Date palm tree

eric

I love to eat Dates, the ones that are sweet and dried - you know them.
Well when I do they have pits in them and I have to get rid of them - now I'm lazy so I stuck one in my little bonsaipot already holding my little ficus.
You guessed it... now I have a small Date palm...
Question:
Has anybody have any experience keeping a palm tree that small that you might call it a Bonsai palm tree?
Thanks...
Eric

Advertisement

TreeBay

I have had a fan palm growing as a bonsai for the past 10-12 years. It's probably much older than that.

I use a quick draining mix, like a cactus mix and water it every day in the summer along with most all my bonsai, but it could probably be watered just once or twice a week in a mix that was basically sand with a little bark.

I know I would tend to overwater it if I had it in anything else.

The roots of the palm are very fibrous. I don't repot it very frequently maybe twice since I've had it in 12 years, otherwise it will grow much too quickly. The leaves stay fairly small at 10" to a foot across at maturity as opposed to 2 to 2.5 feet across when in the ground.

A rooting sickle (like a sod cutter) is an ideal tool for repotting palms. I did it with scissors the first time, but there are a gazillion little fibrous roots, and that's just too much work.

We have them at TreeBay Bonsai Tools & Supplies and I'm going to add in some 3" sod cutters that just came in and are good for smaller plants.

Regards,

Matt

__________________

Want to be a seller on bonsaiAUCTIONS? Get authorized today!

bonsaiTALK: Over 100,005.36 Megabytes Served this Month!