Palms can spend a long time developing a root system before they start 'building' significantly up top. Are yours going to go in the ground or stay in pots?

Hey!

I also germinated some date palm seeds (Phoenix Canariensis), and I thought the exact same thing! My seeds germinated readily, and I repotted them soon after I saw that they had developed roots. It did take a while for the leaves to come up, I will estimate it at maybe 2 and a half weeks. Of course, it all depends on the conditions. Mine are doing quite well now, about 8 inches to the top of the leaf. I am still waiting for a second leaf, though.....

Good luck!!

~palmsandsnow

Thanks for the replies. They are going to stay in pots for now. palmsandnow, I think it's been just about 2 and 1/2 weeks so far...still nothing. Not really sure if I'm doing something wrong, I have them on a heating pad. Moist soil. They are even in one of those little greenhouses with the dome.

Is it possible the soil is too "heavy"? It seems a bit compacted or heavy for some reason. I'm wondering if the roots are having a hard time pushing through the soil?

If that's the case, I still have the other 4 seeds in a container (not planted). Those are actually growing the roots wonderfully, so I decided to leave them for awhile & then plant them after.

2 1/2 still isn't too bad... I assume you will be seeing something within a couple weeks. I doubt the roots are having trouble pushing through the soil; I have never seen that before. I guess it is a possibility though. As long as the roots are in good shape, the leaves will come up. I do agree though! It does take patience!

Also, they grow very slow (initially). Good luck.

Bottom heat really makes a difference for germination. They need tropical heat otherwise they will sit and sulk if not rot. I will usually just plant them in pots and leave the pots outside in sun (May through Summer). Once germinated..., they are slow until they get past the juvenile stage, then a bit faster. Also, I have generally had stronger successes with P. canariensis (Canary Island Date).

Well, I'm not really sure what happened but they all died completely. I decided to pull up one of the seeds and there wasn't any roots at all-it just seems that they died and the roots crumbled away. All 4 of them. Luckily, I still have 4 more in the container I was germinating them in-and those ones are growing well, so I am going to keep trying & if that doesn't work, well, I have a whole other container of fresh dates to keep trying!