I have a problem with keeping Phoenix dactylifera's alive overhere in The Netherlands. Two years ago I bought young plants of dactylifera var. Iberica, a var. Medjool and a var. Deglet Nour. During summer I keep them in the most sunny position of my garden, during winter they are in my greenhouse, together with other palms and Citrus trees. At the end of the winter the plants don't look good and in the end, I can pull the spear out; rot! and hydrogenperoxide doesn't cure the problem! Is the fact that we have rather mild winters with high humidity causing this problem? Ph. canariensis doesn't have this problem. What do you think?    

Sounds like it’s just to cold and wet, and the varieties you have chosen are just not suitable for your climate. 

Explanation is easy. Like Richard had written right above, it is the combination of cold and wet that does Phoenix dactylifera in.  Real date palm may be even cold hardier than CIDP but in an arid climate. High air moisture does not suit it well. And iberica is just another dactylifera. Many growers call deliberately Iberica common dactylifera specimens growing and fruiting in Spain! There is not a separate iberica sp, we can find genetical traces of a wild sp in some Spanish date palms but this does not mean that this wild sp still exists. Similar situation with the Neanderthal genes in the DNA of European population. 

Another grower in north-western France saw his iberica declining slowly. Perhaps an F1 hybrid of dactylifera with theophrasti could offer you the opportunity to grow a dactylifera without such problems.

True it is not the temperature it is the combi of cold and wet! If dry they can handle a lot of cold, I live in Central Portugal and here it is wet in winter but it hardly freezes at night and during the day normally it is like 13°C, My Dactylifera even produce pups.

Thank you all guys, though you are all confirming my fear that I cannot grow the - in my opinion- most beautiful Phoenix palm.😡

There's a recent thread about some seedlings surviving in London so you might not be too far off. Greenhouses get pretty damp in our climates in winter, maybe try it outside with overhead cover to keep it dry.

Thread

EPS thread

4 hours ago, wimmie said:

Thank you all guys, though you are all confirming my fear that I cannot grow the - in my opinion- most beautiful Phoenix palm.😡

I understand your frustration but I would not give up hope. And likewise even if you can’t grow dactylifera there are other phoenix species such as canariensis that would probably do better, which you already have. 

The dacty will never truly die if it keeps pupping. keep that in mind

Yeah, right, canariensis is no problem in a cold and moist environment; mine is doing well for over twenty years! But I just like the very upright silhouette and the very stiff blue/grey leaves of dactylifera iberica in comparison with the much more elegant bending leaves of the canariensis! I finally decided to give up on the dactylifera's.😭  

13 hours ago, wimmie said:

Yeah, right, canariensis is no problem in a cold and moist environment; mine is doing well for over twenty years! But I just like the very upright silhouette and the very stiff blue/grey leaves of dactylifera iberica in comparison with the much more elegant bending leaves of the canariensis! I finally decided to give up on the dactylifera's.😭  

You can always obtain a X theolifera or a X dactyphrasti ...

I like the Medjool palm. I have these palms, but they're protected indoors. And Theophrasti is great. I obtained pure RPS seeds.

Dactylifera’s have been growing unprotected in Paris for more than 10 years. Very slow and in microclimates but still there it is. Paris in autumn and winter is about as grey and wet as here and certainly not comparable to portugal in terms of daytemps.

The biggest problem is moisture and cold,  if it stands dry it is very cold hardy, here where I live in Central Portugal the temperature sometimes drops till 1 or 2°C and it rain a lot really a lot,  more then twice as much then Paris in a year like 1500 mm, in summer is is hot and dry.

What microclimate is it located? I can empathize as I prefer tropical palms that don’t do the best in my dry inland climate, but if you can find a spot in your yard that is drier and retains heat, the palm would probably survive and do much better. You might want to consider Trachycarpus Fortunei, several people have these in British Columbia Canada, which is a wet and cold climate and they thrive in that environment.

4 hours ago, SCVpalmenthusiast said:

What microclimate is it located? I can empathize as I prefer tropical palms that don’t do the best in my dry inland climate, but if you can find a spot in your yard that is drier and retains heat, the palm would probably survive and do much better. You might want to consider Trachycarpus Fortunei, several people have these in British Columbia Canada, which is a wet and cold climate and they thrive in that environment.

But a Phoenix Dactylifera is not a tropical palm. I don't what climate you are in, but they need dry hot summers and not to much cold in winter with a lot of rain. Trachycarpus Fortunei or a Chamaerops Humilis will do good in cold wet areas, they even thrive in the Netherlands. 

8 hours ago, Gitano Iwan said:

But a Phoenix Dactylifera is not a tropical palm. I don't what climate you are in, but they need dry hot summers and not to much cold in winter with a lot of rain. Trachycarpus Fortunei or a Chamaerops Humilis will do good in cold wet areas, they even thrive in the Netherlands. 

I know, I was just relating that I prefer palms that aren’t the best suited to my climate. The date palm prefers Mediterranean climates like my own. 

Jardin des plantes in Paris