Good to know - I plan to do this with my 2 young Phoenix roebellenii/Pygmy date palms that were here when I bought the property. This was the first year they had flowers, but the flowers dropped without setting fruit, so I am hoping for next year. They look like they will make an awful lot of fruit when they do hold them, so I would like to make use of them. They are too healthy and happy where they are for me to feel right yanking them out, even though I would not have chosen to plant them myself. At least if they produce a lot of fruit, that should result in the same amount of flesh as maybe half the number of regular dates - which is just fine with me.