Lee palm. Signs and superstitions about the home palm tree

Oddly enough, not all people can answer the question correctly about what grows on a palm tree. Some believe that not only dates and coconuts can grow on them, but also bananas and pineapples, which is absolutely incredible.

Types of Palm Plants

Palm is a southern woody plant that grows exclusively in tropical and subtropical climates. The Palm family belongs to flowering plants and has about 185 genera and 3,400 species. There are especially many of these plants in the areas of Southeast Asia and the tropical countries of South America.

In colder regions, palm representatives can be seen in the Mediterranean and North Africa, Crete, Japan and China, northern Australia, etc.

Palm trees can be found in completely different places, from the sea coast to the slopes of the highlands, near swamps and forests, as well as in hot oases in the desert. However, most of all they prefer humid and shady areas with a tropical climate, forming continuous thickets. Palm trees are also widespread in African savannas, where they easily tolerate drought and hot winds.

Shapes and structural features of palm trees

Palm trees have a wide variety of growth forms:

• tree-like: Cuban, royal, corypha umbelliferous; Washingtonia filamentosa; barrigona, hyphene thebes (dum palm);
• shrub-like: lanceolate chamedorea, acelorapha;
• stemless: palmetto shrub, Wallich herring, saw palmetto;
• climbing vines: calamus.

The original structural features of palm trees are that the plant does not have the usual botanical elements, such as a trunk and branches:

• its “trunk” is formed from the remains of obsolete leaves, which harden and form a column; it can only grow upward, but not in width, and this process is quite long (1 m grows in 10 years);
• the roots at the base form a bulb, from which small roots extend;
• nutritious juices circulate only in the center of the “trunk”, due to which palm trees are considered fire-resistant;
• Thanks to its ability to re-sprout leaves from its own trunk, this plant is called a “phoenix tree.”

Among palm trees there are monoecious and dioecious plants; in the second option, there are male plants that pollinate the female ones, and accordingly, only the latter bear fruit. In nature, pollination occurs with the help of the wind, but in cultivated plantings people do it manually. Fruit ripening lasts about 200 days.

Fruits of palm trees

The palm tree is one of the most useful plants for humans, because many of its varieties produce very tasty and even medicinal fruits: dates, coconuts, etc. Flour, oil, alcoholic drinks are made from them, fibers are also produced on an industrial scale, from which bags and other fabric products.

The most beneficial fruits for humans that grow on palm trees are dates and coconuts.

The date is a cylindrical berry with a thin peel; its average weight is 7 g, of which 2 g is per seed. The sugar content in it reaches 70%, calorie content - 30 kcal/piece. 10 dates a day provide the daily need of the human body for magnesium, sulfur, copper, iron and a quarter of calcium.

Many tasty and healthy ingredients are extracted from coconut:

• juice or water - a clear liquid, the endosperm of a coconut, contained inside the fruit; as it ripens, it mixes with oil and hardens;
• coconut milk - obtained after squeezing grated copra, it is white and quite fatty, after adding sugar it is very tasty;
• oil - extracted from coconut copra, is a valuable product due to its high content of fatty acids, used in cosmetics and treatment.

Coconut palm

It is not for nothing that this plant is called the “tree of life” in the tropics, because local residents use almost all of its parts for food and making various products; the leaves and wood are used in construction.

However, for unlucky people, this palm tree can become a “tree of death”, because according to statistics, 150 people die every year from blows to the head from such nuts. The weight of an average coconut is about 1-3 kg, so dropping it even on the roof of a car leaves a dent, and it is deadly for the head.

Coconut palm fruits grow in groups of 15-20 pieces. and ripen in 8-10 months. Fruiting in trees lasts up to 50 years, during this period each palm tree produces 60-120 nuts annually.

The outside of the coconut is covered with a hard shell, inside there is pulp and liquid, which becomes sweet as the fruit ripens. You can clean it with a knife or machete.

Date palm

Date palms were grown in Mesopotamia (in modern-day Iraq) starting in the 4th century BC. e. The tree bears fruit for 60-80 years, and can live up to 150.

There are legends about the benefits and calorie content of date palm fruits. Thus, the Arabs believe that every warrior can live in the desert for 3 days, eating 1 date, first eating the pulp, then the skin, and on the 3rd day, the ground pit. Regular consumption of these fruits reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases and slows down the aging process.

One of the resorts of Elche in Spain is famous for its park of date palms (since 2000 the park has been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List), about 300 thousand of which are planted here; dates are harvested here regularly.

Roystonea Palm

Royal Palm ( Roystonea) - has a chic appearance corresponding to its name, standing out from its surroundings and landscape. The height of the tree can reach 40 m, the trunk is smooth gray, at its top there is a crown of huge feathery leaves up to 8 m long and 2 m wide. The plant is monoecious: male and female flowers are located on the same tree below the crown.

Roystoneea has 17 species, distributed in the southern states of the United States, Central and South America, and the West Indies. The most popular species are the Cuban palm ( Roystonea regia) and the royal vegetable palm, from which the edible succulent apical buds, called "palm cabbage", are collected.

Roystones are planted as a decorative ornament along boulevards and avenues in cities of the tropical region, along the edges of beaches, and are often used in landscape design.

Everything that grows on the Roystone palm tree is successfully used by humans: the trunks are used in construction, the leaves and fibers are used to make roofing and wickerwork, the fruits are happily eaten by livestock, and palm oil is produced from the seeds.

Bismarckia noble

Family of Bismarck ( Bismarckia Nobilis) includes the only species that is also called the Bismarck palm, named after the 1st Chancellor of Germany. This drought-resistant tree has an original appearance and color and is widely distributed on the island of Madagascar.

The petioles grow from a single grey-yellow-brown trunk with ring-shaped depressions (45 to 80 cm in diameter at the base). In nature, palm trees grow up to 12-25 m tall. Beautiful silver-blue round leaves reach 3 m, dividing into segments at the ends. The petioles are 2-3 m long, protected by spines and covered with white wax.

The plant is dioecious, the flowers grow on dark purple stems, the fruits are brown, ovoid, up to 48 cm long, and there is a drupe inside with one seed. Bismarckia leaves are used to make roofing and wickerwork, and the bitter-tasting sago is prepared from the core.

This palm tree can be successfully grown at home; it looks impressive in the interior and is easy to care for.

Decorative and indoor palm trees

Palm trees are perfect for lovers of exotic plants, since growing them at home does not present any difficulties in caring for them. In the countries of the European region and Russia, ornamental palm trees take root best in winter gardens and greenhouses, where a suitable microclimate can be created for them, because the plant is, after all, southern and heat-loving.

The plant propagates by seeds, which can be found in specialized flower shops. The most common types that can be grown in apartments and houses:

• Date palm, often grown from seed, can grow up to 2 m at home, forming a lush crown over a shaggy trunk.
• Dracaena has been used for landscaping houses and apartments for several 10 years, it is propagated by seeds and cuttings, the leaves are light or dark green, less often striped, and can form several trunks.
• Areca - has a flexible trunk, decorated with feathery leaves a meter long.
• Trachycarpus is a decorative type of palm tree with an original bottle-shaped trunk and fan-shaped leaves, blooms with white and yellow flowers with a pleasant smell, the fruits are blue-black.
• Howea Fostera is a popular species, easy to care for, little susceptible to attack by pests and diseases, dark green leaves, etc.

Caring for a palm tree in an apartment

The most important rule when growing ornamental palm trees at home is to create high humidity and proper lighting. If the air in the apartment is dry due to winter heating, the plants must be frequently sprayed and watered with distilled or filtered water: in the summer months - 2-3 times a week, in the winter - daily.

Every year, a young palm tree needs to be replanted, choosing a more spacious pot; older trees - less often. Plants and their roots are afraid of drafts, so it is not recommended to place the tubs on the windowsill or floor. Many types of palm trees do not tolerate direct sunlight, preferring bright and diffused lighting.

However, at home, all plants only bloom, and the rare fruits that set never ripen. This way you won’t be able to find out what’s growing on the palm tree, but an exotic green beauty in a tub in the middle of the house will create a cozy tropical corner and a positive emotional atmosphere.

What types of palm trees are there? What types of palm trees grow on our Black Sea coast? Can you grow them at home? Which of them can you grow yourself from seeds? We will try to answer these questions. First, some general information.

The leaves of palm trees are characterized by a feathery and fan-shaped type. The leaves are arranged spirally on the petioles. Flowers are unisexual or bisexual. The fruit is a drupe or nut.

Palm trees grown at home from seed are in a rosette state for a long time, and only after the rosette reaches the required diameter does the stem begin to grow in height. This feature makes it possible to keep young palm trees grown from seed indoors. The following types of palm trees are most suitable for this: Canary date, Butia capitata, Sabal palmetto, Camerops low (squat), Washingtonia filamentous, Trachycarpus Fortune.

Date canarian

Latin name: Phoenix canariensis Chahand. This plant is dioecious, evergreen. It develops like a tree, but more like a large wide bush 10-20 m tall, with a massive, unbranched false trunk covered with the bases of old leaves.

In open ground on the Black Sea coast, the palm tree reaches a height of 12-15 m. The leaves are large, up to 4 m. There are sharp needle-like spines along the edges of the leaf petiole.

This palm tree blooms in summer and autumn. Male inflorescences are up to 2 m long, female inflorescences are shorter. The fruit is ovoid, yellowish-brown, 2.5 cm long, with coarse pulp, inedible. Propagated by seeds.

Edible date

The Canarian date should not be confused with the edible palmate date (Phoenix dactylifera). Unfortunately, seeds extracted from the fruits of edible dates germinate poorly - after all, before the dates reach the consumer, they significantly lose their germination capacity. In addition, the temperature necessary for germination, 20-25°C, can only be maintained in greenhouses and conservatories.

The city of Basra in southern Iraq is considered the edible date capital of the world. 420 varieties of this species are concentrated here. Arabic wisdom says that “the palm tree’s base should stand in the water, and its top should be buried in the hot rays of the sun.”

The palmate date is a dioecious plant. The ancient Egyptians and Greeks hung several male panicles inside the crowns, releasing pollen, since without artificial insemination, female specimens are left without fruits.

Butia capitata

Latin name: Butia capitata. This type of palm tree is native to Brazil. It grows in mountainous areas on sandy soils. The butia trunk has a characteristic capitate thickening at the base, gradually tapering upward.

The appearance of new leaves begins in April and continues until the end of September. During the growing season, from 4 to 9 leaves are formed, and each one lives up to 7 years.

The palm tree is beautiful with its openwork crown, lush inflorescences and fruits.

In the open ground of the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus, butia begins to flower and bear fruit from the age of 10-12 years. Rarely blooms indoors.

In Butia, the seed is rounded, oblong, pointed at the ends, up to 20 mm long and 10 mm wide, with three distinct sutures. In the lower part there are three rounded pores, closed with loose suberized tissue - this is the place where the embryo emerges.

The seeds contain about 60% liquid coconut oil. Butia fruits are used for food in raw form and for making jams and liqueurs.

Before germinating butia seeds, it is recommended to carry out their long-term stratification in damp sand or peat. Mechanical stratification is possible - sawing off the seed shells or carefully destroying the suberized tissue with a sharp metal object.

Freshly collected seeds germinate after stratification within 35-45 days. In some cases, the process can take up to 24 months.

Butia capitata is frost-resistant - it can withstand temperatures down to -10°C. Drought resistant. Grows well in sandy soils.

In indoor conditions, butia requires regular watering, and in summer the plant must be fed with flower fertilizers once every two weeks. For this, you should use soil mixture for palm trees, sold in stores.

Sabal palmetto

This type of palm tree (lat. Sabal palmetto) comes from North America. Its single trunk in open ground reaches a height of 20 m. The leaves are fan-shaped.

Inflorescences up to 2 m long. The fruit is a black spherical drupe.

On the Black Sea coast, sabal palmetto blooms and produces viable seeds, which usually germinate within four months.

Stratification at a temperature of 35° (about one month) reduces germination time. Soaking in hot water (about 90°C), and especially removing the cap above the embryo, also speeds up seed germination. In their homeland, young, not yet opened, leaves are used as food as vegetables, they are called “palm cabbage!”

Hamerops squat

The botanical name of this palm species is Chamaerops humilis. Came to Europe from Africa. It has been cultivated in greenhouses for over 300 years. This is a bush-like palm with several trunks 2-3 m high, growing from a common base. In the Sochi arboretum of the Research Institute of Gorlesecology there are specimens that have 7-10 or more trunks in a bush.

The palm tree grows slowly. Over the summer it forms up to 7 leaves, which usually live for 7 years. Blooms in May-June. The fruit is a drupe and ripens in November-December.

The palm tree is drought-resistant and undemanding to soil. Propagated by seeds.

Seeds do not germinate in the pulp of the fruit. After removing the pulp, they germinate for 2 months at room temperature. Removing the cap causes accelerated seed germination in 11 days.

Washingtonia filamentous or filamentous

Latin name: Washingtonia filifera. She is native to southwestern North America. This is a very beautiful fan palm. The trunk in its homeland reaches a height of 30 m. The leaves are fan-shaped with openwork thin threads hanging between the leaf segments.

Inflorescences are complex paniculate. The flowers are bisexual and have a strong scent. The fruit is an indehiscent drupe.

On the Black Sea coast it blooms and bears fruit abundantly, the fruits ripen in December. This is one of the fastest growing palm trees.

Easily propagated by seeds. Germination rate 80-90%. At a temperature of 35°C in greenhouse conditions, seedlings appear on the seventh day. Under normal conditions - within a month.

This type of palm tree will look good in spacious rooms - halls, offices, greenhouses. Care is not difficult, but there is one peculiarity - in winter it will feel more comfortable in cool conditions. If you cannot maintain the room temperature no higher than 20°C (preferably 15-18°C), then the container with the plant should be kept in a tray with water and sprayed daily. When the room temperature is high and the air is dry, it can shed its leaves.

Seeds remain viable for up to 5 years.

Trachycarpus fortunea

This type of palm tree (lat. Trachycarpus fortunei) in its homeland, in China, Burma, Japan, grows up to 10 m. At the top of the trunk it forms a bunch of fan-shaped leaves, the petioles of which reach a length of 0.5 to 1.5 m. The flowers are unisexual, dioecious , collected in large paniculate inflorescences. The fruit is a drupe. Fruits abundantly from the age of 20. It blooms in May, the fruits ripen in December-January.

This is the most frost-resistant of all fan palms.

Undemanding to soil. Easily propagated by seeds. The seeds germinate within a month.

It is recommended to transfer young plants indoors to larger pots once a year. This accelerates their growth and makes it possible to remove rotten and dried parts of the root. All replanting work must be carried out in the spring, at the beginning of the growing season.

Trachycarpus Fortune tolerates transplantation well even in adulthood.

In many places on the Black Sea coast it produces abundant self-seeding and runs wild.

Some time ago, everyone was swept up in the fashion of looking for “energy vampires” among plants. According to the logic of adherents, since cacti are prickly, that means they are evil and scary, spewing “bad energy” and, in general, “vampires”. The authors of these statements are completely unaware of the fact that all life in the desert is concentrated exactly around these energy pumps. The sharp needles of cacti contribute to negative ionization of air and condensation of humidity - both of these factors have a positive effect on animals, and per person.

The tips of dissected palm leaves are also ionizers. The air under the palm tree is noticeably fresher and rich in ozone, and there is less dust. In short, the so-called “vampires” turned out to be biological filters. Which is certainly useful for you and me.

So what? - the reader will ask, rubbing his hands impatiently. How to breed and maintain these unique creatures?

Where can I get a palm tree?

Even dwarf palms are relatively large plants, more suitable for winter gardens and greenhouses (although many of them grow well in partial shade in apartments). Therefore, about a dozen relatively unpretentious species are widely sold. The vast majority are very young specimens. If a collector wants to purchase some curiosities, then he should contact foreign nurseries.

How to breed them?

Pinch off a leaf and root it will not work. With extremely rare exceptions, palm stems also do not take root. True, the author was once shown the “rooted” tops of dates with a trunk diameter of 30-40 cm, but it is not possible to assert that these plants were actually rooted and were not simply dug into the ground with the prospect of drying out. However, rhizomatous palms take root well. Bush palms can also be propagated vegetatively by cutting out the stems and roots. However, this should be done with extreme caution: the cuts must be treated with a fungicide and covered with garden varnish, and root formation in the cuttings must be stimulated with special substances. Due to all these difficulties, most indoor palm trees are obtained by sowing seeds.

I got my first palm tree seedling by simply sticking a date seed into a pot of soil. In fact, this was luck, since dates are often heat treated for better storage, after which the seeds in them die. If the embryo is viable, then its swelling should be ensured, that is, the penetration of moisture through the shell of the seed. Therefore, the substrate for germination must be light and moisture-absorbing. A mixture of equal volume parts of sand, peat and black soil (compost) may be optimal. The mixture is moistened and disinfected. It’s easier to do this in a microwave, oven or water bath.

The disinfected substrate is placed on a drainage layer in a pot and covered with a cap made, for example, from a plastic bottle or plastic bag. The seeds are cleared of pulp. Sometimes they even wash it with soap. If there are several seeds, you can try to carefully file the shells of some of them. The “bones” are buried 1.5-2 cm into the ground (the coconut is buried halfway) and the pot is placed in a warm place at a temperature of 22-25.C (some types require higher temperatures). On average, seeds germinate in a month, although in Pritchardia they can germinate in 10 days, and in Hameropsis they do not germinate for several months.

At first, the seedlings grow slowly. Their growth can be slightly accelerated by fertilizing with nitrogen fertilizers mixed with stimulants. You shouldn't overuse "pushing". In nature, palm seeds usually germinate in partial shade. Our sun is not as active as in the tropics, but a long sunny day can slow down both seed germination and seedling growth.

When the seedlings reach 10 cm in height, without tearing off the shell, they are transferred with a piece of substrate into new soil. It differs from the seed mixture by adding 15-20% loamy soil. With further replantings, the proportion of loam is increased, and the proportion of peat (except for marsh species) is reduced. Pots are selected according to the size of the root ball so that the volume of the new pot is 10% larger than the volume of the root ball (with normal root development).

Pinnate palms

Areca betel (Areca catechu) is a tree-like plant with a thin single trunk 5-12 cm in diameter, covered with ring scars from fallen leaves. The leaves are bright green, pinnate, 1.2-1.8 m long, arched. Young specimens go on sale, planted several in one pot - which makes them similar to “reed” palms. Over time, young specimens begin to “press” on each other and require transplanting one at a time into separate pots. Tolerates partial shade and shade perfectly, but requires moist, warm air and a constantly moist substrate.

The coconut palm, or coconut (Cocos nucifera), is a tree-like palm that plays a huge role in the lives of people living in their natural habitats. In nature it reaches 20-25 m in height with a trunk diameter of 30 cm, which in the butt can be expanded due to adventitious roots up to 50 cm in diameter. The trunks are smooth, with vertical cracks and rings from fallen leaves. The leaves are pinnate, 2-4 m long, dense, with more or less evenly spaced lobes. The coconut palm grows quickly, and its presence in greenhouses and winter gardens is limited by the height of these structures. Actually, the coconut sprouts that go on sale are more of a fashion statement - sooner or later the plants will die. In order to delay this trouble as much as possible, the acquired coconut seedling should be carefully transplanted, without separating it from the nut, but after first washing it from the peat substrate, into loamy soil. At first after transplantation, the plant is watered well, but as soon as a new leaf begins to form, the watering rate is reduced and the proportion of phosphorus in the fertilizing is increased. Subsequently, the substrate is made up of 2/3 turf loam and 1/3 sand. Actively growing roots are pruned, and to preserve the viability of the leaves, foliar feeding is carried out with complex fertilizers with a predominance of nitrogen over phosphorus mixed with a biogenic stimulant. The coconut tree has a tendency to stretch out and lean towards the light, which is undesirable, so it should be given as much light as possible.

Mascarena lagenicaulis is a tree-like bottle palm reaching 3-5 m in height and with long leaves about 1.5-3 m long, with evenly dissected blades. At the age of 5-13 years, the trunk of this palm tree begins to thicken, but this only happens in open ground. These palms are offered extremely rarely in stores in this form. One-year-old seedlings can be found much more often. Mascarena loves fertile soil with a lot of sand. When young, the leaves are tender and require periodic spraying. The intensity of trunk expansion depends on the quality of the foliage and the amount of nutrients it supplies. Therefore, the seedlings of this palm tree should be kept in bright, indirect light. When replanting, you should select wide pots, but do not bury the plant itself. Content temperature +22 ...24.C.

Date (Phoenix dactylifera) - palmate date - a plant with well-known edible fruits in the tropics reaches a height of 20-30 m. Presumably, this palm was formed not without human influence. There are many varieties known, differing both in size and quality of the fruit. Thanks to their rapid germination and simple culture, young date palms can often be found in greenhouses, winter gardens, and on window sills. Today you can buy two types of ornamental date palms: the Canary date (Phoenix canarensis) and the Robelen date (Phoenix roebelenii). The first grows on rocky soils, in a harsh hot climate, reaching 15 m in height and having leaves up to 5 m long. The leaf blades move away from each other as the leaf shaft grows. The blades are sharp, the petioles have sharp spines, all the leaves are hard and covered with a bluish waxy coating. This is an ascetic plant: it can do without spraying, it grows on a light substrate, and winter temperatures can be around +18.C. In contrast, the Robelena date is a sissy date that grows in tropical rainforests. This low palm has short (up to 1 m) leaves with soft, dissected blades. Young leaves are covered with a white powdery coating, like powder. The plant requires fertile loamy soil, regular watering and spraying.

Chamaedorea seifrizii is a shrubby “reed” palm with numerous thin, straight, bamboo-like trunks 1-2 m in height and up to 3 cm in diameter, constantly growing from an above-ground rhizome. Each trunk can have up to 7 long arched leaves 30-100 cm long. Young leaves are whole, but the blade is rolled into a tube. As it grows, the plate unfolds and divides into soft, sometimes curly leaf blades. This palm blooms at the age of 5-7 years. It is completely undemanding in terms of lighting and tolerates diffused light well in partial shade and shade. It does not have any special requirements for humidity, but it can rot if overwatered. Loves fresh air, ventilation, but not cold. Watering is increased only during active growth. The intensive growth of chamedorea confronts the grower with the need to create a more fertile substrate and use fertilizers.

Howea Forstera (Howea forsteriana) is a tall, single-trunked, thin palm with a completely straight trunk, 5-8-10 cm in diameter. It goes on sale in the form of multi-trunk group planting of seedlings, so replanting will be required over time. The leaves of adult plants are straight, 2-2.5 m long, with the lower leaves directed horizontally, which indicates their maturity. The leaf blades are approximately 1.5-2 cm apart from each other, green, with small yellow or black dots on the bottom, similar to lesions of pathogenic fungi (which can frighten an inexperienced gardener). Khoveya is not particularly whimsical. Tolerates relative dry indoor air and, despite the fact that it prefers strong diffused light, grows well in partial shade for a long time. This palm tree does not suffer when the temperature drops to +12.C, but the owner should remember that as the temperature drops, watering and spraying should be reduced. For intensive growth, howea requires a fertile substrate and periodic fertilizing, including in winter, if the temperature does not fall below +20.C.

Chrysalidocarpus lutescens is a “reed” palm with several trunks, each of which can reach 7-9 m in height and 10-12 cm in diameter. Young trunks and leaf petioles are yellow or yellowish-green with black spots, which should not be considered a disease. The leaves are long, flexible, arched, up to 2 m long, petiole 50-60 cm long, leaf blade up to 90 cm wide, dissected into paired lobes. In indoor conditions, this palm tree grows best in a place that is maximally illuminated (but not in direct sunlight). Large specimens can withstand strong sun and high humidity. He loves watering, spraying, and "baths" very much. In nature, it grows on acidic flooded soils, therefore, when kept in a pot culture, it requires an acidic peat-containing substrate and a constant presence of water in the pan. In winter, watering is reduced, but spraying becomes more frequent and intensified. Long temperatures below +20.C can be detrimental to this palm tree.

Fan palms

Washingtonia robusta (Washingtonia robusta) and V. hairy (Washingtonia filifera). Washingtonias are tree-like palms with trunks up to 20-25 m high and up to 90 cm in diameter, in the upper part covered with dried petioles of leaves, which below turn into felt and fall even lower. The leaves are half or more divided into lobes, which are more or less dissected at the apexes, so that strings of veins form between them (especially in V. filamentosa). At a young age, Washingtonias are very decorative. And with age, their beauty is not lost - the trunks, like tiles, are covered with chocolate-colored petioles. The plants are easy to cultivate and undemanding to the soil; they are only afraid of overwatering. They love light and fresh air. Winter temperatures within 8-10.C promote the ripening of tissues and the formation of buds.

Caryota urens is a tree-like single-stem plant up to 9-15 m tall and 30-45 cm in diameter in the butt part, with a dense crown. The leaves are fan-shaped, divided into two lobes, which makes them similar to fish tails (for which these palms are called “fishtail”); blades are 5-6 cm long and up to 4 cm wide, light green. Young specimens require a warm and bright place to be kept (but not in direct sunlight), high humidity, and daily spraying. Karyote grows quite quickly and requires transplantation into a new substrate every 2 years.

Livistona rotundifolia, or patching, is a tree-like palm with a single trunk up to 10-14 m in height and 15-17 cm in diameter, covered with the remains of petioles from fallen leaves. The leaves are glossy, green, evenly dissected by 2/3 into folded lobes, the petiole is up to 1.5 m long, with numerous spines. Requires a sandy, but fertile and moisture-intensive substrate, which is achieved by adding 20% ​​peat. The substrate should not dry out. This palm tree grows quite slowly and produces 3-4 leaves per year. Loves diffused lighting, spraying and "bath". In winter, watering is reduced, but sprayed constantly. It has been noticed that lowering the temperature in winter to +16-18.C has a good effect on the future growth of this palm tree in summer. Licuala grandis is a magnificent bush-like palm tree, a relative newcomer among indoor plants. It has a straight trunk up to 2 m high and 5-7 cm in diameter and amazing all-fan ribbed leaves that burst apart at the time of aging. In general, this palm looks like a bunch of 5-10 fans 60-80 cm in diameter, raised on thin petioles, up to 90 cm long. This is a plant of tropical rainforests, so it loves moisture and diffused light. The substrate must contain a sufficient amount of nutrients. Rapis exelsa is a “reed” palm with bamboo-like trunks covered with fibers. Individual trunks are up to 3 m high and 3-4 cm in diameter. The leaves are fan-shaped, with serrated edges, dissected almost to the base into 5-10 lobes. The petiole is thin, up to 40 cm long. Rapis grows on moist soils, so when cultivated it requires a moisture-intensive substrate with the addition of up to 20% peat and constant watering, spraying and a “bath”. With good care, this palm tree actively sprouts and grows in width, which forces the gardener to provide it with wide pots. Despite its moisture-loving nature, rapis tolerates short-term frosts down to -7.C. In general, a decrease in temperature in winter to +7...10.C has a beneficial effect on future summer growth. Location - from light to partial shade.

Trachycarpus fortunei is a tree-like palm with a thick single trunk up to 12 m high and up to 25 cm in diameter, covered with dried leaf petioles. The leaves are dark green, hard, deeply dissected, petioles up to 1 m long, with sharp serrated projections. In Burma, China and Japan, where this palm grows, strong ropes are made from its leaf fibers. In culture, Trachycarpus grows beautifully in pots and even blooms. Requires a well-lit place, in summer - fresh air, abundant watering, and fertilizing. In winter, it can withstand temperatures dropping to 0.C and even short-term frosts!

Chamaerops humilis is a tree-like palm with a trunk 1-2-5 m in height and up to 50 cm in diameter, covered with the remains of petioles and reddish-brown fibers. The leaves are round, 50-80 cm long and wide, divided into narrow lobes almost to the base; petiole up to 90 cm long with claw-shaped spines. Young, unexpanded leaves have been used for food since ancient times, as a result of which this palm was literally almost completely eaten in the Mediterranean. In addition, people used this palm tree both as a cultivated plant and for decorative purposes - so we have several varieties at our disposal that differ in leaf size (up to 1.5 m in diameter) and petiole length (up to 3 m in length). Chamerops can tolerate minor frosts and is successfully cultivated in open ground up to the southern regions of the temperate zone. In potted culture, this palm tree is also very popular due to its relatively small growth. Undemanding to watering and air humidity, does not like overflow. With age, it prefers heavy loamy, but fairly fertile soil. It tolerates partial shade well and requires cool winter maintenance at a temperature of +10-15.C. Note: such popular plants as cycas, dracaena, cordyline, pandanus, banana, pineapple, papyrus, cyperus are NOT PALM TREES!

If your young palm tree has just arrived from the store, pay attention to the peat substrate in which it grows. In nurseries it is saturated with a nutrient solution, but at home its nutritional value is rapidly lost. Therefore, it is worth transplanting the purchased plants into a new fertile substrate. However, it should be remembered that dormant palms do not tolerate transplantation. Therefore, the palm tree should be replanted and replanted in the spring.

The plants are carefully removed from the shipping containers (the so-called pots in which the palm trees were purchased) and placed in a large container, such as a basin or bucket, into which water is poured generously. The temperature of this water, as well as water for watering palm trees in general, should be slightly higher than the temperature of a person’s hand, that is, you should feel some warmth. It would be useful to add 0.5 g of potassium permanganate (per 10 liters) to the water for soaking. When the peat substrate swells and softens, it can be easily separated without damaging the roots. The exposed root system is examined and black (rotten) roots are removed; the wounds are sprinkled with ground charcoal, ash or aluminum powder. It is advisable (although not necessary) before planting to dip the roots into a thick mixture of soaked loam - the clay will stick to the roots and they will not be injured when replanting and compacting the soil in the pot.

A new substrate is prepared from a mixture of equal parts of sand, loam (serozem) and chernozem (or compost). Non-swamp palm species do not need peat. If you purchased a “specialized” substrate for palm trees based on peat, then you should add an equal volume of sand and loam to it, as well as 20 g/l of chalk, slaked lime or potassium sulfate or 1 glass of ash per 10 liters of substrate for deoxidation. In any case, the new substrate must be disinfected.

The pot is selected according to the volume of the root ball. It must have a sufficiently large drainage hole. Drainage is laid at the bottom in a layer of at least 5 cm: broken red brick, broken shards or large destroyed expanded clay. Small expanded clay, like undestroyed clay, should not be used: it alkalizes the substrate too much. In addition, inside the large expanded clay, the black layer contains aluminum salts, which have a detrimental effect on pathogenic fungal microflora.

The disinfected substrate is poured in a heap onto a layer of drainage material. The roots are straightened so that they are evenly distributed in the pot and covered with a substrate that is compacted moderately. The distance from the edge of the pot to the substrate should provide the possibility of abundant watering, that is, be within 3-5 cm. The root collar should be at surface level - if it is too deep, the butt part of the stem may rot. If the plant “wobbles” at first, it should be secured with support sticks, a trellis or guy wires. As the roots grow, the palm will become fixed in the substrate and the supports can be removed.

There is no need to decorate the surface of the soil in a pot with expanded clay or marble chips. You should also not use pine nut shells, conifer bark or wood chips as decorative mulching material. However, leaving a large space of open ground around the stem is also harmful - this leads to acidification of the soil and the proliferation of harmful insects. This issue can be resolved in two ways.

1 - the surface of the substrate is covered with a cut circle of geotextile, onto which, for example, granite or basalt chips, pebbles, smalt (decorative glass) are poured;

2 - the free part of the substrate is sown with seeds of slowly growing lawn grasses (which will have to be cut periodically) or ground cover plants are planted there, for example dwarf ficus, solar ivy, etc.

Large tree palms can also be planted with small “reed” palms, such as chamedorea. Ferns, phytonias, terrestrial bromeliads, and ornamental grasses coexist well in one pot with palm trees. Naturally, over time, intensively growing plants will have to be thinned out and trimmed.

In nature, palm trees are very actively growing plants, not only in the aboveground part, but also in the underground part. In culture, the roots of palm trees are contained within the pot and, undoubtedly, cannot fully develop. In order for them to ensure successful growth of the stem and leaves, the grower will have to artificially increase the fertility of the substrate by introducing organic and mineral fertilizers. This should be done at the time of active growth of palm trees, that is, in spring and summer. If the visible growth of the palm tree does not stop in autumn and even in winter (this can also happen), the plants are also fed, although in a smaller volume. Feeding during stagnation (sleep) is not only meaningless, but can also harm the plant.

There are several opinions about watering palm trees. They all boil down to the fact that plants should not dry out, but they should not be flooded (except for marsh species) either. However, it must be remembered that settled tap water does not lose its hardness and after some time calcium will begin to be deposited on the walls of the pot and the surface of the substrate. For watering palm trees, boiled water or at least settled water from a “hot” tap is better suited.

Let me remind you that palm leaves actively attract dust, that is, those particles that should get into our lungs. If possible and if the weight of the pot with the plant allows, the palm tree is given a shower once a month. The water should be warm and plentiful to wash away the dust, and it should be poured obliquely so as not to wash away the substrate. If the pot is extremely heavy, the dust is removed with a damp sponge without pressure (however, not all specimens can tolerate wiping the leaves), and the plants are often (at least once a week) sprayed.

Not all palm trees tolerate the beginning of the heating season equally well, when indoor air humidity quickly decreases. Withered leaf tips indicate poor water conditions, in this case, insufficiently comfortable air humidity. Therefore, the intensity of spraying palm foliage should be increased.

As palm trees grow, they lose old leaves. In general, the intensity of the formation of young leaves in different species ranges from 3-4 to 10-15 per year. Each leaf stays on the plant for up to 2 years. The old leaf turns yellow and falls off in two stages: first the blade, then the petiole. In culture, the prevalence of leaf formation over leaf wilting is important. Otherwise, the florist risks being left with a palm tree without leaves.

By the way, inexperienced flower growers often unwittingly make one serious mistake that encourages palm trees to shed leaves - they remove yellow leaves. It should be noted here that the plant transfers substances it does not need into the fading, yellowing leaf. In nature, “waste” is also excreted through the roots, but in a potted culture, the activity of the roots is reduced and the function of the “buds” is redistributed to the leaves. When a yellow leaf is cut, the plant sends the waste to the next leaf, which encourages yellowing. If this leaf is removed, then the next one comes, and this can continue until the palm tree becomes completely bald. Therefore, it is categorically impossible to cut off yellow leaves, and in order to ensure that the decorative effect of the palm tree is not lost, they are camouflaged by bending into the crown. Sections of the leaf are cut off only when they are completely dry, and even then along dry fabric at a distance of 1.5-2 cm from the fabric that has not yet dried.

Palm trees, especially young ones, tolerate partial shade indoors well. However, they should also be given a “vacation” for some time a year, moving them to a more illuminated place. It should be remembered that a sharp transition from partial shade to abundant sun is undesirable and can even lead to burns.

Any “palm lover” should be aware that palm trees, especially tree-like ones, will eventually hit the ceiling after some time. In botanical gardens, workers have to either add caps to greenhouses or part with overgrown specimens. But in the room you can try to somewhat slow down the growth of palm trees by reducing soil fertility, watering intensity and the application of phosphorus fertilizers.

I finally decided to write an article about my palm trees.
I have two of them.
But in this article I will tell you how I managed to grow date palm.
Of course, she is still young - three years old.
But I still want to brag.
A little history, origins, so to speak:

The ancient Greeks sent messengers with a palm branch to announce a victory. In ancient Egypt, they served as the first calendars: within a month, one old leaf of a palm tree dies and a new one appears. In India, sacred books were written on palm leaves by scratching letters with an iron needle. The date palm was the emblem of ancient India.

Her image was minted on medals and coins, cities were named after her: Jericho - the city of palm trees. The name of the date palm in Latin is dactylifera, literally: finger-bearing. The fingers are dates.

The word "phoenix" apparently goes back to the legendary bird with a woman's head that lived in ancient Egypt. Feeling the approach of death, she burned herself, but was reborn from the ashes even younger and more beautiful. So is the palm tree. A slender beauty rises from the dead, hot desert sand. It lives for 150-200 years, then dries up, but new palm trees rise from its seeds and roots.


I’ll make a reservation right away - I’m writing on such a topic for the first time - don’t judge strictly.

What a beauty I have now. However, instead of a pot, I still have a thirty-liter bucket of Persil powder. I didn’t have time to decorate it beautifully, but that’s not important!

Its story began very simply.

We ate delicious dates and planted the grains in a pot, not counting on anything.

It was in February. But already in the spring the first shoot appeared. So touching and bright green. Then I gave him his first transplant - in May. Because the pot was too small for the palm roots. The second time I transplanted it, it looked something like this:

She is very unpretentious with us. I want to tell you a little more about caring for such beauties.

Illumination:

While she was a sprout, she stood on the window in the kitchen, it was on the sunny side - and there was plenty of light for her.
She loves the light, so for two years (as long as her height allowed) I kept her in the window. In the house, for uniform formation of leaves, it must be turned towards the light so that the top of the young leaf is directed towards the depths of the room.
In the summer I took it out into the garden. She brought it into the house at night. It looked something like this picture from the Internet:

Now I’ve moved it to the living room because the beauty has grown tall and curvy - it doesn’t fit in the window.

Watering:

Like all plants. In summer - plentiful, in winter more moderate. I watch as the soil dries out. Let me make a reservation right away: watering is very interconnected with palm leaves. Underwatering immediately dries out the leaves, and the leaves are not restored later. Which, you see, is upsetting.

Palma loves wet air and frequent spraying(can be up to two times a day), which is not at all difficult to do.

Transfer:
With this - the main thing is on time and not in a too spacious pot! My palm tree has changed 4 types of pots.
We started very small. The first time I replanted it only when its roots completely obscured the bottom of the pot. It’s not difficult to find out when you need to replant - just use a stick to check the hardness of the soil in the pot near the root (well, at least I did that). When I saw that the fibers were visible at the root (the root became cramped in the pot), I waited for warm weather (I replanted it in the spring, and once in the summer), and replanted it. It comes out of the pot easily and its roots continue to retain the shape of the pot even after you free it. This is a sign that you are on the right track.
Then the pots changed as they grew. And now my beauty lives in a 30-liter bucket. She's not cramped there yet. Replanted it this summer. And immediately the leaves began to grow faster. Up to three years, the palm tree is replanted annually. That's what I did.

The soil.
I paid special attention to the soil. The land must be special. Use specialized Palma soil or make up a mixture yourself (turf, leaf soil, humus and sand in a ratio of 2:1:1:1).


Feeding:
You can feed with any store-bought fertilizers suitable for palm trees (purchase only in flower shops, as you can consult the seller there). For example, “Ideal” or “Giant” would be suitable. How often to apply? From spring to autumn - every week. Less often in winter.


If you decide to grow such a palm tree, I wish you good luck!
It's a long process, of course, but it's worth it! Only three years - and already what a palm tree!

The benefits of palm trees and their products

The benefits brought by palm trees to the natives of equatorial countries are extremely great and varied. Many palm fruits, especially the coconut of the East and the peach nut (Guilelma speciosa) of America, provide abundant and nutritious food to man. The entire trunk of the sago palm produces an edible, starchy product - our sago. The fruits of other palm trees produce a juicy mass, although in too small a quantity to serve directly as food, but if ground and mixed in sufficient proportion with water, it produces an extremely pleasant and nutritious drink. Of these drinks, the “assai” of the Amazon River is especially famous, prepared from the fruits of the palm tree Euterpe oleracea and consumed as a refreshing, nutritious, somewhat stimulating drink, replacing our coffee or chocolate in a tropical country. And other palm trees bear similar fruits, of which very many, not consumed by humans, are greedily eaten by various animals, so that, generally speaking, the amount of nutritional material brought by the palm family is much greater than is commonly thought.

The juice flowing from the cut stalks of many palm trees, slightly fermented, turns into palm wine, or “toddy,” a very pleasant drink; if you mix it with bitter herbs and roots that delay fermentation, you get a good substitute for beer. If you boil this liquid and let it evaporate, you get a lot of good sugar. Arenga saccharifera, or the sugar palm of the Malay countries, is ahead of all in this respect. One single tree of this palm yields several quarts of sap daily for many weeks, and where there is a lot of it, this juice serves as the most common drink and favorite delicacy of the natives. The Dutch chemist De Vry, who studied this matter in Java, became convinced that the culture of this palm, used instead of sugar cane, would bring great benefits. According to his research, the same amount of good sugar can be obtained from the sugar palm as from cane, but with much less labor and money, since its crop does not require either fertilizer or cultivation, and the soil would not be depleted far from it. as quickly as is the case with sugarcane cultivation. The reason for this is that with cane, the entire harvest is completely taken away from the soil, because its crushed stems are used as combustible material; In this way, the soil is deprived of many salts and, in general, mineral nutrients that are part of both stems and leaves. Their loss must ultimately be replenished with fertilizer, and this adds a very significant overhead to the costs of planting, weeding and other work. On the contrary, the sugar palm uses only its sap; the leaves fall off, rot, and thus return to the soil everything taken from it. And since the water and sugar of which the sap is composed are obtained chiefly from the carbonic acid and water vapor of the atmosphere, there can be no depletion of the soil, and the plantation of sugar palms can be used indefinitely in the same place. Another, also very important advantage of the sugar palm is that it grows on poor rocky soil, on steep slopes and cliffs, in places where, generally speaking, proper cultivation would be impossible; therefore, vast expanses of fertile land could be used for other purposes. In addition, the work required to care for such palm plantations is very simple and requires little time. All these advantages taken together may lead to the fact that in the future all the sugar for world trade will be supplied by almost completely barren soil, and it is very desirable that experiments of this kind should be carried out as soon as possible in one of our tropical colonies, especially that one Indian palm, Phoenix silvestris, which also produces a large amount of sugar, can be tried in its homeland.

Other foodstuffs supplied by palm trees include coconut and baccab oil, salt extracted from the fruit of the South American palm Leopoldinia major, and the young shoots or "palm cabbage" of many species of palms, a very good nutritious dish; therefore, we can say that palm trees provide bread, butter, sugar, salt, fruits and vegetables to humans. In addition, some species, especially the famous oil palm of West Africa, yield oil for various other purposes, and wax is extracted from the leaves of some South American palms. The resin, known in the trade as "dragon's blood," is extracted from one rattan palm, betel nuts, which are so readily chewed by the Malays as a mild stimulant and are to them what opium is to the Chinese, tobacco to us, and to the South Americans. - Coca leaves are nothing more than the fruits of the areca palm. Palm leaves are indispensable for covering roofs; where there are many of them, the roofs are covered exclusively with them; leaf petioles, often 15-20 feet long, go to rafters or, fastened with staples, to doors, bolts, partitions, and walls of entire houses. They are surprisingly light and strong and consist of a strong core and hard bark. By splitting and fastening them together, it is possible to make various boxes, boxes, baskets, etc., which, being covered with leaves of one species of pandanus, are convenient, durable and elegant. Ropes and ropes are woven from the fibers bordering the leaves of sugar and other palm trees; thin laces of excellent quality, suitable even for bow strings, fishing lines and for weaving hammocks, are made from the young leaves of some American species.

Coconut palm – Cocos nucifera

The fibrous leaf sheaths of the coconut palm are so strong and fabric-like that they find a wide variety of uses: they are used to make sieves, various wrappers and very good hats. The large, woody, bracted vaginal leaves (spathae) of larger palms are used as natural baskets, cradles, even as kitchen utensils in which you can safely boil water. Palm trunks make good fence posts, and split trunks make excellent floorboards. Some palms are used for making bows, others for blowguns; Needles and fishhooks are made from small palm thorns, and arrows are made from larger ones. If we wanted to describe the uses of palm trees and their products in different countries of the world, we would have to write a whole book. But, I think, even on the basis of the above, one can form a fairly complete idea of ​​what an outstanding role fell to the lot of this noble family, whether palms are considered only as details of the luxurious vegetation of the tropics or in their relation to morals, customs, lifestyle and well-being natives.

From the book Extended Phenotype [Long-range influence of a gene] author Dawkins Clinton Richard

Chapter 11. Genetic evolution of the products of animal behavior What exactly do we mean by the phenotypic effect of a gene? A superficial knowledge of molecular biology can offer us this answer: each gene encodes the synthesis of one polypeptide chain, and in the simplest sense

From the book The First Settlers of Sushi author Akimushkin Igor Ivanovich

From the book The Newest Book of Facts. Volume 1 [Astronomy and astrophysics. Geography and other earth sciences. Biology and Medicine] author

From the book Homeopathic treatment of cats and dogs by Hamilton Don

From the book Pharmaceutical and Food Mafia by Brouwer Louis

From the book Biology [Complete reference book for preparing for the Unified State Exam] author Lerner Georgy Isaakovich

Part three Vaccination - benefit or harm?

From the book Tropical Nature author Wallace Alfred Russell

Deterioration of public health due to food contamination due to criminal activities of the agro-industrial complex What should be the mission of medicine? Should it consist only of advising your patients how to

From the book The Newest Book of Facts. Volume 1. Astronomy and astrophysics. Geography and other earth sciences. Biology and medicine author Kondrashov Anatoly Pavlovich

In the interests of profit: abandoning the production of natural products and replacing them with dangerous substances A drug produced by Hoffman-La Roche, widely used in the fight against malaria called Lariam, has fallen on hard times. However, Swiss health authorities have

From the book Animal World. Volume 5 [Insect Tales] author Akimushkin Igor Ivanovich

From the author's book

The benefits of tropical forest trees The natives of tropical countries have been able to select from a large number of tree species many trees suitable for various kinds of crafts. The wood of some species is light and soft and is used for building ships or for cutting rough

From the author's book

What is the main benefit of bees? The main contribution of bees to providing people with food is not the honey they produce. Despite the indisputability of its benefits and healing properties, the activity of bees in pollinating plants is much more significant. Without the help of these

From the author's book

What are the benefits of spices? At the end of the 20th century, biologists from Cornell University (USA) analyzed the use of spices in 4,164 recipes for traditional meat dishes from 31 countries. The most common were onions, black, white and red peppers, garlic, lemon juice and

From the author's book

What are the benefits of quitting smoking? According to American doctors, the benefits of quitting smoking are as follows: – after 20 minutes: blood pressure drops to the level that occurred before lighting the last cigarette; the temperature of the hands and feet rises to

From the author's book

Little harm, great benefit. Spiders cause little harm to man, but great benefit. Few spiders are poisonous; These, of course, are dangerous to people who live where there are many poisonous spiders. Spiders that have settled in houses litter the walls of our homes with cobwebs. There is no other harm. But there is benefit