Date Palm Service Operations

Annual guide for palm service operations

December
Irrigation
• Newly planted shoots are seen during the first year of their cultivation once a week in the absence of
rain. As for those that have been planted for a year or more, they are seen twice during this month,
according to the water needs, considering the quality of the soil, the field capacity, and the high level
of ground water.
• Adult trees are not irrigated during this month.
Fertilization
• Add 250 g of urea fertilizer, at a rate of 115 g of net nitrogen, for the offshoot.
• Add 1.3 kg of urea fertilizer at a rate of 600 g of net nitrogen to the adult palm.
Tillage and weeding
• Plowing and collecting the soil around the base of the palm to stabilize it and encourage the
formation of offshoots in the first ten years of its life.
• In the case of drip irrigation, the palm is surrounded by basins in which the drips are spread to ensure
that water reaches all parts of the palm.
• Plowing the field land to clean it of weeds and weeds.
Prevention and control
• Conducting the second preventive spray with one of the fungicides to control the palm pollen disease,
and after 20 days a third preventive spray is conducted.
• Control of palm scale insect with an appropriate pesticide.
Maintenance
• Carry out maintenance operations for drip irrigation systems and clean the nozzles using nitric acid
(10%) twice a year.
Pruning
• Removing the dry fronds and the first round of green fronds to get rid of the eggs of the Dubas bug.
• Carrying out the installation process.
• Removing thorns from the remaining fronds to facilitate subsequent service operations.
Continuing with the procedure of fertilization and cutting of the dry fronds with at least a part of the
green fronds of two roles to get rid of large numbers of eggs of the Dubas bug, while removing the
thorns from the fronds to facilitate the subsequent palm service operations.
Continuing to clean the orchard land from bushes and plant residues and plowing it.
Collecting the soil around the base of the palm for the purpose of stabilization and encouraging the
removal of shoots in the first ten years of cultivation.
Conducting the second spray to control the palm pollen disease with one of the recommended
fungicides.
Maintaining the irrigation system and cleaning the nozzles periodically.
The irrigation of palms continues according to the needs of the trees.

January
Irrigation as in the previous month
Tillage and weeding
Continuing the operations of weeding, hoeing, and cleaning the soil around the trunk of the palm or
cutting
Prevention and control
Control of termites with an appropriate pesticide, and the presence of this insect can be inferred by
observing the tunnels on the trunk and fronds.
maintenance
Continuing the maintenance work of the drip irrigation system.
Pollination:
• Note the emergence of male inflorescences (stalls) and female
• Collecting the mature male pollen at the end of this month for the purpose of preparing them to
extract pollen for use in automatic pollination.
• It is preferable to cover the male pollen with paper bags to prevent the spread of pollen.
pruning
• Completion of the installation process
• Clean male trees (stallions) of dry fronds and thorns to facilitate the process of cutting male pollen
when they are mature.
Completed renovations
Planting seedlings of the desired cultivars in nurseries at a distance of 2.5 × 1
Control of termites with one of the recommended pesticides, and the infection can be inferred by the
presence of tunnels inside the fronds, causing weakness of the palm and the death of newly planted
shoots when severe infection.
Continuing to maintain the drip irrigation system.
February
irrigation
• The seedlings are irrigated twice a month according to the required water requirements and soil
moisture, which is determined by the different methods of measuring it.
• Mature trees are irrigated once a month or twice, depending on the region, taking into account not to
waste irrigation water during the pollination process, avoid heavy irrigation and suffice with
moistening the soil.
fertilization
• Add 250 g of urea fertilizer at a rate of 115 g of net nitrogen to the shoot.
• Add 1,300 kg of urea fertilizer at a rate of 600 g of net nitrogen to the adult palm + 750 g of
potassium sulfate for each palm.
• In the case of drip irrigation, add 15 g of urea + 10 g of potassium + 10 g of phosphorous for each
seedling with the irrigation water weekly after dissolving it well.
Tillage and weeding
• Carrying out digging operations for the soil and removing weeds around the palm whenever they
appear
Prevention and control
• Starting the first preventive spray to combat the donkey, and conducting the second spray after 20
days.
• Control of the pollen beetle.
Separation and cultivation of shoots
• Starting to separate and plant the seedlings in nurseries, and perform grafting of dead shoots in
modern orchards.
vaccination
• Conducting manual insemination of early female varieties by placing 3-5 male cannibals or more
according to the female variety.
• Carrying out the process of automatic pollination using different pollinators.
gagging
Starting the pollination process for palms at the end of the month, especially for the early varieties,
with the necessity of mixing pollen grains with 10% fungicide to combat the infection of the donkey.
Begin investigation of the intensity of the infestation of the insect Dubas.
March
irrigation
• The cuttings are irrigated as in the month of March with the change of climatic conditions, the rise in
temperature, and the moisture of the soil.
fertilization
• Continuation of weekly fertilization in drip irrigation systems as in the previous month.
Tillage and weeding
• As in the previous month.
Prevention and control
• Starting the process of controlling the donkey insect, and from the beginning of the emergence of the
insect and its infection
• Observing the emergence of the Dubas insect infestation, and determining the percentage of eggs
hatching to determine the appropriate date for conducting the control.
Separation and cultivation of shoots
• Continuing the operations of separating the offshoots and planting them in the places specified for
them.
Pollination
• Conducting large-scale pollination operations, following up on pollination of all blooming pollens,
and opening and vaccinating the unopened female pollens.
slippers
• Starting the slipping process by shortening the sticks by cutting their ends, and removing a number of
the sticks from the bark.

April
irrigation
• The sucklings are irrigated twice in this month.
• Mature trees are irrigated once a month, taking into account soil moisture.
fertilization
• Add 250 g of urea fertilizer at a rate of 115 g of net nitrogen to the shoot
• Add 1.500 kg of urea fertilizer at a rate of 700 g of net nitrogen to the adult palm.
• Continuing fertilization with drip irrigation as in the previous month.
• Fertilization with trace elements (iron, manganese, zinc, and copper) in the form of chelating
compounds, at a rate of 200, 200, 100, 100 g, respectively.
Prevention and control
• Continuing the fight against the donkey bug
• Control procedure for Dubas palm.
Separation and cultivation of shoots
• Continuing the process of separating and cultivating the offshoots until the middle of this month.
slippers
• Continuing to perform the operation of slippers inside the buttocks by removing the sticks from the
buttocks or shortening the sticks according to the varieties and the nature of the pregnancy in them, and
removing a complete butt, especially the weak and the few knots, or the injured, taking into account
the balance of the load.
individuation
• Carrying out the process of individualizing the scent and placing the scented on the nearest frond to
it, taking into account its balanced distribution on the top of the palm.
pruning
• Removing the remnants of the old perfume and its remaining packaging from the previous year.
• Getting rid of weak and few knots of taste.

May
irrigation
As in the previous month
fertilization
Fertilize the offshoots that are irrigated by drip once every two weeks
Prevention and control
• Starting fogging with agricultural sulfur to control and prevent dust spiders in the middle of this
month.
slippers
• Undergoing the process of removing the whole stems. It is preferable to leave 8-10 stems on the
palm.
curvature inclination (curving)
• Raising the buds from the fronds that carry them, lowering them at the end of the month, and tying
the buds bearing to the adjacent fronds. This process takes place at the beginning of the khalal stage.

June
irrigation
As in the previous month
fertilization
Drip irrigated shoots are fertilized once every two weeks
Prevention and control
Continuing the process of fumigation with agricultural sulfur to protect against dust spider
focus
Continue to do this process until the middle of this month
Reap the rewards
Begin reaping the fruits of some early varieties whose fruits are eaten in the khalal and wet phases.
gagging
At the end of the khalal stage and the beginning of the wet stage, a muzzle was performed with netted
plastic bags to keep the fruits from dust, birds and wasps and reduce their fall on the ground.

July
irrigation
As in the previous month
fertilization
As in the previous month
Separation and cultivation of shoots
Starting the separation of offshoots for the second season from the middle of this month, according to
regions
Reap the rewards
Beginning of the process of harvesting the ripe fruits of the early varieties