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Cocos nucifera - Port Isabel, Teas


lahuasteca

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Good morning everyone,

Instead of hijacking pre-existing threads, including one of my own, decided to start a new thread.  While driving to work this morning, I noticed a fairly large coconut on E. Houston St., Port Isabel, Texas.  It is growing on the south side of an apartment building, adjacent to the Laguna Madre, and protected from the winter north winds.  It appears to be fairly neglected with no special care.  Given the height, I'm guessing it predates the winters of 2010 and 2011 which was our last significant long term cold weather.  I'm also guessing it's a Mexican tall, instead of one of the Malayan dwarfs.  Latitude 264' N.

GENE

Port Isabel, Texas.jpg

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Nice find! It does not look like anyone has been caring for it with all those dead fronds hanging down.

PalmTreeDude

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1 hour ago, PalmTreeDude said:

Nice find! It does not look like anyone has been caring for it with all those dead fronds hanging down.

I'm hoping that's the case and not lethal yellowing.  I noticed the frond drop and firs thought was lethal yellowing.  We went through a round of that about 30 years ago and don't need another bout.

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Looks pretty good really, considering that it doesn't appear to get much care. Nice find 

Corpus Christi, TX, near salt water, zone 9b/10a! Except when it isn't and everything gets nuked.

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2 hours ago, Cluster said:

The coconut should naturally shed its leaves:o, weird.

This. However, from the picture it seems the coconut is not tall enough yet in order to clear itself of the dead fronds.

5 year high 42.2C/108F (07/06/2018)--5 year low 4.6C/40.3F (1/19/2023)--Lowest recent/current winter: 4.6C/40.3F (1/19/2023)

 

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2 hours ago, GottmitAlex said:

This. However, from the picture it seems the coconut is not tall enough yet in order to clear itself of the dead fronds.

Ok Thanks, that might be it:)

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 8/22/2017, 12:15:08, lahuasteca said:

 

This one is from Brownsville, 1200 block E. Jackson St., the older central part of the city.  There may be some minor heat island effect here.  Notice the florescence.  I don't know what variety of coconut this is - probably Mexican tall or Pacific tall.  It has been there since before the winters of 2009/2010 and 2010/2011.  The leaves reach way above the one story house behind the tree.

Cocos nucifera Brownsville.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 9/1/2017, 5:45:44, lahuasteca said:

This one is from Brownsville, 1200 block E. Jackson St., the older central part of the city.  There may be some minor heat island effect here.  Notice the florescence.  I don't know what variety of coconut this is - probably Mexican tall or Pacific tall.  It has been there since before the winters of 2009/2010 and 2010/2011.  The leaves reach way above the one story house behind the tree.

Cocos nucifera Brownsville.jpg

This tree looks fantastic! :D Brownsville has been looking very green lately with all the needed water that we've received. I really hope that the tree happens to get a slight curve in its trunk so that it won't have to deal with those power lines over it (if my eye doesn't fool me?), it wouldnt look nice were the fronts to meet with them. But overall, very healthy looking tree. 

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Here is the street view of the coconut in Brownsville mentioned above: Jackson Street Coconut . Looks like it was planted in the spring of 2011, so it missed the two "big" freezes. 

Looks like the one in Port Isabel predates the 2010/2011 winter, if you look closely you can barely make out the burnt fronds: Houston Street Coconut . 

Jonathan

Katy, TX (Zone 9a)

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Also, RIP to this nice coconut in Laguna Heights. Tried to check in on it in Dec 2016, but the palm (and the house) is gone. 

post-4112-048854700 1339072453_thumb.jpg

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Jonathan

Katy, TX (Zone 9a)

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20 hours ago, Xenon said:

Also, RIP to this nice coconut in Laguna Heights. Tried to check in on it in Dec 2016, but the palm (and the house) is gone. 

post-4112-048854700 1339072453_thumb.jpg

So was the palm removed/killed deliberately? Or did the cold take it away?

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1 hour ago, LF-TX said:

So was the palm removed/killed deliberately? Or did the cold take it away?

I'm assuming it was demolished with the house. It survived both the 2009/2010 and the 2010/2011 winters. The image is from 2013. Also shows up on 2007 streetview. Shame. 

Edited by Xenon
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Jonathan

Katy, TX (Zone 9a)

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It is a shame, it looked so nice! Texas needs more coconuts! Only the hardiest variety!

Edited by PalmTreeDude

PalmTreeDude

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On 9/13/2017, 7:05:52, Xenon said:

I'm assuming it was demolished with the house. It survived both the 2009/2010 and the 2010/2011 winters. The image is from 2013. Also shows up on 2007 streetview. Shame. 

How sad :( 

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On ‎8‎/‎22‎/‎2017‎ ‎12‎:‎15‎:‎08‎, lahuasteca said:

Good morning everyone,

Instead of hijacking pre-existing threads, including one of my own, decided to start a new thread.  While driving to work this morning, I noticed a fairly large coconut on E. Houston St., Port Isabel, Texas.  It is growing on the south side of an apartment building, adjacent to the Laguna Madre, and protected from the winter north winds.  It appears to be fairly neglected with no special care.  Given the height, I'm guessing it predates the winters of 2010 and 2011 which was our last significant long term cold weather.  I'm also guessing it's a Mexican tall, instead of one of the Malayan dwarfs.  Latitude 264' N.

GENE

Port Isabel, Texas.jpg

Yep, it certainly looks like a typically too dry and neglected Mexican Tall.  If the people who have coconut palms in the Valley would just adequately water them and fertilize them (preferably with MicroLife All Organic Biological Fertilizer 8-4-6 Ultimate), they would look a lot better and have coconuts on them every year!

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On ‎9‎/‎1‎/‎2017‎ ‎5‎:‎45‎:‎44‎, lahuasteca said:

This one is from Brownsville, 1200 block E. Jackson St., the older central part of the city.  There may be some minor heat island effect here.  Notice the florescence.  I don't know what variety of coconut this is - probably Mexican tall or Pacific tall.  It has been there since before the winters of 2009/2010 and 2010/2011.  The leaves reach way above the one story house behind the tree.

Cocos nucifera Brownsville.jpg

Gene,

It may be a hybrid cross between a Mexican Tall and a Golden Malayan Dwarf.  A lot of the sprouts I get from beach coconuts that I collect here at Padre Island are hybrids from Mexican Talls and one of the Malayan Dwarf varieties.  Anyway, since you live in Brownsville, be sure to check out the two VERY BIG mature Mexican Talls at the Flamingo Motel on Central Blvd. in Brownsville.  I have a couple of large nuts with milk in them off of one of these palms that I am hoping will sprout over the next few months.

John

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The Rio Grande Valley needs a LOT MORE coconut palms!  They do well there and fruit if they are taken care of.

John

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30 minutes ago, Mr. Coconut Palm said:

The Rio Grande Valley needs a LOT MORE coconut palms!  They do well there and fruit if they are taken care of.

John

Hi John,

I'm doing my part - sort of a duplicate post - I had twenty Malayan seed nuts shipped in from Ft. Lauderdale - they sprouted and rooted well in the hot-house climate of the LRGV.  The best ones I'm keeping (3 or 4 greens and maybe a gold) - the rest I'm taking out to the Pt. Isabel swap meet on Sundays in October to see if there are any takers.  I'll post the details in the for sale section.

Sure would like to get some Mexican talls or even more harder to obtain Indian talls, but it will be difficult.  I used to get sprouted nuts in the markets and would take them down to a ranch south of Cd. Victoria and planted them directly without nursery pots or whatever.  Last I knew, they were all doing fine despite occasional cold air outbreaks.  Needless to say, I haven't traveled the Matamoros-Cd. Victoria-Cd. Mante highway for a few years and don't plan on it any time soon.

Gene

 

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5 minutes ago, lahuasteca said:

Hi John,

I'm doing my part - sort of a duplicate post - I had twenty Malayan seed nuts shipped in from Ft. Lauderdale - they sprouted and rooted well in the hot-house climate of the LRGV.  The best ones I'm keeping (3 or 4 greens and maybe a gold) - the rest I'm taking out to the Pt. Isabel swap meet on Sundays in October to see if there are any takers.  I'll post the details in the for sale section.

Sure would like to get some Mexican talls or even more harder to obtain Indian talls, but it will be difficult.  I used to get sprouted nuts in the markets and would take them down to a ranch south of Cd. Victoria and planted them directly without nursery pots or whatever.  Last I knew, they were all doing fine despite occasional cold air outbreaks.  Needless to say, I haven't traveled the Matamoros-Cd. Victoria-Cd. Mante highway for a few years and don't plan on it any time soon.

Gene

 

Gene,

Anytime you are up this way in Corpus Christi, you are welcome to see my coconut collection.  I think there are about 20 in ground ones total in the Corpus area.  I have 4 in the ground, and I have a friend who is the Palm Society president who has several, and there are several in the ground on Padre Island here.  They have been known to grow to maturity here near the water and even produce a few nuts between bad coconut killing winters.  I like to collect a lot of nuts off the beach each year and see how many I can get to sprout.  This year, I only collected about 55, but so far, 5 of them have sprouted.  We get hundreds, if not thousands of them washing up here each year from the Gulf Coast of Mexico and the Yucatan.

I wish Mexico was safe to live in.  I would love to have an organic coconut farm in La Pesca.

John

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13 hours ago, lahuasteca said:

Hi John,

I'm doing my part - sort of a duplicate post - I had twenty Malayan seed nuts shipped in from Ft. Lauderdale - they sprouted and rooted well in the hot-house climate of the LRGV.  The best ones I'm keeping (3 or 4 greens and maybe a gold) - the rest I'm taking out to the Pt. Isabel swap meet on Sundays in October to see if there are any takers.  I'll post the details in the for sale section.

Sure would like to get some Mexican talls or even more harder to obtain Indian talls, but it will be difficult.  I used to get sprouted nuts in the markets and would take them down to a ranch south of Cd. Victoria and planted them directly without nursery pots or whatever.  Last I knew, they were all doing fine despite occasional cold air outbreaks.  Needless to say, I haven't traveled the Matamoros-Cd. Victoria-Cd. Mante highway for a few years and don't plan on it any time soon.

Gene

 

Please notify! I live in the Los Fresnos area and would like to check them out! :) 

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4 hours ago, LF-TX said:

Please notify! I live in the Los Fresnos area and would like to check them out! :) 

Will do.  First it looks like I have to get the Texas dept. of ag. permit.  Will work on that immediately.  If I can get it all together will be at PI for the Oct. 1 swap meet.  If not, No. 1.

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All of those Brownsville and Port Isabel, Texas, coconut palms look healthy and, presumably, will be there long-term.  Brownsville is at 25.9 degrees latitude and it isn't all that far from the coast, so it should be fine.  Here in Florida, the northern extremity for coconuts tends to be around 28 degrees latitude. The coconut trees run from there down to 24 degrees latitude where Florida begins.

Keep posting more pictures of those nice coconut trees from the RGV region.  Someone should post photos of the tall ones at the Flamingo Motel!

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19 hours ago, Sandy Loam said:

  Someone should post photos of the tall ones at the Flamingo Motel!

I think they have been posted many times before, long before I joined the forum.  I live a few blocks from there, will put a wide angle lens on the camera, and make a pass this weekend.  I saw them a few minutes ago - they are quite tall.  

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On 9/21/2017, 7:24:49, lahuasteca said:

I think they have been posted many times before, long before I joined the forum.  I live a few blocks from there, will put a wide angle lens on the camera, and make a pass this weekend.  I saw them a few minutes ago - they are quite tall.  

OK, here we go.  The noon hr., 9/23/17 - Flamingo Hotel on Central Blvd., Brownsville, Texas.  Unfortunately, my Photoshop seems to be corrupted.  Hope these come through.  The first image is at the front of the hotel, the 2nd is at the rear, and the third are the fruit stalks on the 2nd coconut palm.

Flamingo Hotel front palm.jpg

Flamingo hotel rear palm.jpg

Fruiting coconut.jpg

Edited by lahuasteca
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2 hours ago, lahuasteca said:

OK, here we go.  The noon hr., 9/23/17 - Flamingo Hotel on Central Blvd., Brownsville, Texas.  Unfortunately, my Photoshop seems to be corrupted.  Hope these come through.  The first image is at the front of the hotel, the 2nd is at the rear, and the third are the fruit stalks on the 2nd coconut palm.

Flamingo Hotel front palm.jpg

Flamingo hotel rear palm.jpg

Fruiting coconut.jpg

They look great!!! :D With more rain, hopefully they should be strong enough come out of this year’s winter with no difficulty. 

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Caught sight of 4 young coconut palms in San Benito today. Sadly I was only able to capture two of them. The first picture shows two of the palms;  the smaller of the two is pointed out by the green arrow. I couldn’t get a good shot, so you’ll only be able to see the very edge of one of the fronds - but it’s there! :D A couple of minutes after taking this picture, we passed by a property that had two young coconut trees - about 2 feet tall - next to the sidewalk, one on one side and the other palm on the other side of the pathway. All this was around the area of Raul Garza Junior Elementary

81EA55BF-A51C-4F22-9C03-6161157B26BA.jpeg

1404818D-983F-444D-848C-DB1F3CD6A373.png

Edited by LF-TX
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On 9/23/2017, 5:05:23, LF-TX said:

They look great!!! :D With more rain, hopefully they should be strong enough come out of this year’s winter with no difficulty. 

Nice! You could have snuck off to Florida for those pics. I'll say it again, there sure ought to be many more of those down there. 

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Corpus Christi, TX, near salt water, zone 9b/10a! Except when it isn't and everything gets nuked.

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On 9/24/2017, 6:48:37, Xerarch said:

Nice! You could have snuck off to Florida for those pics. I'll say it again, there sure ought to be many more of those down there. 

You’re right! Just yesterday I was in Brownsville within the area around the Golf Center and I found a property with a coconut tree a little taller than the height of the house, with bright, good-sized yellow coconuts on them! Too bad I couldn’t take a picture of it, it was a beautiful palm! 

Edited by LF-TX
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On 9/16/2017, 12:33:55, LF-TX said:

Please notify! I live in the Los Fresnos area and would like to check them out! :) 

Just received my Texas Dept. of Ag. license today.  It's too late for me to get ready for the Port Isabel Swap Meet tomorrow (10/1/17), but will definitely be there Sunday 11/5/17.

Gene

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17 hours ago, lahuasteca said:

Just received my Texas Dept. of Ag. license today.  It's too late for me to get ready for the Port Isabel Swap Meet tomorrow (10/1/17), but will definitely be there Sunday 11/5/17.

Gene

That’s fine! Today has been busy anyways; apart from that, congrats on getting your license! 

 

I’ve got a question tho, how does this swap meet work exactly? Is it a trade? Or a sale?

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4 hours ago, LF-TX said:

That’s fine! Today has been busy anyways; apart from that, congrats on getting your license! 

 

I’ve got a question tho, how does this swap meet work exactly? Is it a trade? Or a sale?

It's a sale.  I drove by today on the way to SPI.  I noticed some vendors in the front selling plants, but no tropicals.  I've got lots of bananas and heliconias ovetaking my yard.  Don't want to throw them out, so I'll try my luck at the PI flea market.  Going to test to see if there's a demand for Cocos nucifera.  It is rare to see them in nurseries here.

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Palm Street Coconut palm - South Padre Island, Texas.  10/1/17.  It's been there for a long time.  I remember seeing it over ten years ago as I was having a drink at the bayside bar.  Very slow grower - I don't think they water it much.  The rather unhappy looking tree at the far right is a royal palm.  Definitely does not like the saline soils adjacent to the Laguna Madre.

Palm St. Coconut.jpg

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Backlit view of same Palm St. coconut - looking straight into blazing South Texas sun and a thunderstorm.  Processed in HDR.

Backlit.jpg

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1 hour ago, lahuasteca said:

It's a sale.  I drove by today on the way to SPI.  I noticed some vendors in the front selling plants, but no tropicals.  I've got lots of bananas and heliconias ovetaking my yard.  Don't want to throw them out, so I'll try my luck at the PI flea market.  Going to test to see if there's a demand for Cocos nucifera.  It is rare to see them in nurseries here.

Is it too much to ask ahead of time how much you’ll be giving them? :) 

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2 hours ago, lahuasteca said:

Palm Street Coconut palm - South Padre Island, Texas.  10/1/17.  It's been there for a long time.  I remember seeing it over ten years ago as I was having a drink at the bayside bar.  Very slow grower - I don't think they water it much.  The rather unhappy looking tree at the far right is a royal palm.  Definitely does not like the saline soils adjacent to the Laguna Madre.

Palm St. Coconut.jpg

I’m just so surprised at how tuff coco palms can be. A vast amount of coconut palms alive in the RGV today have been through a lot. This palm tree in particular surprises me most, on street view, this palm’s foliage was horribly burned by the 2011 ice storm. Yet look at how beautifully it rebounded, still strong enough to reach fruiting maturity (I see that there’s pods on your first picture). Without a doubt that this variety of coconut is very hardy. 

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20 minutes ago, LF-TX said:

I’m just so surprised at how tuff coco palms can be. A vast amount of coconut palms alive in the RGV today have been through a lot. This palm tree in particular surprises me most, on street view, this palm’s foliage was horribly burned by the 2011 ice storm. Yet look at how beautifully it rebounded, still strong enough to reach fruiting maturity (I see that there’s pods on your first picture). Without a doubt that this variety of coconut is very hardy. 

My memory is a little hazy, but this one may go back to Dec., 2004, the once a century snowstorm.  Yes, those are flowering spears coming out the top.  If there are dramatic skies on Tues., I may go out there for some sunset images.

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7 hours ago, lahuasteca said:

My memory is a little hazy, but this one may go back to Dec., 2004, the once a century snowstorm.  Yes, those are flowering spears coming out the top.  If there are dramatic skies on Tues., I may go out there for some sunset images.

I think theres rain in the forecast for this week, so there probably will be some interesting skies 

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Gene,

Nice updated photos of the Mexican Talls at the Flamingo Motel.  Thanks for posting them.  That Green Malayan Dwarf at the bar on South Padre is extremely neglected.  I tried to get them as a fertilizer client ( I offer an all organic fertilization service) a couple of years ago, but they weren't willing to go for it.  I know if they had me come there at least twice per year and fertilize their palm with MicroLife 8-4-6 Ultimate and if they would adequately water it, it would look great and be full of nuts.  Unfortunately, they don't seem to appreciate the coconut friendly climate they have there.  My Green Malayan up here in Corpus Christi looks twice as good as that one, and I live at the very northernmost limit of where coconut palms can be grown in Texas, but I take care of mine.

Image may contain: plant, tree, flower, sky, house, outdoor and nature

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