Question 1

How many date palms fit in a feddan or hectare?

Accepted Answer

It depends on spacing. A hectare holds 10,000 m² ÷ (spacing × spacing): at 8×8 m that's about 156 palms/ha, at 9×9 m about 123 palms/ha, and at 10×10 m about 100 palms/ha. A feddan is 0.42 ha, so multiply by 0.42 — roughly 65, 52, and 42 palms respectively. Wider spacing means fewer but larger, easier-to-manage palms.

Question 2

How many male date palms do I need for pollination?

Accepted Answer

Date palms are dioecious — only female palms bear fruit, and they must be hand- or wind-pollinated from males. A common commercial ratio is one male per 25 to 50 females (around 1:40 is a safe default). So in a 100-palm orchard at 1:40 you'd plant roughly 2-3 males. Keeping a few extra males protects fruit set if one underperforms.

Question 3

Can date palms grow with salty (saline) irrigation water?

Accepted Answer

Yes — the date palm is one of the most salt-tolerant fruit crops. Per FAO-29 its yield threshold is about 4.0 dS/m of soil salinity (ECe), with roughly 3.6% yield decline per dS/m above that — but unlike most crops it stays productive far beyond the threshold with adequate leaching (cultivars like Siwi and Medjool to around 12 dS/m). That tolerance is why date palms thrive in places like Siwa Oasis where the well water is naturally saline and most other crops fail; above the threshold, extra leaching keeps salts moving below the root zone.

Question 4

When do date palms start producing fruit?

Accepted Answer

Offshoot-grown date palms begin meaningful production around year 4-5 and reach full bearing around year 10-12. A young orchard yields far less than a mature one, so this planner scales the regional yield estimate by the plantation's age — a year-5 orchard is credited only a fraction of mature yield, which keeps revenue planning realistic.

Question 5

How much does a single date palm yield?

Accepted Answer

A mature female palm typically yields tens of kilograms of fruit per year, varying by cultivar and management — for example, traditional Siwi palms around 89 kg/palm, while intensively managed Medjool can run higher. This planner estimates orchard output from grounded regional yield (tonnes per hectare) by cultivar and region, scaled by your area and — for young orchards — the bearing fraction.

Question 6

Is this date palm planner free?

Accepted Answer

Yes — completely free, no signup or credit card required. It runs entirely in your browser; your inputs never leave your device. For per-tree tracking, pollination and harvest logging, irrigation scheduling, and AI agronomy across your whole farm, try WiseYield's full platform.

Planificador de plantación — Date Palm

Cómo planificar un palmeral de dátiles

Marco de plantación y densidad

Polinización

Tolerancia a la salinidad

Gestiona tu palmeral árbol por árbol