- Ripe dates germinate faster than unripe ones.Dattes image by nomad from Fotolia.com
Date fruits, called drupes, contain only one seed. Date pulp surrounds the seed endocarp, the pit. Pulp should be removed before germinating. Soaking for 48 hours may speed germination. - Not all palm seeds are viable.Dattelpalme in Tunesien image by Heidi Schmieder from Fotolia.com
Not all seeds will germinate. Experts at the University of Nevada Extension recommend using 50 to 100 percent more seeds than you will plant. There is a 50 percent chance that your seed will produce a female tree. - Date palms produce hundreds of seedsDate-palm image by Kristina Ubaviciute from Fotolia.com
Date palm seeds employ remote germination. The leaf tissue stays inside the seed while the petiole, or leaf stem, grows out and away from the seed. A shoot and a root sprout from the petiole. The petiole grows downward 8 inches before the shoot and root emerge. - Warm moist seeds germinate faster.thermometer image by Szymon Apanowicz from Fotolia.com
Viable seeds are most affected by moisture, then temperature. Using bottom heat to keep the growth medium warm speeds up germination. "Seventy to 100 degrees Fahrenheit is the accepted range," according to Alan Meerow of the University of Florida. - Ripe and unripe dates on the same tree.Regime de dattes image by BigNome from Fotolia.com
Properly moistened date palm seeds kept warm germinate in 9 to 14 days. Seeds are ready to plant when the root-like white shoot, or petiole, emerges.
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