Saudi dates are one of the oldest fruits in the world. Dates are successfully cultivated in East and North African countries, Iraq, Egypt, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, Algeria, Sudan, Oman, Libya and Tunisia, China, India and parts of America. Dates are grown in Bangladesh mainly for making juice and molasses.
The amount of fruit produced by native date palm trees is not of high quality, so even though it is not popular to eat it as a fruit, many people are becoming successful by cultivating this date palm.
In the holy month of Ramadan, the practice of breaking the fast with Saudi dates is a custom of all the Muslim Ummahs of the world.
All major Muslim countries import large quantities of dates as well as try their production to meet the demand for large quantities of dates during the month of Ramadan. Bangladesh is no exception. Using modern proper technology and ensuring a 100% efficiency rate in pollination can give abundant yield from palm trees.
If you know the right cultivation methods, care, and maintenance, then you can meet the needs of your family in the month of Ramadan, even year-round, from date palm trees planted as a hobby in the roof garden.
Suitable environment
Full-day sun, low humidity, dry and low rainfall, and warm climates are suitable for growing this fruit.
Although they can tolerate more cold, temporary waterlogging and salinity.
Soil
Well-drained sandy loam soil is more suitable for this type of date palm cultivation. Before planting saplings, after understanding the area of the roof, a bed of 6X6X3 cubic feet or a large drum should be prepared with an equal amount of organic manure/dung and sand.
Collection of varieties and seedlings
Since male and female palm trees like palm and latkon trees grow separately. For this reason, even though new varieties are created naturally in plants made from seeds, those seedlings do not have the qualities of the original variety. Moreover, it takes a long time to harvest the fruit, and the quantity and quality of the fruit are not as expected.
You need to procure healthy and good quality male and female seedlings from a local horticulture center or any online shop.
Methods of propagation
In Arab countries, there was a practice of gardening by collecting saplings or seedlings grown from stems or by seed seedlings. There were fewer seedlings in it. Again, it takes about 6 years for saplings made from seeds to bear fruit. At present grafts are being produced from improved varieties with the help of the tissue culture method. Stem seedlings and seedlings obtained through tissue culture maintain true quality and start flowering and fruiting within 3 years of planting. Fruit quality and yield are better.
(I)Soil Preparation
After making enough organic manure, keep it in the sun for a week and set it on fire with straw, the soil will be purified.
Fertilizers and materials that need to be mixed before planting palm seedlings are coarse sand (Sylhet sand) 10%, clay soil or sandy loam soil 30%, rotted dung/garbage rotted manure 45%, cocoa dust 5%, earthworm manure 5%, bone Powder 1 kg, Urea-150 gm, TSP-200 gm, MOP-250 gm.
You can also mix zinc sulfate, magnesium sulfate, ferrous sulfate, and boron – 50 grams per plant for a total of 200 grams. Mix these together fill the bed or drum with water and keep it soaked for a few days. After two weeks it will be suitable for planting.
(ii)Planting
A relatively elevated location with plenty of light and air should be selected with drainage facilities. If you want to plant more than one plant in the bed, you can plant another plant at a distance of 20 feet. The soil at the base of the palm saplings should be raised, i.e. the middle part should be raised and the outer side should be sloped down. Then water will not accumulate in the trunk.
(iii)Caring
a) Drainage system should be kept during monsoon. Water should be given regularly at the base of the plant during the dry season. Plant growth, and improved yield, depend on proper watering and drainage systems.
b) Trees should be firmly tied with sticks to keep them upright.
c) During the dry season, mulching should be done around the base of the tree with straw, leaves, or leaves. It preserves the soil juice and does not require frequent watering. The base of the tree will be free of weeds, and the vines and leaves will act as organic fertilizer.
d) If the tree is big, the old dead leaves hanging down should be left 7-8 inches from the base of the stem, keeping the leaves of the upper upward plant, and carefully removing the unplanted fruit clusters and the hardcover of the flowers and fruits. Fungicide paste should be applied immediately on the cut part.
e) Dry leaves should be cut. Once a year, after harvesting the fruit, the old, unnecessary, dry leaves that hang down should be cut off. If the branches growing from the root and trunk of the tree are allowed to grow, the fruit-bearing capacity of the tree is reduced. However, if you want to keep the saplings in the collection, keep some saplings growing near the base and trim the rest of the saplings regularly.
f) If the collected seedlings are in too much shade, after planting they get scorched by the heat of the sun. Therefore, for the first 10-15 days after planting, the tree should be kept in light shade by keeping the northeast side exposed and the southwest side well covered with thin bark.
Another way is to prepare potting media/soil in 18-inch soil tubs in partial shade for 2-3 months to make them suitable for planting in the garden.
Fertilizer application and management
Saudi palm trees should be fertilized regularly at intervals of 4 months. Then, the tree will grow better, and be able to bear more fruit.
Like coconut and betel nut, they are palm family and like potash fertilizer very much. Fertilizer application management for trees of different ages-
The total quantity of fertilizers prescribed for each year in 3 installments –
1) In May-June,
2) In the month of September-October,
3) February-March
4) Can be applied 1 time for a total of 3 times.
Also, as nutrients – Zinc Sulphate, Magnesium Sulphate, Ferrous Sulphate, and Boron Iron should be applied 200-300 grams once a year depending on the age of the plant. Water well immediately after application of fertilizer. Or you can apply water soluble fertilizers.
Fertilizer should be applied in the part where the roots spread out from the base of the tree so that the roots of the tree are less affected. Can use mixed fertilizers.
In the first stage of the plant, relatively more application of nitrogen fertilizers is required. Potash and phosphorus should be increased when flowering and fruits start.
Disease and pest control
A) The tip of the roots of palm trees like coconut, palm, etc. is soft and sweet. Hence the infestation of various soil-dwelling insects and nematodes, including termites, increases. Use granular insecticides and liquid insecticides such as imidacloprid/Ders ban to control these.
b) If rhino beetle, red palm weevil, or scale insect infestation occurs, keep the garden clean and spray the young leaves and leaf base well with Imidacloprid/Chlorpyrifos group of insecticides at intervals of 2-3 weeks.
c) In case of mite/spider infestation, use mite/insecticide at intervals of 2-3 weeks.
d) Soil-borne fungi, wound disease due to pruning, and black-brown spotting of entire growing leaves are more common in palm trees. For this, spray the leaves, stems, and soil regularly at intervals of 10-15 days with Mancozeb/Carbendazim or Bordmixture fungicide.
Pollination
Male and female palm trees grow separately. Post-pollination gives good results for producing healthy, large, and good-quality fruits. It is important to ensure timely pollination with pollinators of male plants as soon as the blooming female flowers emerge. Male flowers can be collected from plants capable of producing healthy large sized male flowers and stored in a normal refrigerator. They can be used for pollination for up to two years. However, it is best to use fresh pollen grains.
Saudi palm trees flower in January-March. Both flower buds are covered with a hard coat. When the flowers inside the sheath are large enough to pollinate, the outer sheath slowly begins to crack. In this condition, remove the covering of the male flower’s tears. Then dry it in the light sun and carefully separate the pollen grains. Then you can wrap it in paper and store it in the normal chamber of the refrigerator with a polythene cover.
A female plant is ready for pollination when the corolla enlarges and begins to crack the tough outer covering. At this time, the cracked hardcover should be removed with a sharp knife the inner part of the flower should be taken out and a small amount of pollen molecule should be lightly touched or shaken on the female flower with a soft cotton or brush. Apart from this, one or two petals of the male flower should be tied to the front of the female flower.
Pollinated flower buds should be lightly covered with a thin brown paper towel. After 3-4 weeks the cover should be removed. During pollination, the prickly thorns of the dates near the rhizomes are removed with a secateur to avoid thorn injury. Keeping male and female plants in the garden ensures pollination by wind and bees or beneficial insects. It is possible to catch up to 60-80% of the results.
Fruit collection
As the date palm begins to grow slowly, it sags under the weight of the fruit. These falling rhizomes are blocked at the tips of the leaves and prevent the fruit from growing, thereby reducing the yield. It is necessary to clean the spines and allow the fruit to grow freely so that the pod of date fruit can partially hang freely. To prevent each tear from breaking under the weight of the date palm, tie a rope lightly at the beginning of the flower and tie the fruit tear to the upper branch to prevent it from breaking or hanging too much.
If you cover the fruits by making a loose bag with thick mosquito netting, you can keep the fruit free from insect and bird infestation.
After 3-4 months of pollination, date palm fruits are ready for collection. How many varieties of nutritious fruits can be eaten both raw and ripe?
Fruits turn brown/dark brown/black when ripe. With good management, it is possible to get 70-300 kg of date fruit per year from a healthy tree depending on the variety. After pollination, leaving 7-10 healthy strong buds and removing the remaining buds early will result in more attractive large fruits.
Hoping to be able to extract essential nutrients from the roof garden through year-round fruit production by adopting modern technology.
