The benefits of date palm produced by tissue culture are now well known.  The development of tissue culture techniques for the mass propagation of date palm plants has revolutionised the date palm industry.  Substantial advantages are gained from better establishment rate, greater vigour, freedom from devastating pests and diseases such as Red Palm Weevil, Bayoud disease and Lethal Yellowing, and wider availability of valuable varieties.

Technology has developed, with more information coming back from producers & buyers on the best practices for care/management of tissue culture date palms.

The supply of tissue cultured palms involves three stages: 

1) laboratory-based plant production;  

2) plant establishment in a greenhouse;  and 

3) a growing-on phase in a shaded nursery before field planting.  

We can provide the most popular varieties and we are updating the range of varieties. With our association with qualified and established Nurseries around the world, we are able to offer varieties or quantities not initially supported by one Nursery. 

The Nursery carefully selects mother plants for yield, fruit quality, and freedom from disease and pests.

For date palm, tissue culture offers many advantages.  The supply of good quality offshoots is severely limited.  Offshoots can be unreliable because they can be supplied as the wrong variety, or they may contain pests and diseases unknown to the customer.  Other advantages over offshoots:-

•  They are free from killer disease such as Bayoud and Lethal Yellowing, and from pests such as the dreaded Indian Red Palm Weevil.

• They are uniform in size and quality and, because of their vigorous root systems, a high survival rate is regularly achieved.

• Plants come with full instructions and guidance on nursery and planting requirements.

• The Supplier will give a range of support services, including: advice on feeding regimes, nursery design and management, on-going technical support and advice.

INSIGHT OVERVIEW

Tissue Date palm grows 1.25 - 2 metres high

AFTER CARE OF TISSUE CULTURE DATE PALMS

(General Information)

UPON ARRIVAL (contents)

The following information may vary according to the supplier and or variety.........

Plants should be cleared from airport customs as soon as possible.  If the plants are delayed for a few days, they must be kept in a cool, shaded area.

It is important that the plants are removed from their boxes without delay, given a good watering using sweet water (i.e. salinity not more than 600 ppm total dissolved solids) and placed in shaded tunnels or houses, with good wind protection.

Commercially available nets which cut out 50-70% of direct sunlight are satisfactory. Shading requirement will vary with variety – for example, Khalas will require 70%.

The average number of pots per square metre should be 225.

It is important that the plants are kept in the pots and under shade for approximately 4-12 weeks (depending upon variety and which growing-on option is adopted, see 2-4) to gradually acclimatise them to local conditions.  The number of weeks required under shade will depend upon the local environment and the age and size of the tissue cultured plants.

Sweet water (i.e. salinity not more than 600 ppm total dissolved solids) must be used.  If local water is more than 600 ppm, it must be diluted with city water.

GROWING ON

There are two options for growing on palms:-  we strongly recommend the first option, but the second option may be followed if necessary.

Re-potting into eight litre pots

Four weeks after the plants have arrived, they are taken out of the torpedo pots and re-potted into eight litre containers, ideally 40 cm deep.

A suitable potting mixture is one that provides an open structure for good drainage, e.g. one third peat moss, one third local soil and one third composted bark (Cambark).  The containers must be placed on loose stone chippings, 10-15 cm deep, to allow free drainage.

Plants can grow in these conditions for up to twelve months and with good growing conditions should reach a height of 80 cm (including container).

Average number of pots per square metre = 25.

Plants grown on using this method will be very robust at the time of field planting and field establishment will be optimal.

Growing on in Torpedo pots

The 25-pot trays are immersed in a raised nursery bed filled with a potting mixture of peatmoss-based compost, local soil and an opening material such as composted tree bark, and grown on for approximately three months (maximum six months).  It is important to ensure free drainage of the potting mixture.  Alternatively, the trays can be plunged straight into sandy, well drained local soil, to a depth of 5-10 cm.

After approx. three months, the pots are lifted with their root systems intact.  If plants are being transported some distance to the field, each tray of pots and its roots should be wrapped in wet Hessian (or other heavy cloth); this should be kept wet to prevent roots dehydrating in transit.  Prior to planting, the pots are carefully cut away from the roots.  Trim any damaged roots but, where possible, keep reduction of the root system to a minimum.  Plants are now ready for field planting.

This method has the advantage of minimum handling in the first instance, and minimum nursery area requirement.  However, once planted in the field the palms require more attention than with the first option because there is considerably more disturbance to the root system and the base of the plants when they are lifted from the ground and cut from the pots.

PLANT CARE  (contents)

If temperature exceed 35EC, some cooling and humidifying will be required during the first three to four months of growing on.  This can easily be achieved by spraying the plants and surrounding chipping/soil with water (very fine spray) twice daily (under shade).  Free drainage is essential at all stages.

At the growing-on stage, we recommend the use of  a high quality liquid feed, such as Akristalon or Phosyn ‘Croplift’, to provide N:P:K at approximately 12:12:18 + Mg with chelated iron and complete trace elements.  This applies whether option 1 or 2 is used.  The feed can be applied as a foliar spray or as drip irrigation depending on pot size.  The manufacturers recommendations should be closely followed and care taken not to over-feed the plants.  Where evaporation is high and the watering requirement is frequent, the combined E.C. (electrical conductivity) value of the irrigation water and dissolved fertilizer should not exceed 1.2mS (1200 uS) in order to avoid salinity problems.  The irrigation system should be flushed every week with water (no fertilizer) to prevent build up of salt deposits.

FIELD PLANTING

A glasshouse storage facility for hardening

DENSITY (contents)

The rules which apply to conventionally propagated date palm also apply to plants.

Propagated through tissue culture, and good practices should be followed at all times.

For any date palm plantation the limiting factor is the availability of suitable water.  The water requirement must be carefully determined beforehand, based on the proposed size of the plantation; local advice should be sought.  If the water requirement is calculated incorrectly, and if insufficient suitable water is available, the plants will not thrive and fruit yield may be affected.

If sufficient suitable water is available, it is recommended that a plant spacing of nine metres x nine metres be adopted, giving approximately 125 trees per hectare.  Although this is a highly suitable spacing across a range of varieties, in certain cases where a higher density plantation is required, the spacing may be reduced to seven metres x seven metres.  This will give an average planting density of 200 trees per hectare

PLANTING PROCEDURE

When an appropriate spacing for field planting has been decided upon, the planting procedure will vary according to which growing-on option has been followed:

Option 1:

For plants which have been re-potted into eight litre containers, the hole will need to be one metre in diameter and one metre deep.  The bottom should be filled to a depth of 20cm with well rotted manure, followed by 40cms of good quality agricultural soil and topped up with a mix of 70% soil, 30% peat moss (or well matured horse manure).  A good quality, proprietary fertilizer mix that includes NPK + Mg chelated iron and full trace elements should be incorporated into this final mix at the manufacturers recommended level for young plants (e.g. Phosyn’s ‘Linah’).  Sufficient time and irrigation must now be given to allow the soil to settle in the pit before planting.  The level of the earth after watering and drying out should be that of the surrounding soil. – (If planting into good silt soil, the above planting arrangement is not considered necessary and the hole should be dug just deep enough to accommodate the plant).

The soil should be carefully tamped down around the plant so that the base is kept in close contact with the soil at all times.  A basin 15-30cm deep and 1-1.5 metres in diameter should be formed around the plant, with the base of the plant being above the water level at all times.  After planting, it should be given water immediately and thereafter irrigated as necessary, depending upon local conditions.

Newly planted date palms should be surrounded loosely with leafy material such as corn stalks, date leaves or suitable cloth for protection against sun and wind during the first summer and against cold the following winter.

The plant should not be tightly wrapped or its leaves restricted.

Option 2:

For plants which are still in the torpedo pot, a hole 50cm in diameter and 50cm deep will be required for each palm.  A layer of well-rotted horse manure, 10-15cm deep, is placed in the hole, and the remainder filled with a mixture of local soil/sand and manure (in the ratio four parts soil to one part manure).  A good quality, proprietary fertilizer mix, that includes NPK + Mg, chelated iron and full trace elements, should be incorporated into this final mix at the manufacturer’s recommended level for young plants (e.g. Phosyn’s ‘Linah’).  A hole is made in the soil/sand mixture, using a tool shaped like a torpedo pot, and the young date palm is planted into it making sure it is firmed in gently after planting.

Plants grown under this option must be protected against extreme temperatures, particularly extreme heat, and will require 60-70% shading during their first summer in the field as well as wind protection (see above).

PLANTING DEPTH

Planting depth is very important.  It is particularly essential not to cover the base of the plant within which lies the growing point.  Plants should be planted up to (not above and not below) the root-shoot junction.

WATERING

It is essential that the plants are well watered by hand immediately after planting and that  the soil around the newly planted plants is kept moist at all times by light, frequent watering.  Inspection should be made often during the first few weeks to see that the surface soil does not dry and shrink away from the plant.  Water quality is very important.  Water with a high salts content can lead to salination problems with consequent serious effects on Date Palm performance.

GENERAL INFORMATION

TIME OF PLANTING (contents)

In most date growing regions, spring and autumn are the preferred times for planting out young date palms.  Spring avoids the cold of winter and takes advantage of the warm weather that causes rapid growth, while autumn gives the young plant longer to establish before the heat of summer.

However, if irrigation is plentiful and frequent, if good quality water is available and if adequate protection is provided, date palms can usually safely be planted at any time of year.  Periods of extreme heat or cold should be avoided.

It should be remembered that the younger the date palm at the time of planting, then the more important it is for it to be protected against extreme conditions, and given correct and careful attention.

SOIL TYPE

Highly saline and highly alkaline soils must be avoided.  Heavy clay soils restrict root growth and generally inhibit development.  Sandy soil has low water-retaining capacity and allows excessive leaking of nutrients.

Loam and sandy loam soils have the best structure for date farming.  The depth of soil should be such as to enable the roots to anchor the palm firmly to prevent it being blown over.

Soil type will, to some extent, dictate the frequency of irrigation.  During the first summer, daily irrigation may be require on very sandy soils, while on heavy soils, once a week may be adequate.

A soil that readily takes water to a depth of 2-3 metres will contribute to giving good growth and good productivity.