Photo Gallery

The Canary Island date palm (CIDP) is native to the Canary Islands. Although it can reach heights of 40–50 feet, it is slow growing and requires many years to attain that height. It has 8- to 15-foot-long rigid leaves that contain up to 200 V-shaped leaflets, the basal ones of which are modified into long, sharp spines. Healthy specimens should have full, round canopies with 130–150 leaves, but potassium (K) deficiency typically reduces the number of leaves in the canopy to half that number or less. In South Florida, this species produces about 50 leaves per year. Leaves are not self-cleaning and must be manually removed when dead, but the leaf bases eventually rot off, leaving an attractive diamond-shaped pattern of leaf scars on the 2- to 3-foot-diameter trunk. Flower stalks are orange in color, about 3 feet in length, and bear male and female flowers on separate trees. Canary Island date palms are highly susceptible to K and magnesium (Mg) deficiencies under landscape conditions. Because K-deficient older leaves are unsightly, they are often trimmed off. This is not recommended since these symptomatic older leaves are actually serving as a supplemental source of K for the tree in the absence of sufficient K in the soil. Proper fertilization to alleviate K deficiency symptoms is the best solution to the problem. Canary Island date palms in the Southeast should be fertilized three times per year (four times in South Florida) with an 8-2-12-4 Mg plus micronutrients palm fertilizer that has 100% of its nitrogen, K, and Mg in controlled-release form and its micronutrients, such as iron and manganese, in water-soluble sulfate or chelated (iron only) form. Canary Island date palms are highly susceptible to palmetto weevils (Rhynchophorus cruentatus) which lay their eggs in the petioles of the older leaves. The smaller silky cane weevil (Metamasius hemipterus) also attacks CIDP, but these weevils tend to remain in the leaf bases and do not kill the palm by themselves. However, the wounds they create in the leaf bases attract the more destructive palmetto weevils that can ultimately kill the tree. Canary Island date palms are susceptible to a number of diseases, most of which are lethal.https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/st439