about my humidity I went back and looked at my past humidity and its around 38-65% in the winter also I was told that houses in the winter are more dry during the winter because of the heater and also my house didn't have a humidifier so that's what gave me the illusion of a desert like winter. so you are right