As the date palm is best suited to hotter climatic areas of Australia where evaporation rates are high and rainfall is low adequate supplies of irrigation water are essential if viable commercial crops of high quality fruit are to be produced. The water requirements for date palms can be high. Micro-irrigation techniques using drippers are the most efficient method of applying irrigation water. Up to 25 leaves are produced each year and these have a functional life of about four years. In common with other palms, date palms have a single growing point and the plant will die if this is removed.
Date palms are dioecious, bearing the male and female flowers on separate plants.
The root system is extensive with roots attaining lengths of 3-13 metres. Date palms can be propagated from seed but these do not produce fruit that is to true to type. Propagation is also possible from offshoots which grow from the trunk of the tree. Most of these arise from the base of the trunk but some occur as aerial offshoots. After offshoots have reached a length of about 20 cm they can, with some difficulty, be removed from the tree and used as planting material.