Question: My 5-year-old Deglet Noor date palm has two very large bunches of dates, each date being about 11/2 to 2 inches long. They are green to tan and not ripening. Last year, we had a good crop. What to do?
Deglet Noor is the most common California date grown. They normally do not produce dates until about year six. Dates take about 29 weeks to ripen. Check for seeds and make sure they were pollinated properly. Palms are wind pollinated in the United States, so they can be irregular in how well they set fruit from year to year. Hand pollination is the only way to make sure they are pollinated well.
Deglet Noor is known for ripening unevenly. It is known as a semi-dry variety and harvested in what is called the rutab stage, which occurs in weeks 24-27. The rutab stage is when the fruit is about half ripe, with the apex of the fruit soft and beginning to change to light brown. It should not be harvested when the fruit are soft or completely brown. That is too late. If the fruit are ripening unevenly, try putting them someplace where you can raise the temperature to about 90 degrees and force them to ripen.
Bob Morris is an associate professor with the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension.
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